Secretary of Agriculture Brooke Rollins was forced to admit on Fox Business Wednesday that the Trump administration has no plan for farmers amid ongoing mass deportations, which have hit farmers particularly hard due to their overreliance on migrant labor.
“Ultimately, we have to move toward a 100% legal workforce, and that’s what this president stands for and that’s what we’re doing,” Rollins told Fox Business’ David Asman. “The mass deportations will continue, but the president has been very clear that we have to make sure we’re not compromising our food supply at the same time.”
Research from the US Department of Agriculture suggests that well over 40% of all crop farmworkers are undocumented immigrants, and only 32% are US-born. Farmers have increasingly relied on foreign labor, often through the federal H-2A Visa program. Just under 32,000 H-2A Visas were issued in 2005; in 2023, that number soared to nearly 310,000.
Relaying the industry’s concerns, Asman pressed Rollins on how the Trump administration plans to not decimate the industry through its deportation policy, which has included unannounced raids on farms by Immigration and Customs Enforcement agents.
“It sounds like you don’t yet have a concrete proposal to deal with farmers who rely on undocumented workers,” Asman said. “Am I right?”
“No, we are working on it,” Rollins said.
“You’re working on it, but that’s not a concrete proposal,” Asman fired back.
Rollins admitted no concrete plan existed, yet, but still pledged that President Donald Trump would not jeopardize the US food supply, despite not providing an explanation as to how.
“Well no, the president has been very, very clear, we need to make sure that the food supply is safe, (Labor Secretary) Lori Chevez-DeRemer is on it, she is leading the way,” Rollins said.
Behind the scenes, the Trump administration has tried to find compromises for farmers without going back on the president’s pledge to carry out mass deportations of migrants. At least as of Wednesday, Rollins comments suggest no sufficient answers to Trump’s self-imposed food supply crisis have been found.
Watch the video below or use this link.
BROOKE ROLLINS: We have to move toward a 100% legal workforce. The mass deportations will continue. Congress has to fix it.
FOX: Sounds like you don't yet a concrete proposal to deal with farmers who rely on undocumented workers. Am I right?
ROLLINS: No. We're working on it. pic.twitter.com/EhGKefyMJk
— Aaron Rupar (@atrupar) July 9, 2025