H-2A farmworker wages 2026 are at the center of a federal court fight in Fresno, California after the United Farm Workers sued the U.S. Department of Labor over a new interim wage rule that would cut pay for the vast majority of temporary agricultural visa workers. A government attorney defending the policy acknowledged during the March 18 hearing that “there aren’t enough Americans to take these jobs” — a concession that undercut the administration’s stated rationale for the wage reduction. U.S. District Judge Kirk Sherriff said he plans to issue a written ruling soon that will either uphold or suspend the policy.
The new interim rule divides H-2A workers into two wage tiers. Under the rule, 92 percent of farmworkers would be classified as unskilled. Their pay would be set at the 17th percentile of average U.S. wages — meaning they would earn what the bottom 17 percent of Americans make. The Economic Policy Institute estimates the minimum wage for many affected farmworkers would fall to $13.70 per hour. Their average minimum wage last year was $17.43. California’s statewide minimum wage is $16.90 — above what the new federal rule would require for these workers.
H-2A farmworker wages 2026 court fight exposes contradictions in administration immigration and farm policy
The case exposes a direct conflict at the heart of the administration’s approach to farm labor. The same administration that launched what it called the largest deportation operation in American history has simultaneously acknowledged that those deportations are making it harder to find agricultural workers. In October 2025, the Labor Department wrote in a regulatory filing that the near-total cessation of unauthorized immigration combined with a lack of available legal workers is causing significant disruptions to food production costs and threatening domestic food supply stability. The document also said American workers are not interested in and lack the skills for agricultural jobs. That conflicts with Agriculture Secretary Brooke Rollins’ public statement that the farm workforce would one day be fully American.
In 2025, about a dozen H-2A workers who crossed legally through the San Ysidro Port of Entry to harvest fruit in Fallbrook were mistakenly placed in deportation proceedings the next day. Some said they feared being sent to a Salvadoran prison despite having entered the country legally to work. For the policy dimension of H-2A reform currently moving in Congress, Agroinformacion covered House Agriculture Chairman Thompson’s announcement that H-2A modernization legislation will follow the farm bill vote.
UFW and growers argue over who bears the cost if H-2A farmworker wages fall
The United Farm Workers argued in court filings that if H-2A wages fall, agribusiness employers will apply the same cut to all farmworkers, including U.S. citizens. Federal law requires that H-2A wages not undercut domestic pay levels. Judge Sherriff challenged the government’s position directly. He said setting wages for 92 percent of H-2A workers well below comparable workers, including Americans, would undercut the market. “Isn’t that just math?” he asked. The government attorney did not answer directly. Growers, for their part, have argued that labor costs have been rising for decades and that without wage changes, some farm operations may shut down entirely.
Teresa Romero, UFW president, said outside the courthouse that immigrant workers are in a weak bargaining position. Many do not speak English. Many are told to accept conditions or leave. The Economic Policy Institute estimates the total wage loss for all farmworkers under the rule would reach $4.4 to $5.4 billion annually. In California alone, approximately 88,000 H-2A workers were certified with the state as their work destination in 2023. The original reporting was published by CalMatters on March 19, 2026.