IDFA Marks Labor Day with Celebration of Dairy’s Workforce and Immigration Reform Forecast

By Becky Rasdall, Senior Vice President, Trade and Workforce Policy and Donald Grady, Senior Director, Legislative Affairs, IDFA

This Labor Day, IDFA celebrates the diverse, dedicated workforce that manufactures and delivers delicious, nutritious dairy products to consumers all over the world. IDFA recognizes that nothing is more important to our industry than its workforce, and that making progress toward meaningful immigration reform in Washington is critical to securing a robust, healthy workforce in dairy. In the dairy industry, however, processing plants currently operate with a consistent shortfall in workers, making it difficult to keep up with consumer demand for our products. These labor shortages persist because our policymakers have thus far been unable to agree on solutions. Join us as we explore how potential future presidential administrations may work with Congress to manage and improve our nation’s immigration system.

Under a potential Trump administration, IDFA expects three key focal points for managing our nation’s immigration system: 1) securing the border, 2) enforcing stricter immigration policies, and 3) reforming current immigration laws.

Secure the Border: Candidate Trump’s top agenda priority on immigration is securing and closing the southern border.[1] IDFA expects a potential Trump administration to focus on completing previous work on the border wall. The former president believes enacting tariffs can help to pay for this work. The former president has also committed to reassigning military and federal law enforcement personnel to guard the border.
Enforce Stricter Policies: Beyond securing the border, congressional Republicans and the former president are focused on enforcing immigration policies, particularly those aimed at preventing and/or removing illegal immigrants. One proposed federal policy is to implement a nationwide detention standard to prevent individual states from self-determining how to handle immigrants within their own borders. Another proposal is to increase the penalties for illegal entry and/or establish criminal penalties for overstaying visas, such as through immediate and largescale deportations from anywhere in the country, including through workplace inspections (i.e. I-9 inspections).[2]
Reform Current Immigration Laws: Finally, a future Trump administration would be expected to change current immigration laws to prioritize merit-based immigration that rewards high-skilled individuals. Policy proposals call for capping and phasing down the existing temporary agriculture and non-agriculture worker programs (H-2A and H-2B, respectively) and tightening the program for specialty occupations.[3] The proposed reforms would also limit asylum eligibility[4] and mandate the use of an electronic employment verification system (E-Verify).[5]

IDFA supports bipartisan immigration reform efforts that allow dairy processors to obtain work visas and will work with a potential Trump administration and congressional Republican to ensure policies support efforts to bring more—not fewer—workers into the dairy supply chain. Proposals that seek to restrict immigrant or guest worker labor due to legal factors must be balanced with policies that provide legal, efficient access for workers in food and farm jobs. For example, H-2A is widely accepted as one of the most effective programs for farmers to access a necessary immigrant workforce to meet farm-level needs. There are currently more than 300,000 H-2A visa holders working on farms across the country. H-2B visas for non-agricultural labor and services, more commonly used by dairy manufacturers, are currently capped at 66,000 per year. Many dairy and agriculture food processors have been able to utilize this program for jobs to fill open positions from line workers to sanitation crews and would like to see the cap eliminated rather than the program itself. Eliminating the H-2B program will cause significant negative impacts on the nation’s farm, food and rural economies.

The dairy industry fully supports healthy, modernized immigration programs and hopes to work with administration and congressional policymakers to make these a reality. For example, the U.S. dairy industry has used the H-1B program to fill specific scientific, veterinary, and engineering jobs that are critical. Much thought and deliberation should be given to how I-9 workplace inspections and mandatory E-Verify, for example, will impact the price and availability of U.S. food and agricultural goods as well as the welfare of rural economies.

While many American citizens want a secure border, it is critical to ensure the border is secured in a manner that supports healthy U.S.-Mexico trade and overall relations. Given that Mexico is our nation’s top dairy export market, IDFA will engage on proposed policies, such as tariffs, that could have serious implications for U.S.-Mexico trade. For example, tariffs imposed by the U.S. on Mexico may result in Mexico matching baseline tariffs on imports from the United States, which has the potential to negatively affect approximately $2.3 billion of U.S. dairy exports (2023 data).

Under a potential Harris administration, IDFA expects an approach that acknowledges three key priorities: 1) address the root causes of migration, 2) fix our nation’s broken immigration system, and 3) address the current undocumented population.

Address the Root Causes of Migration: The current Biden-Harris administration has prioritized focusing on the root causes of migration from Central and South America and IDFA anticipates a potential Harris administration would continue that effort. For example, the Vice President has placed special emphasis on U.S. commitments to public-private partnerships and financial commitments to address and curb violence, poverty, corruption, and the lack of economic opportunity that exist in Northern Triangle[6] and Central American[7] nations with the highest rates of emigration occurring.
Fix the Broken Immigration System: In her speech accepting the Democratic nomination for president, Vice President Harris said that if Congress passes the Senate Bipartisan Border Security Package, she will sign it into law—perhaps her clearest statement on how a potential Harris administration would seek to fix the immigration system. The bill, introduced in early 2024, provides an almost unprecedented increase to border funding and security measures, including $20 billion for the Departments of Homeland Security, Justice, State, and other agencies for border operations and migrant processing, and new executive authorities to restrict and reduce the flow of migrants by overhauling the asylum system and, when triggered, a “Border Emergency Authority” to deport migrants when crossings exceed specific numbers.[8] The proposed package also aims to improve legal immigration pathways with additional temporary work permits and green cards for certain qualified family members, among others. That bill, however, failed to come to a vote in early 2024, underscoring the immense challenges of immigration reform especially with a politically divided Congress. Outside of this bill, Democratic policy priorities support increasing opportunities for legal immigration, such as through historically introduced legislative proposals including the U.S. Citizenship Act introduced in 2021 and the Farm Workforce Modernization Act which is currently pending in Congress.
Address the Current Undocumented Population: Developing a pathway to citizenship for more than 11 million undocumented individuals[9] currently living in the United States has been a top policy priority for Democratic lawmakers and administrations for more than a decade. In her speech to the Democratic National Convention, Vice President Harris said, “We can create an earned pathway to citizenship and secure our border”, echoing the recent position by President Biden who called for pathways to citizenship for law-abiding undocumented immigrants in the United States. However, strong political pushback and legal challenges have slowed the Biden-Harris administration’s plans and likely will slow a potential Harris administration.[10] Although difficult, IDFA is committed to working toward immigration reforms that allow legal entry for workers to support U.S. dairy without damaging our nation’s security.

IDFA believes there are positive aspects within both parties’ agendas that should be advanced in a bipartisan way, and we remain steadfast in our commitment to supporting immigration policies and reforms that provide U.S. dairy with access to a healthy and robust workforce. That is why we remain engaged in congressional negotiations of the Farm Workforce Modernization Act and leading the development of a bipartisan, commonsense border security and immigration reform package. IDFA will also continue to champion the importance of visa programs for dairy, including adding dairy processors to H-2A, as recommended in the House Agriculture Committee’s Bipartisan Agriculture Labor Working Group recommendations.

This Labor Day, IDFA calls on Members of Congress, candidates in upcoming elections, policymakers, and constituents across the country to work together to stabilize the U.S. dairy workforce. It’s time to pass substantive, measured, bipartisan immigration reform legislation that allows dairy processors and many other food producers to thrive and support the rich and diverse workforce we love and need. This Labor Day, join IDFA in celebrating dairy’s workforce and advocating with us to create the workforce of the future.

[1] 2024 Republican Platform adopted at the 43rd Republican Convention

[2] Mandate for Leadership: The Conservative Promise - Project 2025 Presidential Transition Project

[3] Mandate for Leadership: The Conservative Promise - Project 2025 Presidential Transition Project

[4] H.R. 2, the Secure the Border Act.

[5] Mandate for Leadership: The Conservative Promise - Project 2025 Presidential Transition Project

[6] https://www.whitehouse.gov/briefing-room/statements-releases/2021/05/27/fact-sheet-vice-president-harris-launches-a-call-to-action-to-the-private-sector-to-deepen-investment-in-the-northern-triangle/.

[7] https://www.state.gov/progress-on-central-america-forward/#:~:text=Central%20America%20Forward%20supports%20inclusive,reducing%20violence%2C%20and%20empowering%20women.

[8] https://www.americanimmigrationcouncil.org/research/analysis-senate-border-bill

[9] Estimates of the Unauthorized Immigrant Population Residing in the United States: January 2018-January 2022, page 1.

[10] https://www.cbsnews.com/news/immigration-judge-blocks-biden-administration-from-granting-legal-status-to-spouses-of-u-s-citizens/