Rule giving union rights to foreign farm workers while denying them to Americans is scrapped

By 
 July 8, 2025

Under President Joe Biden, the U.S. Department of Labor proposed a rule last year which gave collective bargaining rights to foreign farmer workers admitted under H-2A visas despite American farmworkers not enjoying those same rights.

Yet in a move that is sure to leave Biden seething, President Donald Trump's administration has just deleted that provision. 

Labor Department halts enforcement of "burdensome 2024 farmworker rule"

According to Breitbart, the change was announced late last month in a statement which was put up on the Labor Department's website.

"The U.S. Department of Labor’s Wage and Hour Division today announced it is suspending enforcement of the Biden Administration’s burdensome 2024 farmworker rule," the statement explained.

"The decision provides much-needed clarity for American farmers navigating the H-2A program, while also aligning with President Trump’s ongoing commitment to strictly enforcing U.S. immigration laws," it added.

Judge: Rule granted "substantive rights without Congressional authorization"

Breitbart noted that the Biden administration's proposed change previously faced a legal challenge which was mounted by Kansas Republican Attorney General Kris Kobach as well as attorneys general in 17 other states.

Two federal judges ruled against the proposal, including U.S. District Judge Judge Danny Reeves, who issued an injunction which prevented it from taking effect in West Virginia, Kentucky, Ohio, and Alabama.

"The Final Rule not so sneakily creates substantive collective bargaining rights for H-2A agricultural workers through the 'prohibitions' it places on their employers," Breitbart quoted Reeves as writing in his opinion this past November.

"Framing these provisions as mere expansions of anti-retaliation policies, the DOL attempts to grant H-2A workers substantive rights without Congressional authorization," he continued.

"The worker voice and empowerment provisions thus illegally contravene the National Labor Relations Act (NLRA)," the federal judge went on to add.

West Virginia governor hailed Reeves' ruling as "a win for the rule of law"

Breitbart pointed out how Reeves' ruling was welcomed by West Virginia Republican Gov. Patrick Morrisey, who was at the time serving as his state's attorney general.

"This is a win for the rule of law in particular to putting a halt to an attempt from an administrative agency to legislate without the consent of Congress," Morrisey declared in a statement.

"It’s clear from the order Monday that the Department of Labor had overstepped its authority," the then state attorney general asserted.

" A free people [claim] their rights, as derived from the laws of nature."
Thomas Jefferson