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Know This Now, May 29, 2026: ‘Keep Food on the Table Tour’ Launches In Minnesota Alongside U.S. Rep. Craig with Call for Work Permits to Protect Food Affordability

By May 29, 2026June 8th, 2026No Comments

‘Keep Food on the Table Tour’ Launches In Minnesota Alongside U.S. Rep. Craig with Call for Work Permits to Protect Food Affordability
As families across the country prepare for summer cookouts, busy restaurant seasons, and Fourth of July gatherings, our national coalition Seat the Table is highlighting that affordable, U.S.-produced food depends on the workers who plant, harvest, prepare, serve, and deliver it. Watch the full press conference:



“When one link in the food supply chain is broken, everyone suffers… Chefs, business owners, farm hands, and grocers who have been here 5, 10 years still have no pathway to legal permanent status in this country,” said U.S. Rep. Angie Craig (D-MN-02), Ranking Member of the House Agriculture Committee, emphasizing her support for the Farm Workforce Modernization Act and the Dignity Act. “I [also] introduced the Strengthening our Workforce Act which would provide non-citizens working in critical sectors like agriculture, health care, and emergency services a path to legal permanent status.”

“The whiplash of aggressive work site enforcement is paralyzing the city’s food community… When workers live in constant fear, it paralyzes businesses and communities,” said James Beard Award-winning chef Karyn Tomlinson of Myriel. “You cannot separate the food on the plate from the well-being of the people who brought it there and who are currently here working to put food on the table, and some who have been doing so for decades.”


The roundtable and press conference took place Friday in Minnesota, and was hosted by Seat the Table, which was founded by ABIC Action, The James Beard Foundation, and Texas Restaurant Association and more leaders from the food and hospitality industry.

Chefs and business leaders across sectors highlighted how a work permit program for the long-term immigrants sustaining hospitality, agriculture and other sectors is critical to ensuring affordability of food and other goods and stabilizing communities.

“Increased work permits are a practical workforce solution to a decades long challenge for both agriculture and hospitality….Giving these long-standing immigrants a legal way to keep working–People who already live and contribute here –is one of the easiest ways to keep our industries running,” said Angie Whitcomb, President and CEO of Hospitality Minnesota


Persistent labor gaps in food production, hospitality, elder care, construction, and agriculture are putting pressure on businesses and families, and speakers discussed the need for practical workforce solutions, including work permits for long-term immigrant contributors who have been working, paying taxes, and helping keep essential industries running. 

In Minnesota, a shrinking workforce has left nearly two job openings for every single job seeker, severely squeezing the state’s agricultural and hospitality sectors.

More from the ABIC Network:

Texas GOP Vote: Attacks on DACA Continue, Sign ABIC Action’s Letter to Support the Dream Act

More and more DACA recipients (who were originally brought to the U.S. as children) are losing their work permits and protections due to renewal processing delays, even after doing everything right and on time.

Sign the ABIC Action Letter: President Trump has successfully secured the border; now it is time for Congress to expedite the renewal of DACA applications facing delays; halt deportations of DACA-holders; and pass long-term solutions that guarantee protections for Dreamers such as the bipartisan Durbin/Murkowski Dream Act in the Senate and the bipartisan Salazar/Escobar Dignity Act in the House.
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Related media: Powerful stories of DACA Dreamers across the country dealing with job loss, anxiety, and uncertain futures all because of delays in their DACA renewals are being shared by The Dream.US project at dreamsdelayed.com. One DACA recipient, Sara in LA, shared her story:

“”I have left behind the 200 students I served as a history teacher for. It is truly heartbreaking to receive messages that they need me back and miss our classroom environment, yet I cannot do anything but wait in despair for action to be taken. ”

Forbes Editorial: America Is Shrinking Its Workforce At The Worst Possible Time

Andrew Tisch, ABIC Board Member and former Co-Chairman of the Board of the Executive Committee of Loews Corporation, wrote in Forbes the U.S. is shrinking its workforce via immigration policy at the same time demographic trends already point toward slower growth.

The numbers are stark:

  • In 2025, the U.S. recorded negative net migration for the first time in at least half a century
  • Monthly job growth slowed to 29,000 at the end of last year, down from 166,000 per month in 2024 
  • Researchers project current policies will reduce cumulative GDP by $1.9 trillion through 2028

The ripple effects are also wide:

  • Food prices are rising as agricultural labor, 68% foreign-born, disappears
  • Social Security and Medicare will deteriorate faster with fewer workers paying in. 
  • Innovation is at risk: 46% of Fortune 500 companies were founded by immigrants or their children

Tisch wrote the bipartisan Dignity Act of 2025 is one potential path forward, offering deportation protection and work authorization for eligible undocumented immigrants without a blanket path to citizenship.

Politico: Trump’s Banking Order Puts Latino Votes at Risk

President Trump signed an executive order directing financial regulators to scrutinize bank accounts and curtail lending for undocumented immigrants, and the political fallout is already emerging within a voting bloc Republicans are counting on this November.

Massey Villarreal, co-chair of Comité de 100, a bipartisan coalition of Latino business leaders, issued a pointed warning: 



Villarreal, a longtime Republican and Houston-based CEO, argued that pushing Latino families and small businesses away from the banking system threatens economic growth. “Our vote is won with respect,” he said. “And we are looking at who is respecting us.”

The stakes are real. Latino voters helped power Trump’s 2024 coalition, but support is slipping. Approval from Latino Trump voters has dropped 27 percentage points since the start of the second term. 


News Briefing

NY Times: Green Card Seekers Must Leave U.S. to Apply, Trump Administration Says, Causing Confusion and Worry
The Trump administration announced that most foreigners seeking green cards will have to return to their home countries to apply, rather than adjusting their status from inside the U.S. 

The change could affect hundreds of thousands of people who entered legally on temporary visas, including spouses of U.S. citizens. Over 820,000 green cards were approved for people already inside the country in 2024 alone.

The Washington Post Editorial Board wrote in response to the move: “The president and other senior officials often claim they support immigration when it is done legally, but these measures suggest that rhetoric is hollow. 

With the country in desperate need of workers, it’s bad policy. In a nation where a clear majority welcomes law-abiding immigrants, it’s also bad politics.”

Reuters: U.S. extends Temporary Protected Status for Lebanon until November

The Trump administration will extend Temporary Protected Status for roughly 11,000 Lebanese nationals through November 27, allowing them to continue living and working legally in the U.S. The notice cited ongoing regional tensions and Israeli airstrikes on Lebanon.

The extension is a notable exception to the administration’s broader push to end TPS enrollments across the board. Former DHS Secretary Kristi Noem had terminated the status for multiple countries as they came up for renewal, prompting lawsuits alleging the terminations lacked proper review. The Supreme Court is expected to rule on TPS terminations affecting Haitians and Syrians by late June or early July.

Politico: GOP Ag Chairman Floats Dramatic Farm Visa Expansion
In a long-awaited draft bill that is not yet introduced, House Agriculture Chairman G.T. Thompson outlines an expansion of the H-2A farm labor program that aligns with the priorities of growers grappling with nationwide labor shortages, according to a House Ag aide who spoke with Politico

Notably, the draft legislation would allow any contract under 350 days to qualify as “temporary” regardless of whether the underlying job is year-round, meaning operations like dairy farms would qualify for H-2A workers, a longtime industry demand.

Farm Progress: H-2A Delays Leave Texas Farmers Shorthanded at Planting Time

Texas farmers are scrambling this season as visa delays have left them without the foreign agricultural workers they depend on. Paperwork backlogs, repeated denials, and more rigorous consulate interviews have pushed arrival dates weeks or months past when workers were needed, with some farmers still waiting.

The consequences are piling up. One producer is working 70-plus hours a week covering tasks his missing worker would handle. Another had to travel to Arizona to borrow workers from other orchards as a stopgap.

The farmers say hiring Americans hasn’t been a viable alternative.

“I love to hire Americans that want to work…In the U.S., it’s just not the work that people want to do,” said farmer Jay Ray Sageser.

Applicants are hard to find, and those who do show up often leave when faced with 10 to 12 hour days doing physically demanding work.

Fortune: America is suffering a shortage of construction workers and sabotaging its ability to fill vacancies by wiping out the industry’s immigrant backbone

Construction was already short 349,000 workers this year before the Trump administration’s enforcement push made things worse. A recent NBER study found construction employment among likely undocumented immigrants dropped 7.5% in areas where ICE conducted raids, with fear keeping even non-targeted workers off job sites. Immigrants make up an estimated 35% of the industry’s workforce.

Economists warn the fallout is broader than lost workers. Fewer immigrants means slower population growth, less demand for new construction, and a drag on the broader economy.

NPR: Bay Area Leaders Say Visa, DACA Delays Threaten Tech Workforce

A wave of Trump administration immigration policies are dismantling Silicon Valley’s competitive and economic edge, area leaders say.

The human costs are already visible. A Palo Alto nursing home has lost seven DACA employees whose permits expired before renewals arrived, with 12 more at risk. One entrepreneur moved his medical startup to India after visa barriers made it impossible to hire the engineers he needed, taking dozens of jobs with him.

“Donald Trump is pouring liquid Drano over the world’s greatest magnet for human genius,” said California Rep. Sam Liccardo, D-San Jose. “And we’re going to pay the price for generations.”

International students contribute $43 billion to the U.S. economy annually, and immigrants founded over 40% of Bay Area tech startups.

Business Insider: Stricter U.S. immigration policies are contributing to a lifeguard shortage heading into summer
The Summer Work Travel Program, operated by the Department of State, draws about 100,000 international students each summer. To qualify, students must obtain a J-1 visa for work-and-study exchange visitors.

Visa suspensions, tightened screening, and policy uncertainty are discouraging applicants from multiple countries. Sponsors also note that shifting U.S. economic and diplomatic standing may be pushing some students toward other countries entirely.

Get Involved

  1. Join one of ABIC’s Councils of 100 and let your voICE be heard with your peers – sign up here. The Council of 100 is a coalition of top business leaders working to advance common-sense workforce solutions.
  2. Share your story: If your business is interested in engaging with the press as part of ABIC or amplifying your story on social media, take this quick survey to let us know your preferences. 
  3. Work with us: ABIC is hiring! We are looking for a California State Director, Public Relations Manager, and Digital Manager to join our growing team. Learn more.

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