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Know This Now, October 10, 2025: Dairy Leaders Continue to Spotlight Importance of Work Permits and Immigrant Labor in the Industry

By October 10, 2025October 13th, 2025No Comments

Top News: Dairy Leaders Continue to Spotlight Importance of Work Permits and Immigrant Labor in the Industry
ABIC hosted dairy leaders and lawmakers at a press event to champion practical immigration reforms and work permits at the world’s largest dairy-focused trade show last week.

The Wisconsin Examiner wrote a feature on the event, saying “A panel discussion at last week’s World Dairy Expo focused on a labor shortage made worse by a Trump administration that seems hell-bent on deporting the agricultural workforce,” and quoting U.S. Rep. Derrick Van Orden’s (R-WI-3) comments at the event:


Brian Rexing, a farmer-leader from Dairy Farms of America, described the immigrant workers on his farm as “way more than employees. — they work together with me and my family side to side.”

“Taking hard-working employees off farms does not make communities safer,” Rexing said. Read more coverage of the event at American Ag Network, AgProud, KFGO, Barn Media.

Steve Obert, Executive Director of Indiana Dairy Producers, told ABIC in an interview that the impact immigrant workers have in dairy is really “incalculable,” and they make up 80% of the industry’s workforce.

“They are reliable. They are people we can trust. And they really care about their work,” Obert said.  Watch clips of ABIC on the ground at the Dairy Expo:

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News Briefing
Trump Labor Department Says His Immigration Raids Are Causing a Food Crisis

The Trump Labor Department issued a new rule cutting farmworker wages under the H-2A guest worker program, while also writing that the administration’s own immigration raids are threatening America’s food supply.

In a filing to the Federal Register, the department warned of “immediate dangers to the American food supply” due in part to a severe shortage of migrant agricultural workers.



It cited a 93% drop in border crossings and an aging, shrinking farm workforce, emphasizing that U.S. workers won’t fill these jobs because the work is physically demanding and requires specialized skills.

Under H-2A rules, the DOL must advertise agricultural jobs, but it says this hasn’t led to more applications from domestic workers.

New Polls Show Trump’s Net Approval Rating at Record Low with Hispanics, Down with Women Voters and Other Groups

A new Economist/YouGov poll shows President Trump’s approval rating among Hispanic voters has dropped to just 25%, with 71% disapproving, and a net rating of -46, his lowest yet. Approval among women (-28 net) and seniors also hit second-term lows.


Hispanics, one of the nation’s fastest-growing and most influential voting blocs, played a key role in Trump’s 2024 victory, but recent polling shows sharp erosion of support, citing the economy and aggressive immigration actions.

Similar results were seen in a new NYTimes September poll, showing 69% of Hispanics disapprove of President Trump and 75% disapprove of the way he is handling immigration.

Recent focus groups of swing-state Trump voters under age 30, held by Syracuse University, also showed handling of immigration is now a source of disapproval, even among those who said they supported the general idea of strengthening the country’s borders.

“The way that [immigrants] are being treated don’t align with my Christian values, or my pro-life values, or any of the values that a conservative may have,” said Katelyn R., a 21-year-old from  Wisconsin.

Pope Leo Urges U.S. Bishops to Support Immigrants
Pope Leo XIV called on U.S. bishops to speak “forcefully and in unity” in defense of immigrants as President Trump escalates deportations, including in Chicago, the pope’s hometown.

Meeting with Catholics from El Paso who brought letters from immigrant families, Pope Leo expressed solidarity, saying he was “happy to stand with you.” The letters urged him to hear “the clamor of those being marginalized.”

While avoiding direct mention of Trump, Pope Leo emphasized the church’s duty to protect migrants and encouraged the U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops to issue a public statement, which is expected at their upcoming meeting.

U.S. Could Lose Critical Expertise, Especially in Rural Areas, Due to $100k H1-B Visa Fee

The Trump administration’s new $100,000 visa fee for high-skilled foreign workers is drawing backlash from hospitals in rural, Republican-leaning states that rely heavily on H-1B doctors and health professionals, Politico reports.

Hospital leaders warn the fee could worsen workforce shortages and jeopardize care in underserved areas. Some GOP senators, including Sen. Shelley Moore Capito (R-WV) and Sen. Joni Ernst (R-IA), are urging the White House to exempt health workers, citing threats to critical medical staffing in their states.

Rural schools warn the new fee could make it impossible to hire qualified teachers, reports the Associated Press, worsening nationwide educator shortages.

At South Dakota’s Crow Creek Tribal School, immigrant teachers on H-1B visas filled 15 long-vacant jobs that had no U.S. applicants. Superintendents say the new fee equals the cost of one or two teachers and would devastate rural budgets.

“They’re certainly not taking jobs from Americans. They’re filling jobs that otherwise just simply we would not get filled,” said Rob Coverdale, superintendent of the K-12 Crow Creek Tribal School.

And the impact could even be felt at the level of Nobel Prizes, wrote the Wall Street Journal  Editorial Board. Immigrants make up about 40% of U.S. Nobel science winners, showing their vital role in innovation. This year, three of six U.S.-based laureates are immigrants, including a refugee from Jordan. They warned that Trump’s immigration restrictions, like higher H-1B visa costs, risk driving future talent away and weakening America’s scientific leadership.

Axios: D.C. Construction Hits Delays as Trump Crackdown Sparks Worker Fears

D.C. construction is slowing and costs are rising as Trump’s immigration crackdown sparks fear among workers, especially undocumented immigrants. Many avoid D.C. job sites or have changed their work habits, and 92% of contractors report hiring struggles. Arrests and deportations are shrinking the labor pool, threatening project timelines and further raising costs.

“It’s just this never-ending onslaught,” said a  Maryland-based contractor.

Miami Herald: Health Care Employment Growth Clouded By Immigration Crackdown And Medicaid Cuts

Health care job growth makes up nearly half of total employment gains in 2025, but faces serious threats from the Trump administration’s immigration crackdown. About 18% of U.S. health care workers are foreign-born, including many doctors, nurses, and aides. Restrictions on visas and deportations risk worsening staffing shortages. Combined with looming Medicaid cuts, these policies could slow health care hiring and strain access to care despite strong demand driven by an aging population.


“Health care as an industry is pretty reliant on immigrant labor,” said Allison Shrivastava, an economist with the Indeed Hiring Lab. 

Enforcement News

USA Today: 800 Arrests Amid Chicago Immigration ‘Blitz’ Of Helicopters And Midnight Raids


In Chicago, federal immigration raids dubbed Operation Midway Blitz have led to over 800 arrests since Sept. 8, including a dramatic early-morning raid where agents rappelled from helicopters into an apartment building. Authorities targeted members of a Venezuelan gang, but also detained many without criminal records, including U.S. citizens and children. The raids, aimed at so-called “sanctuary” cities, have drawn criticism for causing fear, due process concerns, and questionable focus on violent criminals. Similar large-scale raids elsewhere have also shown many detainees lack criminal convictions.:


“About 71.5% of nearly 60,000 people currently in ICE detention have no criminal convictions, according to the Transactional Records Access Clearinghouse, a research group at Syracuse University.”

Watch: Manitowoc ICE Raid Strikes at Heart of Wisconsin Dairy Country
Texas Monthly: They Thought DACA Kept Them Safe From Arrest. They Were Wrong.

For the first time in the 13-year history of the DACA program, federal agents are detaining and attempting to deport Dreamers, who are young immigrants who were brought to the U.S. as children and have long been protected from removal.

The administration now has daily immigration enforcement detention quotas and claims DACA “does not confer legal status,” reversing years of policy. Over a dozen DACA recipients have been swept up in raids nationwide, leaving many Dreamers fearful and uncertain of their safety for the first time in over a decade, just as the federal government is also preparing to accept new DACA applications.


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