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April 30, 2025 \u2013 <\/b>As May Day approaches, and with the Trump administration reaching its 100-day mark, Agriculture Secretary Brooke Rollins issued two statements<\/a> in the past week touting<\/a> the USDA\u2019s efforts to curb undocumented immigration\u2014moves that have had a significant impact on workers in food and agriculture and immigrant communities across the country.<\/p>\n Immigration crackdowns were central to Donald Trump\u2019s re-election campaign, and the first 100 days of his administration farmworkers and labor organizers have been detained or arrested alongside student activists and alleged members of Central American gangs. Farmers and farmworkers continue to worry that broader crackdowns will hurt an already tight labor market.<\/p>\n As with other departments, the USDA has worked to implement Trump\u2019s policies.\u00a0 Rollins has stated she wants \u201cto ensure that illegal immigrants do not receive federal benefits,\u201d the agency said, by implementing stricter eligibility screening for the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP), among other initiatives.<\/p>\n Rollins says tighter restrictions will prevent \u201cillegal aliens\u201d from getting benefits. \u201cWe are stewards of taxpayer dollars, and it is our duty to ensure states confirm the identity and verify the immigration status of SNAP applicants,\u201d she said<\/a> in a statement. \u201cUSDA\u2019s nutrition programs are intended to support the most vulnerable Americans. To allow those who broke our laws by entering the United States illegally to receive these benefits is outrageous.\u201d<\/p>\n Rollins did not cite evidence to support that undocumented people in the U.S. are receiving federal benefits, which are denied to non-citizens in most cases. But she said she has issued guidance to state agencies \u201cdirecting them to enhance identity and immigration verification practices when determining eligibility\u201d for SNAP.<\/p>\n That could add steps to the process and make it harder in general for people to apply for benefits, which in turn could end up hurting farm laborers, foresters, and fishers, many of whom rely on such benefits. The Union of Concerned Scientists estimates that nearly 20 percent of farming, fishing, and forestry workers received SNAP benefits between 2015 and 2017. \u201cFood workers are roughly twice as likely to need SNAP as the average U.S. worker,\u201d the group said<\/a>.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n