For trade partners in North America, border security has been a major part of trade talks.
This week, President Trump said he will work with farmers who employ workers with questionable legal status. For Kansas Senator Tracey Mann, he is asking his colleagues to step up and take more permanent action on border security.
“So they are at 96-97% less than what they were year over year in the previous Administration. We also need Congress to step in and act to codify a lot of these changes that are being made in the Southern border, also to make sure that no future President can ever open up the border like we’ve seen previously. I’m all for legal immigration, but this illegal process system we’ve had in place makes absolutely no sense, and it’s not good for the health of the country.”
The ag industry has long been asking for action on H-2A visas. Washington state Congressman Dan Newhouse says he and his colleagues have been trying to take action for years.
“So, we’re looking at ways that we can reform our visa programs to better suit today’s agriculture so that the workers that we have can rest assured that they’re not going to be subject to some of the deportation activities.”
Newhouse says the border crisis in recent years led to push back on labor reform.
The changing political climate in America is leading to a drop in migrant crossings near the U.S.-Mexico border, where ranchers like Dr. Mike Vickers say they witnessed horrors from death to child trafficking.
January 30, 2026 11:47 AM
·
RFD NEWS correspondent Frank McCaffrey recently spoke with Dr. Mike Vickers, a South Texas rancher, who says illegal border crossings have dramatically declined in the last year.
January 27, 2026 11:51 AM
·
Rural population growth and stabilizing economic indicators point to post-pandemic recovery, but uneven income, shifting industries, and regional divides remain key challenges for rural communities.
January 23, 2026 08:00 AM
·
RFD NEWS Correspondent Frank McCaffrey speaks with Texas’s Sen. Ted Cruz and Rep. Vicente Gonzalez about USMCA renegotiation and its impact on U.S.–Mexico agriculture trade.
January 17, 2026 05:00 PM
·
The U.S. Department of Labor (DOL) estimates that the move will save farmers and ranchers $2.5 billion each year. The group warns that new methods for calculating the adverse-effect wage rate would result in lower pay for foreign workers.
November 24, 2025 11:32 AM
·
Farmers who rely on H-2A workers will see a few key changes to speed up the process and make it fairer. On the ground, producers say labor issues create shortfalls in otherwise productive harvests.
October 27, 2025 01:36 PM
·
