Attorney General Bonta Submits Multistate Comment Letter Opposing Trump Administration’s Rollback of H-2A Farmworker Protections

OAKLAND – California Attorney General Rob Bonta, alongside 18 attorneys general nationwide, submitted a comment letter opposing the Trump Administration's efforts to roll back regulatory protections for temporary agricultural workers under the H-2A visa program. Through its proposed rule, the Administration aims to rescind most of a 2024 Final Rule that enhanced protections for workers under the H-2A program, and improved the ability to enforce H-2A requirements. Under the new proposed rule, the Trump Administration claims that the 2024 rule imposed a number of unnecessary, burdensome, and costly requirements on employers. In the comment letter, the coalition highlights how the Trump Administration’s proposed rule would endanger the rights, safety, and dignity of hundreds of thousands of H-2A agricultural workers across the country. 

“Agricultural workers are the backbone of America’s food system, yet this proposed rule strips away critical safeguards and protections for workers, from anti-retaliation measures to basic housing rights,” said Attorney General Bonta. “These changes do not serve the interests of American agriculture — they serve the interests of those who profit from vulnerable labor. No worker should be vulnerable to exploitation, unsafe conditions, or unjust termination. Alongside attorneys general nationwide, we urge the Trump Administration to reverse course immediately.”

Last year, the Biden Administration’s United States Department of Labor (DOL) issued a final rule (Improving Protections for Workers in Temporary Agricultural Employment), which implemented sweeping updates to bolster protections for temporary agricultural workers under the H-2A visa program. Key provisions included strengthened safeguards for worker empowerment, such as expanded anti-retaliation rights and the ability to consult legal counsel, to prevent exploitation and abuse of agricultural workers and ensure that unscrupulous employers do not financially gain from their violations. This July, the DOL issued the proposed rule that aims to rescind key parts of the 2024 Final Rule.

In the comment letter, the coalition of attorneys general asserts that:

• The proposed rule aims to roll back vital worker protections, such as weakening wage transparency and stripping away protections against retaliation, among other safeguards.
• The recission will have an adverse impact on employer compliance with H-2A requirements.
• The proposed roll back undermines the reliability of the H-2A program for both workers and employers, increasing the risk of significant labor shortages that would drive up costs and disrupt operations across the agricultural sector.

Attorney General Bonta joins the attorneys general of Arizona, Colorado, Connecticut, Delaware, the District of Columbia, Hawaii, Illinois, Maine, Massachusetts, Michigan, Minnesota, New Jersey, New Mexico, Oregon, and Rhode Island in filing the comment letter.

A copy of the letter can be found here.