U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS) ruled on June 17 that dairy farmers can hire foreign workers through the H-2A temporary visa program, ending decades of exclusion for one of agriculture's largest year-round sectors. A follow-up bill, H.R. 9535, introduced June 30, would expand the program even further.

The USCIS memorandum states that dairy work resembles range sheep and goat herding, which are already eligible for H-2A workers. The H-2A program, running since 1987, allows U.S. employers to hire migrant workers on temporary visas for full-time seasonal agricultural jobs. Dairies and other year-round industries were traditionally excluded.

California ranked among the top states requesting H-2A visas in 2024, alongside Florida, Georgia and Washington.

Who benefits and who is affected?

Dairy owners in California's North Bay and agricultural officials welcomed the Trump administration's decision. Dairies across the U.S. have long relied on a shrinking pool of undocumented workers, in part due to immigration enforcement.

"This is a welcomed policy change for our dairy members, and we are hopeful it is just the beginning of continued H-2A program expansion," said John Hollay, president of the National Council of Agricultural Employers (NCAE), a trade association representing farmers and ranchers.

Hollay added: "By opening the door for the dairy industry to take advantage of the only legal program for foreign agricultural workers, President Trump continues to move us in a direction of needed reform."

Worker advocates take a different view. Davin Cárdenas, director of organizing at North Bay Jobs with Justice, said employers seeking more H-2A laborers may cut wages for other employees, forcing workers to take additional jobs to make ends meet.

"We do know of local vineyard workers who had their wages decreased after the federal government lowered wages for H-2A employees," Cárdenas said. "Local employers took advantage of the moment to lower the wages of their non-H-2A employees as well, lowering the standards for all."

What are the wage and job implications?

The U.S. Department of Labor issued an interim final rule in October 2025 that lowered the minimum wage required for H-2A workers. According to the Center for Immigration Studies, the rule cut the wage range from $15–$20 per hour to $8–$17 per hour. United Farm Workers, the national agricultural labor union, has challenged the rule in a lawsuit against the department.

Karym Sanchez, lead community organizer at the Graton Day Labor Center, said reliance on H-2A workers in local wineries has already reduced work available to other laborers. He said the change may shrink seasonal opportunities for workers already in the state, including those displaced from Point Reyes National Seashore dairy farms. "I imagine this is going to make it even harder for them," Sanchez said.

The Federation for American Immigration Reform's Erin Leone said in a June 25 statement that the rule change "depresses wages by introducing a new class of laborers willing to accept lower wages."

What steps change for employers?

Sonoma County Agricultural Commissioner Andrew Smith said "hundreds of workers countywide" already hold the visas for vineyard management and livestock work. The USCIS H-2A Employer Data Hub lists several Santa Rosa-based companies employing visa holders, including Balletto Ranch Inc., Morrison Chopping LLC and MCF4 Solutions LLC.

Smith noted two practical requirements for dairy owners:

• Employers must provide housing for visa workers, so owners with existing housing facilities may be best positioned to use the program.
• Employers must provide "very specific job descriptions" to hire visa holders into full-time positions.

Smith cautioned that the program "creates direct conflict for agriculture jobs here in the state with those people already here and looking for employment," since local migrant workers carry no housing or transportation requirements.

What comes next?

The NCAE said the Departments of State, Labor and Homeland Security are already seeking funding to coordinate transitioning the dairy sector into the program.

H.R. 9535, introduced by Pennsylvania Republican Rep. Glenn Thompson, who chairs the House Agriculture Committee, would expand H-2A access to year-round operations and control costs. Thompson said supporters include the American Farm Bureau Federation, the Western Growers Association, the National Milk Producers Federation "and more than 400 other agricultural groups." Of the bill's 49 cosponsors, 45 are Republicans.

United Farm Workers opposes the bill, saying it would make the administration's H-2A wage cuts permanent and allow employers to charge workers for housing.

Sonoma County Farm Bureau executive director Dayna Ghirardelli said it is too soon to tell how many local dairies will seek H-2A workers. "Now that it's a tool in the tool box, dairies may look to it if they get to a point where it's too difficult to find long-term employees," she said.

Jennifer Beretta of Beretta Family Organic Dairy called the access "super helpful," though she said her own dairy likely will not use it because she would need to build another house for workers. "We try to hire more long-term, family folks," she said.

The policy change rests on the official USCIS memorandum of June 17; employers should consult the agency's published guidance and program requirements before filing H-2A petitions.