Frank Morris

Most of the food produced in the U.S.

is touched by immigrant labor, and about 40 percent of those workers are in the country illegally.

Farm jobs were already hard to fill.

And since ice raids began last year, the farm workforce has shrunk.

Christy Boswell is with the new advocacy group Grow It Here.

The Trump administration is trying to make it easier and cheaper for farmers to hire foreign guest workers through the H-2A visa program.

Farm workers' unions are suing to stop deep cuts in guest worker wages.

For NPR News, I'm Frank Morris in Kansas City.

The Trump administration wants to ease an acute farm labor shortage by dropping the wage rates for foreign guest workers under the H-2A visa program.

United Farm Workers President Teresa Romero says the cuts would depress wages across agriculture.

The lawsuit claims the Trump administration sidestepped the normal process of changing the H-2A wage rate and that the guest worker pay cuts would freeze Americans out of the farm labor force.

For NPR News, I'm Frank Morris.

The Trump administration wants to ease an acute farm labor shortage by dropping the wage rates for foreign guest workers under the H-2A visa program.

H-2A visa wage rates are supposed to be set high enough to encourage farmers to hire locally, protecting American workers.

United Farm Workers President Teresa Romero says the cuts would depress wages across agriculture.

The lawsuit claims the Trump administration sidestepped the normal process of changing the H-2A wage rate and that the guest worker pay cuts would freeze Americans out of the farm labor force.

For NPR News, I'm Frank Morris.

The Trump administration wants to ease an acute farm labor shortage by dropping the wage rates for foreign guest workers under the H-2A visa program.

H-2A visa wage rates are supposed to be set high enough to encourage farmers to hire locally, protecting American workers.

United Farm Workers President Teresa Romero says the cuts would depress wages across agriculture.