More from the article ...

... The National Council of Agricultural Employers (NCAE) said the ruling reignites an "existential threat" to farmers and their ability to hire workers going forward because of high wages. The National Council of Farmer Cooperatives (NCFC) and International Fresh Produce Association also expressed their concerns over the impact of the ruling.

The United Farm Workers (UFW), which brought the case, praised the decision, stating that the men and women who put food on Americans' tables should be paid fairly.

Judge Kirk Sherriff of the U.S. District Court in Eastern California granted a summary judgment against the Labor Department's new Adverse Effect Wage Rate (AEWR) rule, which sets the minimum wages in each state for H-2A workers. Sherriff ruled the Labor Department rushed through its rulemaking process and lacked justification to skip public notice-and-comment periods for most of the changes in the rule.

The Labor Department did not issue an immediate public statement after the ruling.

The Labor Department argued it needed to rush through its interim final rule last October because of the Trump administration's own aggressive immigration enforcement that had created "acute labor shortages and instability" in agriculture. When the rule was handed down last year, the Labor Department estimated undocumented workers accounted for 42% of the agricultural labor force while H-2A workers were 16% of farm workforce.

The rule asserted farmers were facing a "sudden and large-scale departure" of undocumented, lower-paid workers that was expected to significantly increase labor costs for farmers. These higher labor costs would then threaten agricultural productivity and the food supply. ...

@#1 ... The Labor Department argued it needed to rush through its interim final rule last October because of the Trump administration's own aggressive immigration enforcement that had created "acute labor shortages and instability" in agriculture. ...

Interesting that the Labor Dept admits that Pres Trump's massive deportation quotas have affected the agriculture industry.

Related?

Perhaps there is no surprise that Pres Trump's approval rating on immigration has turned negative?