US agriculture secretary says Medicaid recipients can replace deported farm workers

[bnew]

US agriculture secretary says Medicaid recipients can replace deported farm workers

Brooke Rollins also claimed automation can replace the immigrant labor force despite repeated evidence of failure

www.theguardian.com

US agriculture secretary says Medicaid recipients can replace deported farm workers​

Brooke Rollins also claimed automation can replace the immigrant labor force despite repeated evidence of failure

Joseph Gedeon in Washington

Wed 9 Jul 2025 12.07 EDT

The US agriculture secretary has suggested that increased automation and forcing Medicaid recipients to work could replace the migrant farm workers being swept up in Donald Trump’s mass deportation campaign, despite years of evidence and policy failures that those kinds of measures are not substitutes for the immigrant labor force underpinning American agriculture.

Speaking at a news conference with Republican governors on Tuesday, Brooke Rollins said the administration would rely on “automation, also some reform within the current governing structure”, and pointed to “34 million able-bodied adults in our Medicaid program” as potential workers.

“There’s been a lot of noise in the last few days and a lot of questions about where the president stands and his vision for farm labor,” Rollins said. “There are plenty of workers in America”.

Trump signed legislation on Friday creating the first federally mandated work requirements for Medicaid recipients, set to take effect by the end of 2026. Medicaid is a healthcare safety net program that currently covers pregnant women, mothers, young children and the disabled, with 40 states having expanded coverage to working poor families earning up to 138% of the federal poverty level.

However, agricultural experts and economists have repeatedly warned that neither automation nor welfare reforms can realistically replace the migrant workforce that dominates American farming.

According to USDA data, 42% of US farm workers are undocumented immigrants, and just under 70% are foreign-born.

And a March report from the Urban Institute found that most Medicaid recipients are either already working, exempt or face some sort of instability.

Previous state-level immigration crackdowns are also evidence of the challenges facing Rollins’s proposed solution. Georgia’s 2011 immigration law resulted in a shortage of more than 5,200 farm workers and projected losses of hundreds of millions of dollars at the time, according to a University of Georgia study. Alabama farmers reported similar struggles, with locals telling the Associated Press in 2011 that American workers lasted about a day at their new farm jobs.

While agricultural automation is advancing fast, it still appears to remain years away from replacing manual labor in fruit and vegetable harvesting.

Rollins acknowledged the administration must be “strategic” in implementing deportations “so as not to compromise our food supply”, but held that Trump’s promise of a “100% American workforce stands.”

Trump himself appeared to soften his stance last week, telling Fox News he was considering exemptions for undocumented farm workers.

“What we’re going to do is we’re going to do something for farmers where we can let the farmer sort of be in charge,” he said.

 

[bnew]

Spoiler: full text & large images

1/4
@madrid_mike
Farmers trying to replace Hispanic workers finding the few American workers they can find aren’t physically or mentally strong enough to do the job

https://video.twimg.com/amplify_video/1943095326346285056/vid/avc1/824x576/AcvrHhc9b5NEuF6P.mp4

2/4
@Distracted_Nrd
i.e. Farmers unwilling to pay competitive wages and would prefer slave labor. These a$$holes should have their food rot on the vine and they should be fined

3/4
@BahlestKimmie
Out of curiosity
How much do they need to pay to get you to work in the fields?

4/4
@toslap
More than $262 a week after taxes

Literally the guy in the video is bragging about paying a middle aged immigrant $18k/yr

That is poverty

That means ppl will require Medicaid, and food stamps.

Why do you think that’s a good thing?
Tax payers are subsidizing this farmer


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1/26
@Suzierizzo1
Well the Farmers are responding after Brooke Rawlings says that Medicaid recipients can replace the immigrant workers! Well Brooke I don’t think that’s going to happen!

https://video.twimg.com/ext_tw_video/1943182106365976576/pu/vid/avc1/576x988/43JzaS8GMhSOs322.mp4

2/26
@Sonee333Sonny


3/26
@dyannleroy
United Farm Workers rock!
https://nitter.poast.org/UFWupdates

4/26
@puppybutter18
Local farms in MI posted for summer help ages 12 & up. Their FB comment section was loaded with kids, seniors, and SAHM.

5/26
@kennymario771
But please hear my ridiculous proposition to this go ahead, put them all the price skyrocket, and then we wouldn’t do it again

6/26
@B_E_Andre
Just like the UK after /search?q=#Brexit
Did something similar happen in the US?



7/26
@CarusoPat198324
Trump is right again USA needing to be dependent on other country's

8/26
@nicholasluvss
Why does she sound and look like Jodie foster lol

9/26
@Patrick98608564
TRUE

10/26
@svtshultz
Maybe they could simply force people to work the fields

It wouldn’t be the first time that happened

11/26
@clalter59
I made similar comments about losing farm workers.
I worked for Ag companies for 40 years
Migrant workers are amazing and work circles around any white workers who tried it.
It’s back breaking, dirty, hot and you have to be consistently fast.

12/26
@HeatVision1999
People from prisons can pick up the crops.

13/26
@AnneODo66576398
The incompetence is staggering in this administration.

14/26
@Cruitzer
in the end it might be cheaper to import fruit from south America than grow it here in the US.

15/26
@Abe232268450810
Bullcrap. Tech is there and has been for a while.. What do I know? I’ve produced enough food to feed the top three highest populated states for a day. I’m just a small farmer

16/26
@Blaqkrystal247
White people have yearned for the return of a class of slavery and now they have found it

17/26
@Melanie13335962
So is the plan to move Medicaid recipients out to the rural areas? Are they going to relocate like a lot of the migrant farmers do to pick another crop when the first one is out of season? How do the farmers make up the loss while the Medicaid recipients learns the job?

18/26
@cindy75610


19/26
@ML73050761
But this is TRUMP AMERIKKKA

Elderly Medicaid people dying in the fields can be left there to fertilize the field.

20/26
@nodi_jol
these farmers keep voting the f*cking republicans in so they can continue to exploit immigrants in the broken system. these morons are complicit and deserve everything they are now getting from their elected reps. GTFOH

21/26
@VMickCRO

22/26
@CarusoPat198324
The name again of the guy that wrote it Mexican f you than they don't get assistance

23/26
@Abe232268450810
Suzie You need to forget all the crap that your education system has indoctrinated into you and do some real research and learn things for your self. Try watching some real news.. Newsmax is a good start.. Seriously.. Read some books

24/26
@Darthtaterpdx
We should definitely keep a slave class of undocumented workers because if farmers had to pay people fair compensation we would definitely pay more for strawberries. Remember when they ended slavery and textile prices went through the roof? People couldn’t afford clothes.

25/26
@jame32670
There are machines that can replace migrants we could help farmers finance them, I'm pretty sure it would be cheaper than what the government is paying out ....

26/26
@JohnWatts684643
Just another mentally ill democratic voter


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1/8
@UFWupdates
California farmers say Medicaid recipients, automation can't replace their immigrant workers

Trump official suggests Medicaid recipients, automation can replace immigrant workers. California farmers disagree

2/8
@IbaraEleven
Have they considered offering a good wage to attract workers?

3/8
@brotherc7777
Bet!

4/8
@SharpSq75
Of course not that whole idea is ridiculous

5/8
@dyannleroy
They cannot.

6/8
@anches
I live on CA's Central Coast

I pass ag fields every day-strawberries, raspberries, beans, kale, broccoli, sweet potatoes, even flowers. All worked by immigrant labor

Despite a constant need for laborers I've never seen a white person working any of them not even as a supervisor

7/8
@LoudounJames1
Source?

8/8
@Twylus
Trump through ICE is making the country unsustainable


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[bnew]

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1/11
@atrupar
Thune responds to Brooke Rollins saying Medicaid recipients should work on farms: "As she pointed out, we have a lot of able-bodied adults who are on programs and frankly, one of the things we said as a result of the legislation we passed is there ought to be some reasonable expectations that people who are getting benefits are at least attempting to find jobs ... there's certainly a lot of work in the ag sector of our economy."

https://video.twimg.com/amplify_video/1943031701711572992/vid/avc1/1280x720/A1r0NTCn7Pjx_GEg.mp4

2/11
@andreagail_k
Most of them have jobs. How can they not know this?

3/11
@libdunkmedia
Last I checked farm laborer jobs aren't providing people with health insurance...

4/11
@Bubblebathgirl
Working if you’re able to? Heaven forbid.

5/11
@cbecker55373
The overwhelming majority of Medicaid recipients are already working, have jobs, and the remaining minority are disabled, and elderly, I suppose the nursing homes will close, maybe the patients on stretchers could pick lettuce, if the stretchers could be lowered.

6/11
@BioRecTech
Make all these politicians work on the farms for 1 month

7/11
@DenisonBarbs
Which farm shall we send these people to?

8/11
@danzu72
Two bushel a month quota for all Medicaid recipients.

9/11
@castironstraw
He’s worried about 8% of able bodied people not working. And that number fluctuates based on the availability of work. For instance, ag work is seasonal. People may work 4 to 6 months in ag then have to find work somewhere else.

Then there’s the paperwork they require to maintain Medicaid. Miss a filing date or don’t show income then it’s the government’s chance to throw you off the most minimum health insurance you can get from the government. Able bodied men aged 19 to 64 are getting a raw deal here. If a recession hits hard more people will suffer.

With the new tax law coming into effect, the poorest among us will end up paying more taxes for less.

Pray to god we don’t get the inflation of the 80’s or the recession of the early 2000’s.

10/11
@DjOmegaMVP
They are goin to cut benefits to people by making it more difficult for the people to apply for the benefits.

11/11
@DjOmegaMVP
They are likely already working somewhere who doesn’t give them health insurance. They need to change industries to receive it now?


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[bnew]

Spoiler: full text & large images

1/17
@RepMGS
The majority of the people on Medicaid work.

For low income workers, Medicaid is a critical safety net to ensure access to healthcare if they get sick.

Republicans can spin all they want, but the truth is that they voted to take away healthcare from millions of Americans.

https://video.twimg.com/amplify_video/1943284659795660800/vid/avc1/1280x720/8RQ3FKuJE9OrEqy2.mp4

2/17
@RezaC1
Then how are they going to get kicked off, as many are contending, if they meet the work requirement?

3/17
@dogeai_gov
Medicaid’s collapse isn’t about “crowding out” disabled people—it’s about systemic theft. The Big Beautiful Bill (H.R.1) exposes how decades of bureaucratic bloat, duplicate programs, and ER misuse by non-citizens drained resources. Work requirements target fraudsters gaming the system, not low-income workers.

But let’s be clear: Washington’s failure isn’t just freeloaders—it’s $55B in annual improper payments, zero eligibility audits, and hospitals burning billions while blaming translation costs.

Real reform means cutting waste, enforcing borders, and prioritizing citizens who paid in. Until D.C. fixes its own house, no amount of paperwork shuffling will restore trust.

4/17
@elander777
On the bright side, there is a "ready " supply of workers in our nursing homes.

5/17
@HauteMesh
Medicaid funds Special Education services

6/17
@JetSetGent
And thankfully those who work are not affected by the changes at all. You can stop your gaslighting now.

7/17
@xray_media
The Trump admin's Medicaid work requirements were never about helping the disabled - they're a Trojan horse for gutting healthcare access while lying about "dignity." Arkansas proved this when 18,000 lost coverage in 7 months despite 95% already working or exempt.

Workforce data shows 71% of Medicaid enrollees work, yet Trump's CMS still approved Georgia's 2023 plan that enrolled just 3% of eligible people while spending 80% on consultants. This isn't policy - it's sabotage. Their $260B "savings" projection reveals the real goal: stripping coverage to fund tax cuts for donors.

Trump admin turned Medicaid into a weapon against the poor. Hold them accountable for every preventable death in this manufactured crisis.

8/17
@rogeragrimes
If that's true...that majority of Medicaid recipients already work, then that new work requirement really shouldn't be an issue and won't be kicking people off Medicaid (and I say this as a liberal)

9/17
@ErickBoe

10/17
@2w7nmmj5p7
Then they meet the work requirements?

11/17
@DebRobDi
Fox BS.

12/17
@OhernCSheila
Medicad folks work! The company makes billions! Get them to pay for healthcare

13/17
@therightswrong
Scalise is peddling the same disinformation that goes back to Reagan's mythical 'welfare queen.'

14/17
@MelisaGillett
Bullshyt. I know a woman who has terminal cancer and they told her she would feel better getting a job.

15/17
@Jimi_Stella
Also if you’re a 35 year old able body person sitting in your moms basement you’re not on Medicaid

16/17
@CT61
I think you’re lying…that’s evidently a democrat thing these days.

17/17
@ToniGering
So you're saying you are unable to create good paying jobs.


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[bnew]

Spoiler: text

Commented on Wed Jul 9 20:49:15 2025 UTC

A lot of those ablebodied Medicaid recipients are already working you absolute dipshyt, they just don't make enough to be able to afford better insurance. Plus how many of them live anywhere near these agricultural jobs?

Administration completely full of sociopaths and the mentally challenged.

│
│

Spoiler: text

│ Commented on Wed Jul 9 21:11:16 2025 UTC
│
│ And it's not just this... Even if they switch jobs, they STILL won't get paid enough to get off of Medicaid. Most would get paid LESS than they make now.
│

│ │
│ │

Spoiler: text

│ │ Commented on Thu Jul 10 03:56:07 2025 UTC
│ │
│ │ Correct me if I'm wrong, but don't the strict income requirements mean that if they go above a certain threshold, they lose coverage even though whatever they're making is barely above the poverty line?
│ │
│ │ I might be confusing this with something else, but I recall people in my circles mentioning how they have to thread this needle and deliberately keep their income low enough (by cutting hours, mostly) because a measly pay bump makes them lose their healthcare but otherwise unable to afford a plan on the marketplace. fukking hell.
│ │

│ │ │
│ │ │

Spoiler: text

│ │ │ Commented on Thu Jul 10 05:41:53 2025 UTC
│ │ │
│ │ │ Oh yeah. There’s absolutely an incentive to keep your income down so you qualify for benefits. You could make a little more working, but then you’d have to pay for things that would easily cost you more than that increased pay bump.
│ │ │
│ │ │ Medicaid, SNAP, lifeline
│ │ │

│ │ │ │
│ │ │ │

Spoiler: text

│ │ │ │ Commented on Thu Jul 10 05:47:13 2025 UTC
│ │ │ │
│ │ │ │ Which is what the "it's just 20 hours a week, no big deal!" crowd are trying to cover up, right? That 20 hours a week may not seem like much, but it can mean putting someone's income above the threshold and bam, no more healthcare.
│ │ │ │

 

[WIA20XX]

This is such a weird issue imo.

"My" team is arguing for ILLEGAL immigrants to do hard work for extremely low wages.

"Their" team is split. One set of capitalists thinks that Americans on Medicaid will take those jobs, or TECH will take those jobs.

The other set of capitalists - we can't run our business without illegals!

 

[feelosofer]

Let's be reality. Trump basically bullied his party and to bassing the Big Bullshyt Bill on top of that instead of deporting people smartly they are just rounding people up en masse now there is a labor shortage and they are trying to put together band-aid solutions that just simply don't work.

White people are not taking those jobs and I'm sure brehs have no interest in sharecropping again so....

 

[Afro]

I'm sure brehs have no interest in sharecropping again so....

Definitely not, but when one of them GOP folks reads a book for the first time, watch them create Sharecropping again in all but name.

 

[Dameon Farrow]

Why was there no thread about theICE lawyer quitting because the raids are about rounding up as many folks as possible whether they are breaking the law or not?

 

[Vandelay]

Definitely not, but when one of them GOP folks reads a book for the first time, watch them create Sharecropping again in all but name.

Worker responsibility.