Court Vacates H-2A Farmworker Wage Rule Opposed by Industry

A federal judge in Louisiana struck down a Biden-era wage rule for seasonal farmworker visas after the Trump administration said it wouldn’t fight an employer group’s request to toss the regulation.

The order ends legal battles that employers have waged in multiple federal courts over 2023 adverse effect wage rate regulations they argued made labor costs for the H-2A visa program overly burdensome. It comes as industry groups have pressed the administration for regulatory relief amid growing demand on the seasonal work visa program by farm employers.

Wage standards will now revert back to 2010 regulations until the Department of Labor follows through on plans to issue new wage regulations for the program.

Judge Robert Summerhays of the Western District of Louisiana issued a preliminary injunction blocking the wage rule last year only for sugar cane growers and other plaintiffs named in the lawsuit, finding they were likely to succeed with claims of Administrative Procedure Act violations. His latest order made the injunction permanent and vacated the regulation on a universal basis.

“We’re pleased we were able to accomplish a nationwide vacatur of the final rule,” said Brandon Davis, a partner at Phelps Dunbar and counsel for plaintiffs in the case. “The government has indicated it will engage in rulemaking and we hope that will result in wage and labor policy that is helpful to the agribusiness community.”

Multiple industry groups challenged the regulations, which adopted a new wage methodology boosting pay for some occupations and required farmers to pay the highest possible wage when workers perform multiple job duties.

The rule survived another employer group’s challenge at the US Court of Appeals for the Fourth Circuit in February. Another bid to overturn the regulations was pending in the Middle District of Florida.

The H-2A program has no annual limit on hiring by farm employers when there aren’t adequate number of US workers to fill seasonal farm labor needs. Businesses using the program must pay the highest of a collectively bargained wage, prevailing wage, or the adverse effect wage rate, which covers most H-2A workers.

The Labor Department didn’t immediately respond to a request for comment on the order.

Plaintiffs were represented by Phelps Dunbar and McGlinchey Stafford. The DOL was represented by the Department of Justice.

The case is Teche Vermilion Sugar Cane Growers Ass’n Inc. v. Su, W.D. La., No. 6:23-cv-00831, order issued 8/26/25.