According to economist Daniel Costa of the Economic Policy Institute, the problem is not immigration itself, but the lack of legal protection for these workers. Without stable status, many avoid reporting abuses for fear of deportation, which increases their vulnerability.
According to him, the sector has become increasingly dependent on workers in more precarious conditions, which contributes to maintaining low wages and weak protection standards.
DW Brazil
March 31, 2026
Research from the Economic Policy Institute documents how the states with the most aggressive voter suppression are also the same states with the lowest wages, the weakest labor protections, and the highest rates of poverty.
The Hartmann Report (Substack)
March 31, 2026
The reckoning comes as the U.S. Department of Labor issued a rule to make it cheaper for employers to hire seasonal foreign agricultural workers through H-2A visas — a policy the Economic Policy Institute estimates could drive down wages for farmworkers nationwide by more than $4.4 billion annually.
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The UFW continues to fight well-resourced grower associations, sometimes successfully, said Daniel Costa, who directs immigration policy at the Economic Policy Institute and co-authored the H-2A wage rule analysis. The UFW helped beat a similar pay-cut policy during the first Trump administration, he added, which helped hundreds of thousands of agricultural workers.
“They are punching above their weight for sure,” Costa said. “They’ve been able to leverage the attention that they’ve gotten over the years to really make a big impact.”
KQED
March 31, 2026
According to data from the Bureau of Labor Statistics, waves of automation and digital transformation have added more than 70 million net new jobs to the U.S. economy since 1980. Yet productivity has grown 2.7 times more than average compensation (wages and benefits) for production and nonsupervisory workers since 1979, according to the Economic Policy Institute. This group represents roughly 80% of the U.S. workforce.
Time Magazine
March 31, 2026
But women still earn less in the workplace. The gender gap narrowed slightly in recent years but widened again in 2025, according to an analysis by the Economic Policy Institute. Controlling for socioeconomic factors, women earned 18.6% less than men.
USA Today
March 31, 2026
Josh Bivens at the Economic Policy Institute said job-wise, he’s most concerned right now about people who work in industries fueled by discretionary spending.
“Obvious ones are like restaurants, arts, entertainment, some travel,” he said. “That’s where people have the most ability to quickly adjust their spending, and those are also industries that are pretty quick to lay people off as soon as that spending dries up a little bit.”
Marketplace
March 31, 2026
According to economist Daniel Costa of the Economic Policy Institute, the problem is not immigration itself, but the lack of legal protection for these workers. Without stable status, many avoid reporting abuses for fear of deportation, which increases their vulnerability.
According to him, the sector has become increasingly dependent on workers in more precarious conditions, which contributes to maintaining low wages and weak protection standards.
DW Brazil
March 31, 2026
Research from the Economic Policy Institute documents how the states with the most aggressive voter suppression are also the same states with the lowest wages, the weakest labor protections, and the highest rates of poverty.
The Hartmann Report (Substack)
March 31, 2026
The reckoning comes as the U.S. Department of Labor issued a rule to make it cheaper for employers to hire seasonal foreign agricultural workers through H-2A visas — a policy the Economic Policy Institute estimates could drive down wages for farmworkers nationwide by more than $4.4 billion annually.
…
The UFW continues to fight well-resourced grower associations, sometimes successfully, said Daniel Costa, who directs immigration policy at the Economic Policy Institute and co-authored the H-2A wage rule analysis. The UFW helped beat a similar pay-cut policy during the first Trump administration, he added, which helped hundreds of thousands of agricultural workers.
“They are punching above their weight for sure,” Costa said. “They’ve been able to leverage the attention that they’ve gotten over the years to really make a big impact.”
KQED
March 31, 2026
According to data from the Bureau of Labor Statistics, waves of automation and digital transformation have added more than 70 million net new jobs to the U.S. economy since 1980. Yet productivity has grown 2.7 times more than average compensation (wages and benefits) for production and nonsupervisory workers since 1979, according to the Economic Policy Institute. This group represents roughly 80% of the U.S. workforce.
Time Magazine
March 31, 2026