No Sympathy For Nebraska

Idiots:

One of the biggest shocks (or, for the rest of us, the least surprising development of 2025) is that Nebraska’s farming economy is being crushed under the weight of Trump’s second-term immigration policies.

Shocking, right? Who could have guessed that mass deportations would leave entire industries—industries that rely heavily on undocumented workers—crippled and understaffed?

Well, literally everyone.

According to the Center for Migration Studies and the U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA), an estimated 45% of the U.S. agricultural workforce is undocumented. And that’s likely an undercount.

Nebraska, where agriculture constitutes a major share of the state’s GDP and employment base, is particularly vulnerable.

Migrant and seasonal farmworkers perform essential duties in planting, harvesting, and processing, especially in the state’s robust corn, soybean, and livestock industries (Martin, 2017).

Policies aimed at mass deportation and the reduction of H-2A visas have disrupted labor availability, leading to delayed harvests, increased spoilage, and rising operational costs (Martin, 2022).

The American Farm Bureau Federation has long warned that deportation-driven enforcement without a corresponding legal labor framework would severely compromise food security and domestic production capacity (AFBF, 2019).

These workers are the backbone of agriculture, handling everything from planting and harvesting to processing and distribution.

And yet, when Trump spent years on the campaign trail promising to “deport them all,” his farmer base either cheered or stayed silent, assuming, I suppose, that crops would magically pick themselves.

But now? Now that the fields are empty, the harvests are delayed, and labor costs are soaring? Suddenly, there’s a crisis. Suddenly, Nebraskans are begging for someone—anyone—to step in and help them keep their farms running.

Here’s the thing: when your entire industry is built on the labor of undocumented immigrants, maybe don’t vote for the guy who swore to rip that labor force away.

It’s like hiring an arsonist to remodel your house and then being surprised when all that’s left is ashes.

Of course, it’s not just the labor crisis choking Nebraska’s economy. The state itself is staring down a $289 million budget deficit, thanks to yet another Trump-era policy change: massive cuts to federal Medicaid funding.

Now, if you’re wondering what Medicaid has to do with farmers, let’s break it down.

Nebraska is a heavily rural state, and rural hospitals and clinics rely heavily on Medicaid reimbursements to keep their doors open.

According to the Nebraska Hospital Association, over 60% of rural health facilities in the state rely on Medicaid for more than a third of their operational revenue (NHA, 2022).

With those funds slashed, rural healthcare providers are at risk of shutting down. 

And when hospitals disappear, so do the people. Rural economies, already fragile, spiral into decline. 

It’s a domino effect: fewer people means fewer workers, fewer consumers, fewer tax dollars.