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href="/rmn/blog/archives/">All Posts</a></strong></li> </ul> </li> <li class="border-top my-3"></li> <li class="mb-1"> <h2><svg xmlns="http://www.w3.org/2000/svg" width="16" height="16" fill="currentColor" class="bi bi-speaker-fill" viewBox="0 0 16 16"> <path d="M9 4a1 1 0 1 1-2 0 1 1 0 0 1 2 0m-2.5 6.5a1.5 1.5 0 1 1 3 0 1.5 1.5 0 0 1-3 0"/> <path d="M4 0a2 2 0 0 0-2 2v12a2 2 0 0 0 2 2h8a2 2 0 0 0 2-2V2a2 2 0 0 0-2-2zm6 4a2 2 0 1 1-4 0 2 2 0 0 1 4 0M8 7a3.5 3.5 0 1 1 0 7 3.5 3.5 0 0 1 0-7"/> </svg> Podcasts</h2> <ul class="list-unstyled fw-normal pb-1 small"> <li><a class="link-body-emphasis d-inline-flex text-decoration-none rounded" href="/rmn/podcasts/">Recent Podcasts</a></li> </ul> </ul> </aside> <section id="main" class="flex-lg-shrink-1 flex-xl-shrink-1 flex-xxl-shrink-1 flex-lg-grow-1 flex-xl-grow-1 flex-xxl-shrink-1 mx-2 px-2 py-4"> <h1 class="fw-bold text-body-emphasis">January 2025, Volume 31, Number 1</h1> <article class="news_index"> <p><svg xmlns="http://www.w3.org/2000/svg" width="16" height="16" fill="currentColor" class="bi bi-filetype-pdf" viewBox="0 0 16 16"> <path fill-rule="evenodd" d="M14 4.5V14a2 2 0 0 1-2 2h-1v-1h1a1 1 0 0 0 1-1V4.5h-2A1.5 1.5 0 0 1 9.5 3V1H4a1 1 0 0 0-1 1v9H2V2a2 2 0 0 1 2-2h5.5zM1.6 11.85H0v3.999h.791v-1.342h.803q.43 0 .732-.173.305-.175.463-.474a1.4 1.4 0 0 0 .161-.677q0-.375-.158-.677a1.2 1.2 0 0 0-.46-.477q-.3-.18-.732-.179m.545 1.333a.8.8 0 0 1-.085.38.57.57 0 0 1-.238.241.8.8 0 0 1-.375.082H.788V12.48h.66q.327 0 .512.181.185.183.185.522m1.217-1.333v3.999h1.46q.602 0 .998-.237a1.45 1.45 0 0 0 .595-.689q.196-.45.196-1.084 0-.63-.196-1.075a1.43 1.43 0 0 0-.589-.68q-.396-.234-1.005-.234zm.791.645h.563q.371 0 .609.152a.9.9 0 0 1 .354.454q.118.302.118.753a2.3 2.3 0 0 1-.068.592 1.1 1.1 0 0 1-.196.422.8.8 0 0 1-.334.252 1.3 1.3 0 0 1-.483.082h-.563zm3.743 1.763v1.591h-.79V11.85h2.548v.653H7.896v1.117h1.606v.638z"/> </svg> <a href="https://migrationfiles.ucdavis.edu/uploads/rmn/issues/2025/31/Rural%20Migration%20News%2031-1.pdf">Click here to download this issue as a PDF file</a></p> <div class="columns-3"> <section><h2>Rural America</h2> <p><a href="more.php?id=2998">California: Fires, Politics</a><br> Los Angeles county, the most populous in the US with 10 million residents, was ravaged by wildfires in January 2025. Pacific Palisades, Altadena and other cities were in the path of a ring of fires spread by strong Santa Ana winds from eastern Nevada deserts that push to the ocean through passes in the coastal mountains.</p><p><a href="more.php?id=2999">Meat, Migrants</a><br> The average retail price of beef topped $8 a pound in summer 2024, reflecting drought in the western states that reduced forage and increased feed costs and prompting farmers to reduce their herds. The widening gap between what farmers receive for cattle and retail meat prices has led to complaints about meatpackers.</p><p><a href="more.php?id=3000">Labor: H-1B,</a><br> The US added 2.2 million jobs in 2024, an average of 183,000 a month; ¾ were in healthcare and education, leisure and hospitality, and government. The unemployment rate ended 2024 at 4.1 percent. Employer return-to-in-person work suggest that the balance of labor market power is shifting from workers to employers.</p></section><section><h2>Farm Workers</h2> <p><a href="more.php?id=3001">California: $16.50, UI</a><br> California’s minimum wage rose to $16.50 on January 1, 2025, as 20 other states also raised their minimum wages. There were 162 million employed workers and seven million jobless at the end of 2024. Average private sector earnings were $36 an hour and ranged from $22 in leisure and hospitality to over $50 in information and utilities.</p><p><a href="more.php?id=3002">Florida, Southeast</a><br> SB 1718 requires employers of 26 or more workers to use E-Verify to check the status of newly hired workers.</p><p><a href="more.php?id=3003">Northeast, Midwest, Northwest</a><br> Ohio. Painesville’s plant nurseries attracted Mexican migrants to a farming area 30 miles east of Cleveland. Today Hispanics are a quarter of the 20,000 Painesville residents.</p><p><a href="more.php?id=3004">ALRB, Unions</a><br> The ALRB filed a complaint in July 2024 against Calistoga-based Dos Viñas Vineyard Management, a contractor for the Foley Family Farms vineyards. Eight workers, with the help of North Bay Jobs with Justice, charged in September 2023 that they and their supervisor were fired after requesting a $1 an hour wage increase in May 2023, from $18 to $19 an hour. </p></section><section><h2>Immigration</h2> <p><a href="more.php?id=3005">Trump and Migration</a><br> Donald Trump was elected president in November 2024, receiving 312 electoral votes to 226 for Kamala Harris and winning the seven battleground states. Republicans also took control of the Senate 53-47 and retained control of the House, 218-215. Trump promised to stop illegal migration over the Mexico-US border and to deport the estimated 11 million unauthorized foreigners in the US. </p><p><a href="more.php?id=3006">DHS: CBP, ICE, USCIS</a><br> Trump named Thomas Homan to be the “border czar…in charge of our Nation’s Borders…[and the] deportation of illegal aliens back to their country of origin.” During a speech to the RNC in Milwaukee in July 2024, Homan said to unauthorized foreigners: “You better start packing now.” </p><p><a href="more.php?id=3007">H-2A: FY24, Courts</a><br> DOL certified almost 385,000 jobs to be filled by H-2A employers in FY24, up two percent from 378,000 in FY23: 16 states including Florida, California, and Michigan had fewer H-2A jobs certified in FY24 than FT23.</p><p><a href="more.php?id=3008">Canada, Mexico</a><br> President-elect Trump in November 2024 threatened 25 percent tariffs on all goods imported from Canada and Mexico because they allow migrants and fentanyl to enter the US. Trump’s threat suggests that he will include immigration, China investment in North America, and drugs in USMCA re-negotiations that are scheduled to begin in 2026. A sixth of the cars sold in the US are assembled in Mexico, and seven percent are assembled in Canada.</p><p><a href="more.php?id=3009">DHS: CBP, ICE, USCIS</a><br> Trump named Thomas Homan to be the “border czar…in charge of our Nation’s Borders…[and the] deportation of illegal aliens back to their country of origin.” During a speech to the RNC in Milwaukee in July 2024, Homan said to unauthorized foreigners: “You better start packing now.” </p><p><a href="more.php?id=3010">H-2A: FY24, Courts</a><br> DOL certified almost 385,000 jobs to be filled by H-2A employers in FY24, up two percent from 378,000 in FY23: 16 states including Florida, California, and Michigan had fewer H-2A jobs certified in FY24 than FT23.</p><p><a href="more.php?id=3011">Europe, Asia</a><br> Pact. The EU Pact on Migration and Asylum approved in April 2024 aims to reduce the arrival of illegal migrants who request asylum. The 10-section Pact aims to “secure European borders…implement faster and more efficient procedures for asylum and return…and enhance solidarity with Member States at external borders.”</p><p><a href="more.php?id=3012">Global</a><br> A quarter of the world?s countries have below-replacement fertility, meaning that women average fewer than 2.1 births. JD Vance in the US and politicians in Europe and Japan are developing policies to promote births by offering subsidies and tax breaks to parents. </p></section><section><h2>Other</h2> <p><a href="more.php?id=3013">California: $59 billion</a><br> California had farm sales of $59 billion in 2023, led by $8.1 billion worth of milk; $6.5 billion worth of grapes; $4.8 billion of cattle and calves; and $3.9 billion each of lettuce and almonds. The next five commodities were pistachios and strawberries, each worth $3 billion; tomatoes $2 billion; carrots $1.7 billion; and broilers, $1.2 billion. Farm exports were $24 billion or 40 percent of California?s farm sales.</p><p><a href="more.php?id=3014">Trump and Agriculture</a><br> Trump 2.0 raises three major questions for labor-intensive US agriculture, will there be mass deportations, will the H-2A program change, and what will happen to imports of fresh fruits and vegetables?</p><p><a href="more.php?id=3015">Food, Wine</a><br> A federal judge in December 2024 blocked a proposed $20 billion merger of Kroger and Albertsons, prompting Albertsons to sue Kroger for the failed merger. The merged firm would have sold about 600 stores, but the judge agreed with the FTC that the resulting Kroger-Albertsons would reduce competition and raise grocery prices. Kroger accounted for nine percent of grocery sales in 2024 and Albertsons five percent.</p><p><a href="more.php?id=3016">Climate</a><br> 2023 and 2024 were the hottest years on record, pushing average global temperatures more than 1.5C or 2.7F above industrial revolution average temperatures. The 2016 Paris climate agreement promised to limit global warming to 1.5C, a goal that has proven to be more idealistic than realistic as middle-income countries consume ever more coal, gas and oil.</p></section> </div> </article> </section> </div> </div> </main> <footer> <div class="container-fluid py-2 py-4 my-4"> <div class="row"> <div class="col text-center"> <p>Last Updated: January 17, 2025 | <a href="mailto:plmartin@ucdavis.edu"><svg xmlns="http://www.w3.org/2000/svg" width="16" height="16" fill="currentColor" class="bi bi-envelope-arrow-up-fill" viewBox="0 0 16 16"><path d="M.05 3.555A2 2 0 0 1 2 2h12a2 2 0 0 1 1.95 1.555L8 8.414zM0 4.697v7.104l5.803-3.558zm.192 8.159 6.57-4.027L8 9.586l1.239-.757.367.225A4.49 4.49 0 0 0 8 12.5c0 .526.09 1.03.256 1.5H2a2 2 0 0 1-1.808-1.144M16 4.697v4.974A4.5 4.5 0 0 0 12.5 8a4.5 4.5 0 0 0-1.965.45l-.338-.207z"/><path d="M12.5 16a3.5 3.5 0 1 0 0-7 3.5 3.5 0 0 0 0 7m.354-5.354 1.25 1.25a.5.5 0 0 1-.708.708L13 12.207V14a.5.5 0 0 1-1 0v-1.717l-.28.305a.5.5 0 0 1-.737-.676l1.149-1.25a.5.5 0 0 1 .722-.016"/></svg> Contact Us</a></p> </div> </div> <div class="row"> <div class="col text-center"> <p>Copyright © The Regents of the University of California, Davis campus. 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