Last fall, Don Benoit had been making plans to hire 80 seasonal migrant laborers to work at his crawfish processing plant during the upcoming spring season, and he was applying for guest-worker visas just like he had for the last eight years. But the longest federal government shutdown in U.S. history would soon throw his plans — and his business — into disarray.

Crawfish processors across Louisiana say a shortage of temporary work visas has left them without the migrant labor they depend on, forcing plants to sit idle during the busiest part of the season, and threatening a key part of Louisiana’s $640 million crawfish industry.

The trade and immigration policies of the Trump administration have rippled through the nation’s economy in myriad ways, and Louisiana has not been immune to their effects. In recent months, we’ve catalogued the ways tariffs have affected our ports, our retailers and even our coffee shops.

From crawfish to vegetables, Louisiana farmers say much of our food and produce relies on migrant labor.

That has some in the agriculture industry calling for pathways so migrant workers can gain permanent legal status in the United States, not just temporary work visas. We visited three Louisiana farms to find out why.

The federal government has temporarily increased the number of H-2B non-immigrant visas that will be awarded in 2026, a provision that Rep. Julia Letlow says will benefit Louisiana crawfish farmers. 

Seafood spots in New Orleans are beginning to boil mud bugs, but some say they are facing a unique challenge.

Farmers are reporting that their immigrant employees are opting out of work due to the ongoing federal immigration crackdown across Louisiana. As a result, farmers say production is slower due to reduced staff.