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The USDA said on Friday it fired dozens of foreign contracted workers from China, Russia, North Korea and Iran.
The cut in about 70 workers followed the National Security Review for Food Safety in the United States.
A USDA spokesperson said contract workers came from “countries of concern” and “cannot work on the USDA project.”
The worker told Reuters he was in Agricultural Research Services (ARS), the research arm of Thomas Henderson, the USDA research unit that represents some unions of researchers.
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The USDA said on Friday it fired dozens of foreign contract workers from China, Russia, North Korea and Iran. (DavidAke/Getty Images)
ARS conducts research into areas important to American farmers, including pests, food safety, and climate change.
Most contract workers examined postdoctoral researchers in China, and some arrived to work this week to discover that badges had stopped working.
Earlier this month, USDA Secretary Brook Rollins announced in a new plan to keep US farmland safe that contracts with workers in China, North Korea, Iran and Russia should be cancelled and that citizens from those countries will not be allowed to purchase farmland in the United States.
Publications from all ARS projects are also expected to be reanalyzed, and those who co-authored with researchers from four countries will be rejected by ARS employee Ethan Roberts, who is also chairman of the local 3247 coalition of US government employees.
A banner showing the image of President Donald Trump hangs on the side of a department of Agriculture building in Washington, DC on May 16, 2025 (Mandel NGAN/AFP via Getty Images)
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Workers will not be able to exchange until the federal employment freeze on October 15th is lifted.
Henderson said some research projects would force them to halt, and he cited projects that would develop vaccines for the deadly toxins that occur in undercooked beef.
“We don’t have the talent to go on to these research projects, keeping us down for years, if not decades,” he told Reuters.
Agriculturalists with farmers stand in a major agricultural field. (Getty Images)
The agency has reduced roughly 1,200 workers through this year’s reduction efforts.
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Fox News Digital reached the USDA for comment.
Reuters contributed to this report.
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