Leah Douglas

I’m a reporter for @Reuters covering the Trump administration and agriculture, federal nutrition and farm policy, food system workers, environment and climate, and lots of other topics. You can reach me securely on Signal, using this QR or at leahjdouglas.01

July 16 (Reuters) - A U.S. citizen and Army veteran who works as a security guard at a California cannabis farm said on Wednesday that U.S. officials arrested him during an immigration raid last week and held him for three days without explanation.

Trump officials defended their immigration tactics on Sunday, including a California farm raid that left one worker dead. Border czar Homan said ICE officers were doing their jobs at the raid. "It's always unfortunate when there's deaths," he said. reuters.com/world/us/trump…

Here's the latest: reuters.com/legal/governme…

A farmworker died today from injuries sustained after a 30-foot fall from a building during yesterday's immigration raid on a California cannabis farm. Other workers are injured and US citizens are detained and unaccounted for, says the United Farm Workers. Story TK.

The National Guard showed up with ICE today at two California cannabis farms, where they were later met by throngs of protestors. The latest impact of the Trump administration’s deportation campaign on agriculture: reuters.com/world/us/immig…

NEW: The USDA will no longer consider race and sex in many of its farm programs, ending a decades-long effort to address its history of discrimination. The agency has addressed its past bias, it said in a final rule published Thursday. reuters.com/legal/governme…

There will be "no amnesty" for US farmworkers from deportation, per Ag. Sec. Rollins. Trump wants a 100% American workforce, she said. "There are 34 million able-bodied adults in our Medicaid program. There are plenty of workers in America." reuters.com/legal/governme…

Major news: GOP plan to push costs of SNAP onto states to pay for megabill has been axed by Senate parliamentarian May alleviate concerns about SNAP cuts, but creates a math headache as Republicans are on a tight timeline to get bill done subscriber.politicopro.com/article/2025/0…

Iowa Gov. Kim Reynolds vetoes bill that would have restricted carbon pipelines from using eminent domain. #HF639. Reynolds said bill "threatens Iowa's energy reliability, economy, and reputation as a place where businesses can invest with confidence."

The House tax bill would push $22 billion in spending for SNAP to states. They say they can't afford it - and could be forced to scale back the program. My latest: reuters.com/world/us/state…

Must read ags story (catching up from last week): @Reuters @leahjdouglas & @JulieIngwersen's piece about market concerns about the integrity of @USDA reports after the agency delayed a report & excluded findings that point to tariffs as a reason for a forecasted increase in the…

WASHINGTON, June 2 (Reuters) - Staff at FEMA were left baffled on Monday after the head of the U.S. disaster agency said during a briefing that he had not been aware the country has a hurricane season, sources said. reuters.com/world/us/fema-…

Thank you @NewsHour and @johnyangtv for having me on to talk FEMA and the start of hurricane season! 🤓

Trump cuts threaten safety training for America’s most dangerous jobs reuters.com/world/us/trump… @leahjdouglas @Reuters

EXCLUSIVE: The USDA has terminated 17 projects under a foreign aid program that funds school meals for children in low-income countries, according to an email seen by @Reuters. In Honduras, the cuts will mean "more desperation, and more migration." reuters.com/world/us/us-fa…

New dietary guidelines will be four pages long and direct Americans to "eat whole food," RFK told a House committee today. reuters.com/business/healt…