U.S. Further Eases Curbs on Seasonal Worker Visas During Coronavirus

State Department’s move follows warnings from agriculture industry of possible farm-labor shortage

By Michelle Hackman of The WSJ.

"The State Department is further easing requirements on seasonal foreign worker visas, following agriculture industry warnings that a bottleneck created by coronavirus-related curbs could prompt a farm-labor shortage at the peak of spring harvest.

Under the latest rules, which the State Department issued Thursday, most applicants will no longer need an in-person interview to get visas for farm or other seasonal work, such as landscaping, fishing or working at resorts. That requirement had slowed the number of workers entering the U.S. The State Department paused most visa processing in embassies and consulates abroad due to the pandemic.

Under a different set of rules issued last week, only returning workers—nearly all of whom come from Mexico—were allowed to skip the interview.

Though the new rules apply to all seasonal workers, most of those entering the country at the moment are coming to plant and harvest crops. U.S. farmers rely heavily on the seasonal guest-worker visas, known as H-2A, which can legally account for as many as one in 10 of a farm’s workers.

The industry pressed the Trump administration, particularly Agriculture Secretary Sonny Perdue, who is an ally of the visa program, to ease requirements.

“American farmers are dependent on guest workers from the H-2A program to harvest our crops, and American consumers are dependent on the food from these harvests for continued sustenance during the present crisis,” said Dave Puglia, president of Western Growers, in a statement.

The action runs counter to most steps the Trump administration has taken to cut off most access to the legal immigration system, including shuttering immigration offices in the U.S. The H-2A program has grown rapidly through both the Obama and Trump administrations, doubling in the past decade to more than 200,000 workers last year.

The easing of H-2A curbs has angered groups advocating tighter restrictions on immigration—some of President Trump’s staunchest allies—who say the government shouldn’t be making it easy for employers to hire foreign labor when so many Americans are losing their jobs.

“The dependence on foreign labor to produce our food is no longer defensible,” said Dan Stein, president of the Federation for American Immigration Reform.

But farm owners say U.S.-born workers unfamiliar with farm labor rarely last more than a few days during harvest due to the strenuous nature of the work, and cost companies more because they are less efficient.

“The bottom line is if we can’t get H-2A workers there are not too many options,” said Gary Wishnatzki, owner of Florida-based Wish Farms, which grows and markets fruit. “Picking strawberries is a skill, it’s not something the average person off the street can do efficiently.”"