Florida’s Citrus Growers vs. H-2A Red Tape

Without serious immigration reform, they could be put out of business

Letter to The WSJ. Excerpts:

"Sierra Dawn McClain captures the problems attending the H-2A guest-worker program in Washington state (“Red Tape Is the Biggest Crop on Some Farms,” op-ed, Aug. 29). Florida, which uses the highest percentage of such workers in the nation, knows this all too well.

The program is the source of the most frequent complaint I heard from 36 Florida citrus growers I interviewed for my book, “The Rise, Fall, and Future of Florida’s Citrus Industry.” In administering the program, the Labor Department wrongly assumes that a guest farm worker may take away a job from an American. It thus requires hourly wages 15% to 20% higher than the prevailing minimum and hours of cumbersome paperwork for employers.

Kyle Story, a Lake Wales grower and president of Florida Citrus Mutual, told me, “Fifteen years ago, the domestic labor market started going nonexistent. If I could hire the domestic employees we had 15 to 20 years ago, and if they were available, I would completely do that. But we don’t have that availability, and it’s not going to come back.” In the past decade, he says only one American has applied for a harvesting job with his company.

Paul Meador, owner of Everglades Harvesting Inc., flies in 2,000 guest farm workers every season for approximately 80 Florida growers, never knowingly hiring an undocumented worker. He told me the domestic labor market began shrinking after the housing boom started in the early 2000s. “Our domestic workers started working for landscape and construction companies and hotels and resorts, where they could get full-time employment with the benefits. We advertise in newspapers and in employment services. But we just don’t have any domestic workers applying for seasonal jobs.”

Without serious reform, the H-2A program’s expense and bureaucratic red tape are helping put Florida citrus growers out of business.

Em. Prof. David E. Sumner

Ball State University"