Georgia’s Commissioner of Agriculture Gary Black joined
other farm leaders in Washington on April 22, 2016, to complain about U.S.
Department of Labor delays in processing H-2A applications.
Agriculture is Georgia’s largest industry, and many
farmers depend on temporary, nonimmigrant workers to plant and harvest crops
and handle other agriculture-related activities, especially fruits and
vegetables, such as blueberries, which are becoming an increasing percentage of
Georgia’s agricultural output.
Commissioner Black stated that he had look at a survey of
56 contracts in Georgia and found that “about 1,200 workers arrived on time and
nearly 3,000 workers have been late with an average of 8 days.”
Commissioner Black stated that blueberry growers in South
Georgia are beginning their annual harvesting now with one producer having
contracted for 514 people who were due 3 weeks ago.
Bill Brim of Lewis Taylor Farms in Tifton, Georgia, said
that he has used the cumbersome and arduous H-2A program since 1997 to pick the
farm’s 6,000 acres of produce.
Mr. Brim said he understood that USDA, the U.S.
Department of Labor and the Department of Homeland Security “have their problems
that they deal with on a daily basis as well, but they have a little control
over their process, and we don’t.”
Right now, Mr. Brim says Georgia has blueberries, squash
and cucumbers coming in and “we don’t have the labor to pick it.”
Zippy Duvall, President of the American Farm Bureau
Federation and past president of the Georgia Farm Bureau, said that the
Department of Labor is required to approve H-2A applications 30 days prior to
when farmers need workers in the field, but that deadline is routinely missed.
“The backlog is about 30 days in the processing of H2A
applications,” Duvall said. “Crops are not going to wait for the labor to get
there. Crops will continue to mature and rot in the field if we do not get
something done and done quickly.”
Section 218 of the Immigration and Nationality Act
authorizes the lawful admission into the United States of temporary,
nonimmigrant workers (H-2A workers) to perform agricultural labor or services
of a temporary or seasonal nature. The U.S. Department of Labor’s
Employment and Training Administration (ETA) is responsible for stating, among
other things, that there are not sufficient workers who are able, willing,
qualified, and available, and that the employment of aliens will not adversely
affect the wages and working conditions of workers similarly employed in the
U.S.
H-2A workers and domestic workers in corresponding
employment must be paid special rates of pay that vary by locality, must be
provided housing and transportation from that housing to the job site if their
employment requires them to be away from their residence overnight, and must be
guaranteed an offer of employment for a total number of hours equal to at least
75% of the work period specified in the contract.
The issue of a scarcity of bringing in farm labor from
other countries comes at a time of national debate over immigration.
While H-2A workers are meant to be in the U.S. only
temporarily and not meant to be permanent immigrants, the role of foreign
workers either on a temporary or more permanent basis is becoming more
controversial in this Presidential election year.
The Department of Labor retorts that they have processed
90 percent of H-2A applications in a timely manner.
DOL defines “timely” as the percentage of “complete H-2A
applications resolved 30 days before the start date of need. A complete H-2A
application is defined as one containing all the documentation (e.g., housing
inspection report, workers’ compensation, recruitment report) necessary for the
OFLC Certifying Officer to issue a final determination 30 days before the start
date of need.”
The U.S. Department of Labor made their statistics
available, which can be seen here.
An audio recording of the April 22 news conference is
available here
