HYDE-SMITH SAYS H-2A VISA DELAYS, RED TAPE MUST BE FIXED TO HELP MISS. AG PRODUCERS
Acting Labor Sec. Tells Hyde-Smith Reorganization Will Improve Process to Hire Temporary Foreign Farm Laborers
VIDEO: Senator Hyde-Smith and Labor Department Head Discuss H-2A Visa Program Reforms.
WASHINGTON, D.C. – U.S. Senator Cindy Hyde-Smith (R-Miss.) today stressed the need for the U.S. Department of Labor to improve its handling of an H-2A visa program now plagued by serious delays and regulatory challenges that disrupted plantings, harvests, and year-round agricultural operations in Mississippi and around the country.
Hyde-Smith discussed the H-2A situation with Acting Labor Secretary Keith Sonderling at a Senate Labor, Health and Human Services, and Education Appropriations Subcommittee hearing to review the Labor Department’s FY2027 budget request.
“In Mississippi, I am hearing from so many that, also like the H-2B workers, we can’t get our H-2A visas. We can’t get them processed, and specifically this year, we saw considerable delays,” Hyde-Smith told Sonderling. “The agricultural society really needs your help on that because crops do not keep and we have a job to feed this country. It’s very critical. It’s just the demand is growing, you know, for more of these workers. So, I’m really interested in what you were saying about the office of immigration policy.”
Sonderling said the budget request includes resources to reorganize the Office of Foreign Labor Certification into an independent agency rather than an office within the Employment and Training Administration.
“I’ve seen firsthand how important it is for our growers to have a workforce that can actually pick these American crops and continue with the demand not only here in the United States but exporting our produce across the world,” Sonderling said.
“They need workers and that’s really on the Department of Labor to make sure that we're working with the grower community that they have the ability to come to us to get that customer service, to understand because it can get very complicated as you know with the forms which we’re always trying to simplify and then the process of with the Department of Homeland Security and the Department of State as well,” the Acting Secretary continued. “So that’s really the goal, and we are working with the Senate very closely on this proposal to have that dedicated sole office related to processing the H-2A.”
Sonderling also discussed a proposed rule to ensure wages for agricultural workers reflect local markets to ensure H-2A hires do not displace American workers who wish to work in the same sector.
As part of today’s hearing, Hyde-Smith also submitted a question opposing a renewed budget request to terminate the Job Corps program and instead look for constructive reforms to preserve and improve the job-training program instead of phasing it out entirely.
There are Job Corps centers in Gulfport, Batesville, and Crystal Springs. The Job Corps center on the Mississippi Gulf Coast partners with Huntington Ingalls Shipbuilding to help develop a pipeline of skilled workers who contribute directly to our nation’s shipbuilding and defense industrial base.
“We saw a similar proposal to shut down Job Corps in the FY26 request, and I appreciate that on a bipartisan basis, appropriators recognized the important role it plays in workforce development across the country,” Hyde-Smith said. “While I understand all government programs should improve efficiency and accountability, I believe we should focus on strengthening and modernizing Job Corps rather than eliminating a program that has produced meaningful results for so many young Americans.”
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