Brownfield Ag News
Republican lawmakers urge Secretaries to fix H-2A guest worker program delays, structural barriers
By Nicole Heslip
Some Congressional Republicans are requesting the Trump administration make direct improvements to the H-2A guest worker program.
Republican Senator Cindy Hyde-Smith of Mississippi is leading a bicameral group of lawmakers calling on the Secretaries of State, Labor, and Homeland Security to address administrative hurdles for farmers.
The lawmakers say they’ve received many reports about significant challenges and delays for H-2A workforce visa processing at multiple stages in the program.
Nearly 80 percent of producers surveyed in the House Ag Committee’s bipartisan Agricultural Labor Working Group Report said they have experienced delays in the program, nearly all of which were because of the three agencies that oversee the program.
H-2A position requests grew by nearly 20 percent for the second quarter of this year, on top of regular record growth for the program.
The group is encouraging quicker processing for returning users, improved coordination between the agencies, and extending H-2A eligibility to year-round livestock, dairy, poultry, and swine operations.
The request comes days after a few Republicans withdrew support for the Securing Ag Workforce Act introduced by House Agriculture Committee Chairman Glenn “GT” Thompson.
Thompson and Derrick Van Orden of Wisconsin are listed as co-signers in the letter.