The Department of Labor (DOL) announced a settlement agreement this week with G Farms, an agribusiness operation in Maricopa County, Arizona, after finding that the company had subjected H-2A guest workers to "simply inhumane" living conditions. Gonzalez obtained the foreign workers' visas with the help of Le Felco, a Wyoming-based firm.
According to the newest Dept. of Labor statistics the number of H-2A visas granted in FY17 increased by 20% from last year. The DOL approved 200,049 H-2A visas in FY17 compared to 165,741 in FY16.
House Judiciary Committee Chairman Bob Goodlatte (R-Va.) introduced the Agricultural Guestworker Act or AG Act this week, which would replace the existing, H-2A temporary guest-worker visa program with a new H-2C temporary guest-worker visa. The H-2C visa would expand the types of jobs that foreign workers could perform under the visa, adding both dairy workers and meat and seafood processors to the program.
U.S. Attorney General Jeff Sessions announced that the Dept. of Justice will file a lawsuit against Crop Production Services, Inc. for violating the Immigration and Nationality Act by discriminating against American workers. This will be the first lawsuit based on Pres. Trump’s ‘Buy American, Hire American’ executive order that he signed in April.
Opinion journalist Reuben Navarrette, Jr. recently made the claim that the RAISE Act would prevent U.S. farmers from employing crop workers. Anyone familiar with the bill knows that it focuses solely on how the federal government issues immigrant visas, and agribusiness will continue to have access to an unlimited supply of agricultural guest workers under the H-2A program.
The Pueblo Chieftain reports illegal aliens are returning to Mexico rather than run the risk of being deported or sent to prison for immigration violations. Self-deportation is prompting growers to increase their reliance on legal guest workers or to shift away from crops that require field labor.
A recent NPR article shows the growing trend of agricultural employers turning to H-2A foreign visa workers in an effort to avoid negotiating wages with American workers. This arrangement saves employers money and gives them complete control of the workers.
