farm workers – ImmigrationReform.com

USCIS Can’t Get Enough of Unlimited Ag Visas

Bob Dane — Sat, 26 Feb 2022 00:24:45 +0000

A curious memo from U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS) recently touted “expansion of labor pathways” for foreign farmworkers into the U.S. The announcement was odd because there are no caps on H-2A visas, so talk of “expansion” seems superfluous, if not nonsensical. Beyond that, the memo promoted a lone nonprofit group that has received [...]

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Senate Judiciary Committee Holds Hearing on Farmworker Amnesty

Preston Huennekens — Thu, 22 Jul 2021 12:46:21 +0000

The Senate Committee on the Judiciary held a hearing titled “Immigrant Farmworkers are Essential to Feeding America.” The hearing largely focused on the FAIR-opposed Farm Workforce Modernization Act, a bill that would amnesty approximately 1.5 million illegal aliens and greatly expand the already-unlimited H-2A agricultural guestworker program. In March, the House of Representatives passed their [...]

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Farm Groups Pressure Senate for More Foreign Farmworkers

Preston Huennekens — Thu, 10 Jun 2021 18:05:09 +0000

The Agricultural Workforce Coalition (AWC), a group of farming and agricultural organizations, sent a letter to Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer (D-N.Y.) and Minority Leader Mitch McConnell (R-Ky.) pressuring them to pass legislation addressing alien farmworkers. Most of the letter bemoans the H-2A agricultural guestworker program, and specifically asks the Senate to “pass legislation to [...]

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Agriculture Department Moves to Make Foreign Farm Workers Cheaper

Preston Huennekens — Fri, 02 Oct 2020 19:08:22 +0000

The Department of Agriculture (USDA) published a notice in the Federal Register that they will refuse to collect the wage data necessary to establish wage rates for H-2A agricultural guestworkers. This will have the effect of lowering wages for workers in the H-2A program, an unlimited guest worker program that research shows already certifies foreign [...]

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U.S. ‘Waives’ Through Foreign Farm Hands as Unemployment Soars

Bob Dane — Fri, 03 Apr 2020 08:56:44 +0000

In the face of skyrocketing unemployment, the federal government continues to put foreign workers on a fast track for U.S. agricultural jobs. Secretary of State Mike Pompeo authorized consular officers to waive the visa interview requirement for first-time and returning H-2 (semi-skilled, blue-collar) applicants, including farm workers. “We anticipate the vast majority of otherwise qualified [...]

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House Passes Bill that Grants Amnesty, Sanctions Indentured Servitude, and Proves Mark Twain Wrong

Ira Mehlman — Fri, 13 Dec 2019 16:19:31 +0000

On Dec. 11, the U.S. House of Representatives, a body that has managed to accomplish exactly nothing of import in this session, somehow managed to achieve a dubious trifecta. With bipartisan support, the House approved the ironically named Farm Workforce Modernization Act (H.R. 5038) by a vote of 260-165. It seems that 260 members are [...]

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