November 2022 - 37

AG LABOR REVIEW
H-2A program in
need of repair
MICHAEL MARSH
President & CEO
National Council of
Agricultural Employers
Michael@ncaeonline.org
Picture it in your mind's eye.
The burly batter steps to the plate.
Brimming with confidence, the batter
sneers at the pitcher while taking
practice swings. The batter pauses,
pointing the bat over the center field
fence far, far away and takes a final
practice swing.
The batter is ready.
Unshaken by the batter's theatrics,
the pitcher throws a meaty ball right
across the heart of the plate. The batter
swings mightily, sure the crushing hit
will result in a tape measure home run.
And, whiff! The bat strikes nothing
but air.
I wonder if the secretary of labor
feels something akin to that batter.
On October 12, 2022, the
Department of Labor (DOL) finally
published the new H-2A program rule.
The process that started in July 2019
during the Trump Administration
came to its conclusion over three
years later and under the auspices of a
different president.
Whiff!
The H-2A Temporary Agricultural
Labor Program has been in critical
need of repair since the initial
regulations were promulgated in
1987. And, with the rapid growth
in the program as fewer domestic
workers show up on the farm or
ranch to apply for these good-paying
jobs, agricultural employers have had
to turn to the H-2A program to try
and hold on to their legacy family
operations. The changes the secretary
published will not help.
The rule that was originally
proposed contained some
commonsense cost-saving measures
for employers. There were several
measures included that would have
made the program more efficient.
Also included in the original Trump
Administration proposal were changes
farm and ranch families would have
rather not seen, as those changes
would make the program more
cumbersome and spike employer costs.
The rule that was published by the
Biden DOL revealed the commonsense
cost-saving measures stricken leaving
only the more costly in place.
Whiff!
Interestingly, the Biden
Administration has been looking
to the H visa programs, H-2A and
H-2B, as part of the solution to stem
irregular migration into the United
States. The notion being that people
will come here legally on a visa, work
temporarily or seasonally here in
the States, and then return to their
families back home. Remittances
made to their families in their home
countries from performing these
essential jobs U.S. domestic workers
won't do, would transform lives,
communities and economies, from
whence the workers come.
However, by essentially taxing
already overburdened agricultural
employers for engaging in the H-2A
visa program, the new H-2A rule
seems an attempt to accomplish this
cure for irregular migration at the
Southern border.
The U.S. has witnessed a surge of
its agricultural production fleeing
offshore to foreign competition in
Canada and Mexico, which offer much
lower costs of production. Today, more
than 60% of the fresh fruit and 35% of
the fresh vegetables consumed in the
U.S. are produced overseas. This rule
will hasten that production flight.
Whiff!
Mr. Secretary, that's strike three. VGN
Fruit + Vegetable
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November 2022

Table of Contents for the Digital Edition of November 2022
