Lawmakers shine light on H-2A visa snafu due to government shutdown
Lawmakers shine light on H-2A visa snafu due to government shutdown
WASHINGTON -- The 16-day government shutdown caused a backlog of H-2A visa applications and, with the winter fruit and vegetable harvest season approaching, more than two dozen members of Congress urged the federal government to staff up the program and turn around applications as soon as possible.
In Oct. 18 letters to agencies that run the agricultural guest worker program, 25 lawmakers led by Reps. Sam Farr (D-CA) and Tom Rooney (R-FL) warned that the combination of looming harvest and no harvest workers means growers in states like Florida and Arizona will be severely affected, along with consumers.
"America has already suffered cutbacks because of the government shutdown; it needn't suffer reduced availability of fresh food because the workforce isn't available to harvest it," they wrote in one of the letters.
The lawmakers map out a plan involving various government agencies to get temporary foreign workers in the fields. During the shutdown, the U.S. Department of Labor was unable to take preliminary steps in processing the temporary visa applications and issue labor certifications, which in turn will cause problems at the U.S. Citizenship & Immigration Services and the Department of State, they say.
The letters ask the federal offices to reallocate staff to process applications quicker and eliminate the backlog in 10 days. Federal staff should prioritize the processing of H-2A applications over others; allow the use of scanned or digital foreign labor certifications with non-original signatures; and allow immigration officials to share receipt numbers with petitioners on the same day the petitions are logged in.
Traditionally, the receipt number is not shared with the petitioner until the petition is approved, and that one-week delay could cost producers, they argued.
The State Department also should increase staff to process applications and shorten the interview process for workers who have participated in the program for two or more years.
"Getting H-2A applications processed in a timely manner, even without a government shutdown, is always a challenge for produce providers," Robert Guenther, senior vice president of public policy at the United Fresh Produce Association, said in a statement. "Paperwork being backed up for over two weeks really puts growers, who desperately need workers, in a tighter bind."
Guenther praised the bipartisan group of lawmakers for urging federal regulators to move resources as necessary to speed visa application processing.