Immigration Update

Immigration Update. I’m Greg Martin with today’s Fruit Grower Report.

The visa crisis which stranded thousands of farm workers at the border is being resolved through the issuance of EMERGENCY VISA WAIVERS in San Diego and other ports of entry along the U.S. - Mexico border. Dan Fazio with WAFLA says this as been a mess.

FAZIO: Last week the State Department printed visas but did not accept our petition for emergency visa waivers for the visas that they couldn’t print. This week, they have apparently accepted our petition for emergency visa waivers. It’ll mark the first time that they have accepted emergency waivers for farm workers.

The whole problem started with a computer glitch that wouldn’t allow the department to print visas.

FAZIO: The agency was very reluctant to consider farmworkers as an emergency visa but seeing that they had no real solution to this problem which has been going on for quite a while now. This is not the first time this year that we have had problems with their printing system and of course they had a major snafu last year. They acceded or granted our request to print emergency visa waivers for farm workers.

Roxana Macias, Program Manager for WAFLA was in San Diego meeting with officials at the San Ysidro Port of Entry. Fazio says that it’s important that farmers get their workers into the orchards.

FAZIO: But even more important is when this system breaks again that we do have a work-around. And so it’s important that we establish this work-around now

That’s today’s Fruit Grower Report. I’m Greg Martin on the Ag Information Network of the West.