Suspending H-2B Program

Suspending H-2B Program

Suspending H-2B Program. I’m Greg Martin with today’s Fruit Grower Report.

Last week word the Department of Labor suspended the processing of all H-2B applications. Dan Fazio with Washington Farm Labor Association describes the program.

FAZIO: The H-2B program is the seasonal, non-agricultural guest worker program, so it’s the way that non agricultural employers get their legal and stable workforce just like the H-2A program is the way that agricultural employers, farmers, get get their legal and stable workforce.

It might sound like this doesn’t affect ag but that’s not true.

FAZIO: So the H-2B program is non-agriculture so a packing house for example where people pack apples, that would be H-2B. H-2B program is smaller than the H-2A program. It is capped at 66-thousand workers. H-2A is uncapped and last year we did over 115-thousand workers nationwide, 9,000 in Washington State.

The suspension does not affect the H-2A program in any way. This legislation came about back in 1986.

FAZIO: It’s just one line in the Immigration and Naturalization Act that says there shall be a program administered by INS for non-agricultural seasonal guest workers. The plaintiffs in this lawsuit said it doesn’t say anything about Department of Labor running this program so theoretically the program could go on just transferred over to the Department of Homeland Security but that’s kind of the next step.

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

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