Immigration Glitch

Tree fruit producers are shorthanded. Berry producers are as well and unless the U.S. government gets a new I.T. person it may get worse. Dan Fazio, WAFLA

FAZIO: We've got an emergency situation with workers stuck at the border and a visa system that is not working out for them. The situation is fluid. It's a worldwide problem. For Washington and Oregon we sent 324 workers to the consulate in Tijuana, Mexico on Monday, June 8th. They were due to help a half a dozen farmers who've invested considerable resources in this H2-A legal worker program.

A computer problem has held up the printing of their visas ever since which means the farmers are stuck paying for hotels and food while they wait.

FAZIO: All of our workers have received their background checks and passed it and the majority of these are workers who return with visas every year. They're not a security threat and the state department has been working hard keeping us apprised of the situation but we're not sure when the system will be back up and it kind of raises the question - is this government committed to the legal worker program.

He says there is another part to this issue.

FAZIO: There is an emergency procedure that Congress put in for doing these interviews at the border. The state department has approved our request for emergency visas but the Department of Homeland Securities Customs and Border Protection called CBP is kind of balking. They want to charge a special fee of $591 per worker on top of the $190 per worker the employers have already paid for the background checks and the hundreds of dollars they are paying to keep the worker in hotels and food.

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