Fresh produce growers in the US have welcomed a renewed commitment by the Trump administration to simplify the process of hiring temporary agricultural workers from overseas.
On Thursday, the USDA and Labour, State and Homeland Security Departments issued a joint statement reaffirming Trump’s earlier promise to help the agricultural sector maintain a stable workforce, saying government agencies were “working in coordination to propose streamlining, simplifying and improving the H-2A temporary agriculture vista programme – reducing cumbersome bureaucracy and ensuring adequate protections for US workers”.
No date was given for the implementation of the initiatives, but sources said the new rule could be in place in time for the 2020 growing season.
The statement said: “The Trump Administration is committed to modernising the H-2A visa programme rules in a way that is responsive to stakeholder concerns and that deepens our confidence in the programme as a source of legal and verified labour for agriculture – while also reinforcing the programme’s strong employment and wage protections for the American workforce.
“In addition, by improving the H-2A visa programme and substantially reducing its complexity, the Administration also plans to incentivise farmers’ use of the E-Verify programme to ensure their workforce is authorised to work in the United States.”
Tom Stenzel, president and CEO of the United Fresh Produce Association welcomed the plans, saying: “United Fresh is pleased with today’s announcement …to address the critical challenges of the existing bureaucratictemporary agricultural labour programmes.
“We look forward to continuing our work with the Administration to meet our industry’s need for adequatelabour. The fruit and vegetable industry is highly dependent on our workforce in order to sustain and grow our industry to meet increasingdemandfor fresh fruits and vegetables.”
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