Legislative Update
Congress needs to fix the agricultural temporary guest worker program this year, the American Farm Bureau Federation told a House Judiciary subcommittee in late March. In submitted testimony, AFBF told the Subcommittee on Immigration, Border Security and Claims that the temporary worker program, H-2a, is costly and cumbersome for farmers. A workable program, according to Farm Bureau would, "provide opportunities and economic incentives to work legally and temporarily in the United States. Agriculture would not have to be confronted with a largely unauthorized workforce, social security mismatches and homeland security raids." The farm labor scene has shifted toward hired, nonfamily workers – many who are not authorized to work in the United States. Combined with the fact that arduous, seasonal agricultural work has become less attractive to Americans, U.S. agriculture's reliance on farm labor has increased while legal sources of labor have declined, Farm Bureau stated. The issues are impacting Ohio farmers as well. "Ohio agricultural employers simply want legal, dependable workers at a price the market will bear," according to John Wargowsky, executive director of Mid-American Ag and Hort Services, a consortium of associations, organizations and employers organized to meet the educational, regulatory compliance assistance and labor recruiting needs of agricultural and other employers in Indiana, Kentucky and Ohio. OFBF provides contract management services to the organization. "The Adverse Effect Wage Rate (currently $9 per hour) mandated through the H-2a program is usually significantly above market-based wage rates and makes the program unaffordable for most Ohio employers," Wargowsky said. "Both employers and employees will benefit from reform of the H-2a program." According to AFBF, farmers are inundated with lawsuits due to immigration laws that prohibit employers from requesting specific information or rejecting documents from potential workers. Farm Bureau said that agricultural employers also are challenged by a growing amount of counterfeit documents and government-imposed limitations, and that is why farm labor reform is urgently needed. "Unlike other programs, H-2a requires users to provide a wage considerably higher than the prevailing wage and the federal minimum, as well as free housing and transportation, and a three-fourths wage guarantee," Farm Bureau said. "Special consideration should be given to farm employers and employees who have made or benefited from investments, and to the appropriate wage-benefits, given the relative difficulty of attracting farm workers." According to AFBF, under terms of the H-2a program, "workers would not have to risk their lives with human smugglers, treacherous border conditions and fraudulent documents. America would not have to be faced with underground smuggling markets, misallocated homeland security resources, and unauthorized workers whose whereabouts and activities are difficult to monitor." AFBF is urging Congress to support a temporary worker program that:
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