Farmers may lose their Mexican workforce
The State Department has stopped processing new applications in Mexico for seasonal farmworkers, or H-2A guest worker visas, to limit the spread of Covid-19. Berry, melon, apple, and other fruits and vegetable farmers rely heavily on foreign guest workers, with five states—Florida, Georgia, Washington, California, and North Carolina—accounting for more than half of these positions. “Those crews won’t be there exactly when they’re needed, if they get there at all,” one farmer tells The Wall Street Journal. “That means lost crops. That means lost food.” Last year, a controversial bill passed the House that would expand the H-2A program into a year-round program.
