But that is the prospect as Congress persistently fails to address immigration reform. “We still don’t have the U.S. domestic workers coming in to fill jobs,” Enrique Gastelum, chief executive of the Washington Farm Labor Association, told The (Everett) Herald this year. Migrant workers have played an increasingly important role in U.S. agriculture, but contentious disagreements about migrants and immigration policy have prevented reasonable reform. According to the U.S. Department of Agriculture, in 2005 there were 50,000 visas issued under the H2A Temporary Agriculture Program. By 2021, 321,000 farm jobs were eligible to be filled by workers under the H2A program, but only 258,000 visas were issued.

Source: Forbes July 21, 2023 13:08 UTC