Posted on Jul 28, 2023
As these farmworkers' children seek a different future, who will pick the crops?
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https://www.npr.org/2023/07/28/ [login to see] /farm-workers-labor-shortage-h2a-visa-dan-newhouse-immigration
By 6 in the morning, Paola Mendoza has pulled her hair back under a baseball cap and donned a long-sleeved sweatshirt to report to her summer job on a farm in Washington's Yakima Valley, known for its apples, pears and hops.
Mendoza is not there to pick fruits or vegetables. She's a research intern working on a project to improve irrigation systems. She spends her days staking the fields and collecting samples alongside her boss, Alan Schreiber, who also employs her mother.
Patricia Mendoza has worked on Schreiber's farm for more than 20 years. She spends her days weeding, thinning, planting and hand-harvesting crops. During peak harvest, she used to work as many as 70 hours a week.
Her earnings have helped provide the family with a decent living. But from the time Paola was young, both her mom and her dad — also a farmworker — were clear about one thing: They did not want her future to be on a farm.
By 6 in the morning, Paola Mendoza has pulled her hair back under a baseball cap and donned a long-sleeved sweatshirt to report to her summer job on a farm in Washington's Yakima Valley, known for its apples, pears and hops.
Mendoza is not there to pick fruits or vegetables. She's a research intern working on a project to improve irrigation systems. She spends her days staking the fields and collecting samples alongside her boss, Alan Schreiber, who also employs her mother.
Patricia Mendoza has worked on Schreiber's farm for more than 20 years. She spends her days weeding, thinning, planting and hand-harvesting crops. During peak harvest, she used to work as many as 70 hours a week.
Her earnings have helped provide the family with a decent living. But from the time Paola was young, both her mom and her dad — also a farmworker — were clear about one thing: They did not want her future to be on a farm.
As these farmworkers' children seek a different future, who will pick the crops?
Posted from npr.org
Farming
Agriculture
State of Washington
Children
Immigration
Posted 11 mo ago
Responses: 2
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PO1 William "Chip" Nagel
..."Congressman looks to workers from other countries
The farm labor shortage is a concern that has reached the halls of Congress.
The H-2A visa program allows employers to bring in foreign workers for seasonal work, provided they cannot find workers locally to do the job, among other requirements. Use of the program has risen at a fast clip. Washington state alone has seen a nearly 1,700% increase in guest workers over the last 14 years.
But a common complaint is that the program is too expensive and comes with too much red tape.
Newhouse was one of several lawmakers to recently reintroduce a bill, the Farm Workforce Modernization Act, which would cap H-2A wage increases. The bipartisan measure would also allow a limited number of year-round visas for nonseasonal labor, such as picking mushrooms or milking cows.
A farmworker picks cherries on a farm in the Yakima Valley on June 14. Facing labor shortages, farms like this one are increasingly turning to guest workers brought in from other countries.
/ Mike Kane For NPR
/
Mike Kane For NPR
A farmworker picks cherries on a farm in the Yakima Valley on June 14. Facing labor shortages, farms like this one are increasingly turning to guest workers brought in from other countries.
In addition, the bill would come with some protections for guest workers, including the right for workers to sue their employers. That's something labor advocates have been calling for given the large number and severity of civil rights and wage violations that state and federal investigations have uncovered in recent years.
"I want to make sure that there are fewer obstacles in front of our ability to produce food in this country and to make sure that the American people continue to have an abundant and safe food supply," Newhouse says. "And if we don't have an adequate labor force for the agricultural industry, that's in jeopardy."
Prior versions of the bill failed to gain enough support in Congress. The current version also faces an uphill climb. Moving any immigration-related bill through the Republican-controlled House is difficult.
"But that doesn't mean that the urgency of the problem is any less. In fact, it's greater," says Newhouse."
..."Congressman looks to workers from other countries
The farm labor shortage is a concern that has reached the halls of Congress.
The H-2A visa program allows employers to bring in foreign workers for seasonal work, provided they cannot find workers locally to do the job, among other requirements. Use of the program has risen at a fast clip. Washington state alone has seen a nearly 1,700% increase in guest workers over the last 14 years.
But a common complaint is that the program is too expensive and comes with too much red tape.
Newhouse was one of several lawmakers to recently reintroduce a bill, the Farm Workforce Modernization Act, which would cap H-2A wage increases. The bipartisan measure would also allow a limited number of year-round visas for nonseasonal labor, such as picking mushrooms or milking cows.
A farmworker picks cherries on a farm in the Yakima Valley on June 14. Facing labor shortages, farms like this one are increasingly turning to guest workers brought in from other countries.
/ Mike Kane For NPR
/
Mike Kane For NPR
A farmworker picks cherries on a farm in the Yakima Valley on June 14. Facing labor shortages, farms like this one are increasingly turning to guest workers brought in from other countries.
In addition, the bill would come with some protections for guest workers, including the right for workers to sue their employers. That's something labor advocates have been calling for given the large number and severity of civil rights and wage violations that state and federal investigations have uncovered in recent years.
"I want to make sure that there are fewer obstacles in front of our ability to produce food in this country and to make sure that the American people continue to have an abundant and safe food supply," Newhouse says. "And if we don't have an adequate labor force for the agricultural industry, that's in jeopardy."
Prior versions of the bill failed to gain enough support in Congress. The current version also faces an uphill climb. Moving any immigration-related bill through the Republican-controlled House is difficult.
"But that doesn't mean that the urgency of the problem is any less. In fact, it's greater," says Newhouse."
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PO1 William "Chip" Nagel
SGT (Join to see) Experience is a Hell of a Teacher. The Youngsters have seen How their Immigrant Parents have been Treated.
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Good question PO1 William "Chip" Nagel seems no one wants to let those hard working migrants in to harvest the crops, which will certainly drive prices up and supplies down.
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