The U.S. Government Accountability Office (GAO) recently offered two recommendations for improving the H-2A visa program. The first recommendation is that the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) establish a schedule to process H-2A petitions electronically. The second recommendation is that the Department of Labor (DOL) evaluate options it could use to better locate workers to return back wages.
The recommendations follow a request from two U.S. House of Representatives committee chairs asking the GAO to evaluate the effectiveness of the H-2A program.
DHS and DOL agreed with the GAO recommendations. DHS, DOL and the Department of State (DOS) each have roles in administering the H-2A program.
The GAO recommendations were in a report to the chair of the U.S. Senate’s Committee on the Judiciary.
REPORT FINDINGS
From fiscal year (FY) 2018 through FY 2023, the number of approved H-2A jobs and visas increased by over 50%, with the Department of State issuing almost 310,000 H-2A visas in FY 2023.
The vast majority of approved H-2A jobs (87%) were in the farmworkers and laborers, crop, nursery and greenhouse occupation category. The majority of jobs (51%) were located in five states: California, Florida, Georgia, North Carolina and Washington.
H-2A workers were mostly male (97%), Mexican (92%), under 41 years old (83%) and married (60%).
H-2A GROWTH FACTORS
Several factors may have contributed to the H-2A program’s growth, according to researchers and stakeholder groups GAO interviewed. Those factors include:
- Decreased supply of domestic agricultural workers as they aged out of the labor force, younger workers opted for work in other industries, and individuals without lawful immigration status could be subject to removal from the United States.
- Employers expanded use of H-2A workers for a broader set of crops and occupations and for longer periods during the year.
- Employer preference for H-2A workers over domestic workers.
Read the full GAO report here.
Source: GAO
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