Visa glitch slows flow of seasonal farmworkers

The cantaloupes and watermelons at Jacksons Farming Co. of Autryville lie ready to be picked, but they won’t wait long – the cash crop is at its best for only two days. And half the Jacksons’ work force is missing.

Those missing are among hundreds of legal seasonal workers, hired mostly from Mexico, who were unable to cross the border for about two weeks because of glitches in the federal visa system, leaving many North Carolina farmers stretched for workers and losing crops.

Jacksons Farming Co. expected 43 seasonal workers to arrive on June 11. Nearly two weeks later, they still hadn’t shown up. Rodney Jackson, vice president of the company, said the farm could be looking at annual revenue losses of as much as 30 percent.

“It’s so frustrating, it’s hard to put words to,” Jackson said.

A hardware failure on June 9 kept consulates from performing security checks. Consulates’ ability to issue visas was disabled because of hardware problems with the State Department’s main database. The problem has been fixed, according to a posting Friday at the State Department’s website, but the temporary workers could be arriving too late for farmers dependent on the system to market their produce.

North Carolina is the top employer of seasonal workers under the federal H-2A visa system, which brings workers on short-term permits to meet growers’ needs. The state certified 12,386 laborers in 2013. More than 1,000 workers were expected to arrive in North Carolina since the glitch was reported.

Tobacco time ahead

In Youngsville, Jeremy Mitchell’s cucumber crop is growing beyond the size he can sell. All his workers can do is pick as quickly as possible as Mitchell watches money go down the drain. But he is more worried about his tobacco, which brings in most of his annual income.

Last week, Mitchell was missing six of the eight workers he was expecting to work on his farm. He has been using the H-2A program for 15 years without problems, so the visa delays came as an unhappy surprise.

“It’s always been reliable,” he said of the program. The visas guarantee free housing and $10.32 per hour in pay.

Jackson said the visas are the only viable system available to hire a stable, legal workforce.

“We don’t have many options,” Jackson said. “It’s either this, or deal with illegals.”

Farmers affected by the glitch feel somewhat jilted. Many struggled through the paperwork required to request the legal seasonal workers rather than simply hire undocumented workers. The North Carolina Growers Association processes many of the applications for laborers, helping farmers navigate the red tape. Of the workers expected to arrive since June 9, nearly 80 percent were certified through N.C. Growers.

Stan Eury, executive director of N.C. Growers, said everyone affected feels the program’s shortcomings. Eury said as many as 90 percent of farmworkers nationwide are thought to be undocumented. Farmers who chose to bring in workers legally and pay a fair wage are left frustrated by the visa delays as their counterparts with undocumented laborers continue harvesting unhindered, he said.

Many farmers use the program as a last resort because of labor shortages. Alternatives to the program are “terrible,” Eury said. He feels the State Department is taking the issue seriously, but for the farmers, every day is critical. Two weeks or more can be devastating.

“You might as well forget about it,” Eury said.

Help on the way?

On Tuesday, the State Department reported about two-thirds of consulates were back online. On Monday, N.C. Growers received its first busloads of workers since the problems began. The group received 118 workers Friday and more are scheduled to arrive on Monday.

Agricultural workers are among those given the highest priority in the process of unclogging the bureaucratic mess of visa applications, according to a news release from the Bureau of Consular Affairs.

It may take a while for seasonal workers to arrive in North Carolina though, said Andrew Jackson, a Clinton attorney specializing in H-2A visas. Those originally turned away at a consulate because of the glitches are now being told to come back for their appointments, but many live a day’s journey away.

“Logistically it’s a nightmare,” Jackson said.

The issue could become more severe for some North Carolina farmers as the tobacco picking draws near. Workers brought in through the H-2A visa system to pick tobacco normally arrive at the end of June, he said.

Fortunately for members of N.C. Growers, the association has coordinated sharing workers among neighbors, relieving some of the pressure. Lee Wicker, deputy director of the organization, said he is thankful the glitch didn’t hit in North Carolina’s prime season. He said 80 percent of the seasonal workers contracted for this summer have already arrived. The issue is perhaps more deeply felt in states such as Washington, where the berry picking season is in full swing.

Eric Ramirez, supervisor of FRB Harvesting in Clinton, said the company will continue to use the H-2A program because workers hired locally cannot always commit to full-time work, making the seasonal workers more reliable.

Ramirez said last week that he has no idea when his workers are going to arrive. The company was scheduled to receive 48 workers on June 21.

The company was told the workers would probably arrive late last week. But about 20 percent of FRB Harvesting’s crops has already gone bad, and the longer the wait, the worse it gets. The farm’s peppers have been the hardest hit.

“It’s taking too much time, too much effort,” Ramirez said.

This story was originally published June 27, 2015 at 4:19 PM with the headline "Visa glitch slows flow of seasonal farmworkers."