Farmers Turn to Flawed Visa Program in Search for Legal Labor. Now the Rules Are Changing

Farmers turn to flawed visa program in search for legal labor. Now the rules are changing

The H-2A program now comes with higher up-front costs but is essential to keeping farms afloat amid a labor shortage.

Farmers turn to flawed visa program in search for legal labor. Now the rules — and costs — are changing.

Reading Time: 11 minutes Click here to read highlights from the story The number of seasonal workers hired by Wisconsin farmers through the H-2A program has increased six-fold over the past decade. Although the surge began before President Donald Trump returned to office, farmers now consider the program even more critical during Trump’s crackdown on immigrants without legal status. The Trump administration has introduced adjustments to progr…

Farmers Turn to Flawed Visa Program in Search for Legal Labor. Now the Rules - and Costs - are Changing.

Wisconsin farmers are increasingly hiring workers through the H-2A visa program — even as slow-moving bureaucracy and costs cause headaches. Looming rules changes bring uncertainty. By Paul Kiefer Wisconsin Watch This story was produced and originally published by Wisconsin Watch, a nonprofit, nonpartisan newsroom. It was made possible by donors like you. By the time […] The post Farmers Turn to Flawed Visa Program in Search for Legal Labor. Now…

Farmers turn to flawed H-2A visa program in search for legal labor. Now the rules — and costs — are changing.

By the time Monty Lilford received a call from the American consulate in Cape Town in February, he had only days to get from his home in South Africa’s Western Cape to Wisconsin’s Driftless Area. If all went according to plan, the 35-year-old mechanic would spend the next nine months as a do-it-all farmhand, joining the thousands of seasonal agricultural workers seeking better wages in Wisconsin through the H-2A visa program. …