The U.S. ag industry has long been asking for H-2A Visa reform. Washington state Congressman Dan Newhouse says that Congress has been listening to their concerns for several years.
“So, we’re looking at ways that we can reform our Visa programs to better suit today’s agriculture so that the workers that we have can rest assured that they’re not going to be subject to some of the deportation activities,” Newhouse states.
He says that the border crisis in recent years led to push-back on labor reform, but the policies of the new administration are helping to reduce illegal encounters at the southern border.
“Last February, in 2024, there were over 140,000 illegal attempts to enter the country. This February, one year later, that number was down to 8,000.”
The numbers for March were even lower. New data this week from the Trump administration showed a 94% drop from last March.
