No Need To Import Farm Workers, According To Federal Gao Report

The country has plenty of agricultural workers, according to a government study that undercuts a push to issue more visas to foreign farm workers.

The report by the General Accounting Office, requested by Congress, hurts a legislative effort to allow more foreign farm workers into the country, The New York Times reported Sunday.

Several farm industry associations have been pushing to expand the number of temporary guest-worker visas, arguing that shortages will increase in some areas of the country as the Immigration and Naturalization Service cracks down on illegal aliens. About 40 percent of the country’s estimated 2 million farm workers are here illegally, the Times said.

But there is “no national agricultural labor shortage at this time,” the GAO said in its report, expected to be released Wednesday.

However, the federal agency acknowledged that localized shortages might exist for specific crops or geographical areas.

Farm worker advocates argue that increasing the number of foreign workers cuts into the wages of American field workers and weakens their efforts to unionize.

Congress had asked the GAO to look into whether there was a shortage after Republican lawmakers said agricultural employers face too many legal hurdles when they try to import workers.

Under the guest-worker program, known as H-2A, farm employers brought in 15,000 foreign workers last year.

Sen. Gordon Smith, R-Ore., has proposed a bill that would allow another 25,000 guest workers to enter each year.

Under current law, farmers who want to bring in workers must ask the U.S. Department of Labor to certify that no labor surplus exists in the farmer’s region. In a recent nine-month period, the department approved 99 percent of farmers’ applications for guest workers.