Farm employers that rely on seasonal work visas have notched one regulatory success after another under the Trump administration amid a broader crackdown on employment of foreign workers. <\/p>\n
Their biggest win so far came this month when the Department of Labor issued regulations overhauling the wage standard for most workers hired on H-2A temporary work visas. <\/p>\n
The new rule<\/a> delivers on a major industry priority by replacing an existing framework for \u201cadverse effect\u201d wage rates with one that will lead to substantially lower growth in pay to foreign farmworkers employed through the program. <\/p>\n \u201cIt\u2019s a welcome relief,\u201d said Michael Marsh, president and CEO of the National Council of Agricultural Employers. \u201cHopefully, it will give us an opportunity to get a wage rate in place that\u2019s more competitive in the marketplace.\u201d <\/p>\n Over the past nine months Trump administration policies have caused chaos for businesses employing immigrants of all kinds. It\u2019s terminated protections and work authorization for hundreds of thousands covered by humanitarian relief programs. It\u2019s set new fees for H-1B workers that would likely cut off access to the program from all but the biggest employers. And a mass deportation campaign had created uncertainty<\/a> \u2014and fueled absences from workplaces\u2014across the labor market. <\/p>\n The exception has been the H-2A program, which allows hiring of foreign workers for seasonal farm labor and accounts for a growing share of the farm workforce in the US. <\/p>\n Even before the new wage rule, the Trump administration halted enforcement<\/a> of worksite organizing protections for H-2A farmworkers and the White House had promised a reprieve<\/a> for the ag sector from workplace immigration crackdowns. <\/p>\n The Department of Homeland Security in recent weeks also issued a rule<\/a> allowing for more rapid filing of H-2A worker petitions. Those visas dodged a freeze<\/a> on visas for commercial truck drivers. And they were one of the few categories allowed to bypass<\/a> new in-person visa interview requirements adopted by the State Department that could create new delays for foreign workers. <\/p>\n New Wage Rule<\/p>\n Agricultural businesses that rely on the H-2A program have the ear of lawmakers and administration officials in a way that employers of high-skilled workers on H-1Bs don\u2019t, said Sam Peak, labor and mobility policy manager at Economic Innovation Group. <\/p>\n \u201cThere\u2019s just not the same incentive for advocacy,\u201d he said. \u201cDespite polling that shows high-skilled immigration is a popular priority, they trust farmers. And doing something that\u2019s a win for farmers is seen as a win for America.\u201d <\/p>\n The farm industry since Trump\u2019s election in November have clamored for an overhaul<\/a> of the adverse effect wage rate, which applies to most H-2A workers. Congress charged the DOL with ensuring that the pay and working conditions of US workers aren\u2019t adversely effected by hiring of foreign labor although it largely left it up to the agency to determine how to meet that mandate. <\/p>\n Employers using the program must pay the highest of the AEWR wage, a prevailing wage, or collectively bargained wage.<\/p>\n Agricultural groups had been unsuccessful<\/a> with legal efforts to overturn a Biden-era AEWR rule that stirred ire in particular over a requirement that workers performing multiple roles on a job site be paid for the highest-earning job. <\/p>\n