WASHINGTON STATE

Washington State House Democrats

HOUSE DEMOCRATS

Jam-packed trees awaiting held-up workers

People were talking about it in April, but with a huge apple crop almost ready for harvest, a farm labor shortage is turning into more than a mere concern for many Washington farmers.

Harvest of Washington apples begins in mid-August and generally ends in early November.

 The federal H-2A program allows farmers to request visas for workers from other countries and many of the H-2A guestworkers needed for the job are already in Washington where they’ve been harvesting cherries and thinning apple trees. But with so much fruit to pick this year, growers know they’ll need more hands. Not a couple dozen more, a couple thousand more.

The H-2A program is usually efficient: the farmers pay roundtrip transportation costs and provide housing for the workers while they are in the USA. The process generally doesn’t take more than a couple of days. This month, however, due to the humanitarian crisis of unaccompanied minors coming into the United States, the process has come to a complete standstill. More than 2,500 workers seeking the H-2A visa are stuck at the border.

The State Department said the delay is due to a technical glitch and they’re working to fix it. Meanwhile, though, the held up workers are going into their second week without resources, the farmers without their workers, and the apple trees are bursting with fruit.

Read more about how this situation is developing here.