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Does include H-2A visas for immigrant agricultural workers? Which would be weird since @DHSgov just streamlined the process days ago to ensure farmers have laborers. https://twitter.com/realDonaldTrump/status/1252418369170501639">https://twitter.com/realDonal...
About 9,000 of the 40,000 seasonal farm workers in Michigan are H-2A immigrants. While the doesn& #39;t sound like a big number, they aren& #39;t distributed evenly but by application. So if one farm can& #39;t get laborers, that crop doesn& #39;t get picked and to your table.
The critics will point to the more than 1 million newly unemployed in Michigan. The average wage for those farm jobs is $14.40/hour (averaged over a 40-work week). So that& #39;s $576/ week. Current unemployment under the pandemic tops out at $960/week. Those jobs won& #39;t get filled.
Imagine a grow season with no Michigan asparagus or our revered cherries. That& #39;s a potential with no H-2As.
Now I suspect this will NOT include H-2As. Trump has been trying to recover farmers since tariffs damaged their valuable exports. But this does create even more confusion at a very critical time for Michigan crop farmers.
The confusion is going to be piles red tape that exists amid a global pandemic. Imagine being a Mexican national trying to get across the border right now with an H-2A visa. Or if you& #39;re in country, securing transport is a problem w/ flight and bus routes significantly reduced.
What I can& #39;t figure out is why announce this at all? Canadian border is shut, Southern border is mostly shut. There& #39;s almost no international flights. Has immigration been functioning normally this whole time and I didn& #39;t know it?
I& #39;m guessing this answers the question. If DHS have been involved for weeks, the 5-day old streamlining of H-2As is likey still valid. https://twitter.com/maggieNYT/status/1252427770468040706?s=19">https://twitter.com/maggieNYT...
