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Arizona Farmers Group Discusses How To Reform Foreign Labor Visas

(Photo By Andrew Bernier - KJZZ)
Workers in the field planting seedlings off of a machine.

A group of farm labor and immigration reform leaders Wednesday discussed via phone how to change the legal system, called H-2 A, that brings in farm workers.

The H-2 A program is used to bring non-immigrant, foreign workers to the United States seasonally.

Western Growers president Tom Nassif participated, and represents produce farmers in Arizona, California and Colorado.

In Arizona, Nassif said the H-2 A approval process, which involves four different government agencies, takes too long, and has left a shortage of workers to harvest crops.

“We need to get rid of the H-2A system and put together a future flow program for farm workers that’s less complicated and more expeditious,” he said, echoing the topics discussed on the call.

Nassif said because the program takes months, Arizona crops could be left unpicked in harvest season.

Casey Kuhn was a senior field correspondent at KJZZ from 2015 to 2019.