Foreign workers who are crucial to Louisiana’s crawfish industry aren’t being issued the H2a and H2b visas they need for employment thanks to crackdowns from the department of homeland security. Louisiana Agriculture and Forestry Commissioner Mike Strain says it’s causing uncertainty that could impact next year’s harvest as well.
As far as solutions go, Strain would like to see congress create a five-year work visa instead of a year-to-year system so farmers aren’t left holding their collective breath hoping the needed workers arrive on time. “These farmers and processors did everything right. They filled out all the appropriate paperwork, everything was approved. Then, they were told, ‘Sorry, they’re not coming’,” Strain went on to say.
He also notes that there are a myriad of technicalities within the visa system causing hold-ups and confusion. “The crazy thing is, an H2a worker can peel crawfish that are privately owned by a crawfish farmer … but, they can’t peel crawfish if the farmer buys those crawfish from another farmer. We have to fix that,” Strain points out.
“The bottom line is, without these workers the work does not get done. These jobs are offered to Americans first, but those foreign workers are absolutely necessary,” added Strain.
Lack of necessary foreign workers could have impacts lasting into next year and beyond
