USA Rice, Ag Organizations, Seek Uninterrupted H-2A Guestworkers For '22
USA Rice
WASHINGTON, DC -- USA Rice joined with more than 60 agriculture organizations on a letter to Secretary of State Antony Blinken and Secretary of Homeland Security Alejandro Mayorkas this week regarding farmers’ access to H-2A agricultural guestworkers, including workers from South Africa.
The letter asks that H-2A workers coming to the United States be granted an exemption from travel limitations as a National Interest Exception and more flexibility on COVID-19 vaccination requirements.
“Instead of imposing travel bans that prevent critically needed H-2A workers from traveling to American farms or lead to added transportation costs that do not achieve COVID mitigation goals, farmers, H-2A workers, the Department of Homeland Security and the State Department should work together to allow workers taking appropriate health and safety precautions to travel to the United States directly from their home countries,” says the letter.
“Agricultural guestworkers are essential to family farms preparing to plant and tend to next year’s rice crop, particularly given ongoing labor shortages,” said David Gairhan, Arkansas rice farmer and chair of the Arkansas Rice Federation. “We appreciate the flexibilities offered by the State Department for workers from South Africa earlier this year, and hope federal agencies will continue working with us to ensure rice farmers have access to this skilled workforce for the 2022 season.”