H-2A : drumroll please

As we prepare for release of the Administration's H2A final changes, here is what the media is writing so far....

Bush Administration makes last minute changes in farm worker hiring Sacbee

In a move that could have a profound impact in California, the Bush administration has changed the H-2A guest farmworker program.

The changes will make it easier for employers to use, with relaxed wage, housing and recruitment requirements, according to the administration, which has warned that Homeland Security will be cracking down on illegal immigrant workers.

The little-used federal H-2A program allows growers to import temporary workers for short periods. The Bush administration's controversial changes to the program, which were met with fierce protest by labor advocates and lukewarm employer reaction, are expected to be published Dec. 18 in the Federal Register and take effect in January after Barack Obama's inauguration.

In its final days, the administration "is making it easier for employers to bring in massive numbers of workers with fewer regulations and no oversight," said Bruce Goldstein, director of Farmworker Justice in Washington, D.C. He said advocates will explore going to court or Congress to reverse the changes.

Only a tiny fraction of farm laborers are H-2A workers in California, the nation's richest farm region. Industry estimates are that many, if not most, of a nearly 1 million-strong peak period workforce could be undocumented.

Western Growers Association President Tom Nassif called some advocates' concerns about the H-2A changes "overstated." But he didn't express strong enthusiasm for the reforms, either. He called the new rules "a temporary fix" and said he would continue to push – in unison with Goldstein and the United Farm Workers – for Obama and Congress to adopt a federal bill called AgJOBS, which would open a path for farmworkers to earned legal status if they continue to work in agriculture for three to five more years.

New rules make it easier to get foreign farm workers From McClatchy

A Labor Department spokesman said Wednesday night that the final rules would be made public today and published in the Federal Register Dec. 18, which means they'd take effect two days before Barack Obama is sworn in as president Jan. 20.

About 75,000 foreign guest workers obtain visas annually under the H-2A program. The program is an agricultural cousin to the H-1B visa program favored by the high-tech industry, designed to aid employers who are unable to find U.S. workers for specialized tasks.

U.S. farmers, though, consider the 50-year-old program slow and cumbersome, and it provides only a fraction of the U.S. farm-work force. California, for example, uses about 500 H-2A workers annually, while it has about 300,000 migrant farmworkers.

"It needs to be reformed," Frank Gasperini, executive vice president of the National Council of Agricultural Employers, said of the H-2A program. "It doesn't work as well as it should."

Changes afoot in farm hiring From AP

The Bush administration published a proposed version of the new rule last Feb. 13 and received nearly 12,000 public comments, Shawn added. The next version will be a final rule and can take effect 30 days after publication. Some of its provisions would take effect in mid-January and others later in the year, the farmworker groups said.

Farm worker advocates and the United Farm Workers union said the version that appeared on the Web site would lead to a flood of cheaper workers.

"The government has decided to offer agriculture employers really low wages, low benefits, no government oversight to bring in foreign workers on restricted visas and thereby convince them they should do this instead of hiring undocumented workers," said Bruce Goldstein, executive director of Farmworker Justice, a group that advocates for farmworkers.