{"id":25451,"date":"2022-02-25T19:24:45","date_gmt":"2022-02-26T00:24:45","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.immigrationreform.com\/?p=25451"},"modified":"2022-02-25T19:24:46","modified_gmt":"2022-02-26T00:24:46","slug":"uscis-ag-visas-galore-immigrationreform-com","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.immigrationreform.com\/2022\/02\/25\/uscis-ag-visas-galore-immigrationreform-com\/","title":{"rendered":"USCIS Can\u2019t Get Enough of Unlimited Ag Visas"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

A curious memo<\/a> from U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS) recently touted \u201cexpansion of labor pathways\u201d for foreign farmworkers into the U.S. The announcement was odd because there are no caps on H-2A visas<\/a>, so talk of \u201cexpansion\u201d seems superfluous, if not nonsensical.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Beyond that, the memo promoted a lone nonprofit group that has received government funding to \u201cdefray costs for employers.\u201d The group, Cierto<\/a>, says its mission is to \u201cactively develop and maintain a professional, career-oriented agricultural workforce committed to return to [U.S.] farms year after year.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

How much taxpayer money is Cierto getting, and to do what exactly? And why is the nonprofit singled out for this \u201cwhole of government effort\u201d? Neither USCIS nor Cierto have responded to these queries.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cIt is unusual, to say the least, for the government to publicly pick favorites among non-governmental entities,\u201d notes Rob Law<\/a> at the Center for Immigration Studies.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Cierto, on its website, describes itself as \u201cone of North America\u2019s leading recruiters, dedicated to assisting employers with the federal H-2A visa program.\u201d Without providing any numbers, the nonprofit says, \u201cWe recruit, train and place experienced workers on farms in the United States.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

For its part, the USCIS memo states, \u201cWe want the expansion of temporary worker programs to be coupled with worker protections and ethical recruitment practices.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

That\u2019s a nice sentiment. But while paying lip service to safeguarding foreign laborers, the \u201cwhole of government effort\u201d says nothing about the protection or employment of U.S. citizens <\/em>wanting to work for a living wage.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Meantime, multifarious federal agencies are manifestly failing to halt the importation and exploitation<\/a> of teenage illegal aliens who work dirt cheap in this country\u2019s ag sector.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

It\u2019s easy work to write a memo that, in Law\u2019s words, \u201creads like an April Fool\u2019s joke.\u201d Rather than shilling for a favored foreign labor broker, a serious \u201cwhole of government effort\u201d to enforce U.S. immigration and labor laws must be Job One.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

A curious memo from U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS) recently touted \u201cexpansion of labor pathways\u201d for foreign farmworkers into the U.S. The announcement was odd because there are no caps on H-2A visas, so talk of \u201cexpansion\u201d seems superfluous, if not nonsensical. Beyond that, the memo promoted a lone nonprofit group that has received<\/p>\n

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