“New York farmers say they are straining under increased costs as a worker shortage has forced them to use a federal visa program to bring in temporary agricultural workers from other countries. While farmers are grateful for the H-2A visas, which lets them import workers, some say their costs have ballooned while their revenue is mostly stagnant. (…) As the U.S. has tightened border security in recent years, many agricultural companies that had relied on illegal immigrant laborers are turning to H-2A visas. More than 196,000 H-2A visas were granted in 2018, compared to about 89,200 in 2014, according to the U.S. Labor Department.” Read more and on @wsj in this story by Acacia Coronado at the link in my profile. Captions below. - Juan Manuel García Rivera, left, and Mario Méndez Vásquez work to outfit irrigation systems at Amos Zittel and Sons in Eden, N.Y. on Friday, June 21, 2019. Due to heavy rain which left the fields soupy with mud, only a few H2A workers are out working. - Jose Juan Valtierra Robles stands for a portrait in a grape tomato field at Amos Zittel and Sons in Eden, N.Y. - Pepper plant seedlings sit in a trailer, awaiting planting. - Mario Méndez Vásquez cleans up debris from updated irrigation systems. - Juan Manuel García Rivera works to outfit irrigation systems at Amos Zittel and Sons in Eden, N.Y. on Friday, June 21, 2019. Due to heavy rain which left the fields soupy with mud, only a few H2A workers are out working. - A grape tomato field at Amos Zittel and Sons in Eden, N.Y. - Mario Méndez Vásquez cleans up debris from updated irrigation systems at Amos Zittel and Sons in Eden, N.Y. #WSJ #h2a #workvisa #farmworkers #nyfarms #laborshortage #buffalophotographer #newyork #wny #upstateny #buffalony (at Eden, New York) https://www.instagram.com/p/BzGyktylA9d/?igshid=1kulj14m0y3hi