United States Government Publishing Office publisher pbl distributor dst United States Government Accountability Office Health, Education, and Human Services Division author aut Government Organization text government publication eng GAOREPORTS Legislative Agency Publications gao legislative 2011-05-09 U.S. Government Printing Office 1998-06-24 monographic deposited born digital 16 p. GA 1.13:T-HEHS-98-200 https://www.govinfo.gov/app/details/GAOREPORTS-T-HEHS-98-200 P0b002ee180cf900f f:he98200t DGPO 2011-05-09 2011-05-09 GAOREPORTS-T-HEHS-98-200 machine generated eng fdlp REPORT GAOREPORTS-T-HEHS-98-200 T-HEHS-98-200 Migrant or seasonal worker programs Labor law Agricultural production Labor supply Immigrants Agricultural industry Illegal aliens Working conditions Alien labor DOL H-2A Program Testimony HEHS The H-2A agricultural guestworker programs provides a way for U.S. agricultural employers to bring nonimmigrant foreign workers into the United States to perform seasonal agricultural work on a temporary basis when domestic workers are unavailable. During fiscal year 1996, agricultural employers used the program to bring in about 15,000 workers--less than one percent of the U.S. agricultural field workforce. During fiscal year 1997, the number of workers brought into the country under the program rose to nearly 21,000--just over one percent of the total farm labor workforce. GAO testified that a sudden, widespread farm labor shortage requiring the importation of large numbers of foreign workers is unlikely to occur in the near future, although localized labor shortages may exist for specific crops or geographic areas. Few agricultural employers seek workers through the program, but those that do generally are successful in obtaining foreign agricultural workers on both a regular and an emergency basis. Although enforcement efforts by the Immigration and Naturalization Service are unlikely to significantly increase demand for H-2A workers, GAO recommends changes to the program that could improve the ability of growers to obtain workers when needed and to better protect the wages and working conditions of both domestic and foreign workers. These changes include reducing both the time required to process applications and the period of time that the worker must be employed to qualify for a wage guarantee. https://www.govinfo.gov/content/pkg/GAOREPORTS-T-HEHS-98-200/html/GAOREPORTS-T-HEHS-98-200.htm https://www.govinfo.gov/content/pkg/GAOREPORTS-T-HEHS-98-200/pdf/GAOREPORTS-T-HEHS-98-200.pdf GAO/T-HEHS-98-200 https://www.govinfo.gov/app/details/GAOREPORTS-T-HEHS-98-200 Testimony GAO/T-HEHS-98-200; H-2A Agricultural Guestworker Program: Changes Could; Migrant or seasonal worker programs Labor law Agricultural production Labor supply Immigrants Agricultural industry Illegal aliens Working conditions Alien labor DOL H-2A Program