By Clint Thompson
The new requirement that non-U.S. citizens entering the United States be fully vaccinated against COVID-19 could impact access farm laborers have to H-2A workers.
That’s the concern shared by Chris Butts, executive vice president of the Georgia Fruit and Vegetable Growers Association.
“What they’re asking is that they verbally attest to the vaccination status, and they have to have written proof of the vaccine status as well. Our concern clearly is that we’re ramping up to have a lot of guest workers come in as part of the H-2A program as we begin our planting and harvest season,” Butts said. “While there are vaccines that may be available in their home countries, our concern is that the vaccines that these folks have had access to, may not be on the approved list to gain entry into the U.S.
“Our hope is that a lot of these folks have been vaccinated and are able to present that proof. It’s hard to run a business on hope.”
The Department of Homeland Security implemented the rule on January 22, 2022. It requires non-U.S. individuals seeking to enter the country either by land ports of entry or ferry terminals at the U.S.-Mexico and U.S.-Canada borders to be fully vaccinated. This is being done amid a rise in COVID-19 cases nationwide.
“I think what puts them in a tough spot is our growers are certainly willing to do what they can do to help but when you require the worker to be vaccinated before they even cross the border, that doesn’t present the farmer an opportunity to help remedy that for somebody that hasn’t been vaccinated,” Butts said.
Georgia is one of the top users of the program with 25,000 workers in 2019. Butts said workers begin arriving in droves now through June.
“Check one of our larger growers and they may be doing 20 or 25 different commodities throughout the course of the year. They’ve got winter crops, spring crops, summer crops so they need those folks all the time. Some of those folks have workers already here, but we’ll certainly expect a big influx as we progress into the spring and early part of the summer,” Butts said.
