Faso says visa program would help farmers
U.S. Rep. John Faso is co-sponsoring legislation that he says would help farmers get workers from out of the country if necessary.
Faso, RKinderhook, made the announcement during the Dutchess County Agricultural Advisory Committee forum held Thursday at the Dutchess County Fairgrounds in Rhinebeck.
The Agricultural Guest Worker Act (House Resolution 6417) seeks to address the workforce shortage in U.S. agricultural markets. Specifically, it would create an immigrant work visa program for agricultural workers.
The bill would allow migrant workers classified as H-2C to work in the United States for a maximum of 36 months continuously before having to leave the country for a period of 60 days, after which they could reapply to work in the United States.
Faso, who is running for re-election this fall, said there are 3 million undocumented immigrant farm workers in the United States. But with the recent crackdown on undocumented immigrants, American farmers are having trouble finding the workers they desperately need, the congressman said.
“This is critical for our agriculture industry,” Faso told the agriculture committee. “It is also critical for us in the Hudson Valley, because we are not going to have the workers to harvest our crops and milk our cows unless we do something about the migrant labor issue.”
Faso represents New York’s 19th Congressional District, which includes all of Ulster, Greene and Columbia counties, most of Dutchess counties and some or all of seven other counties. In the Nov. 6 election, he is being challenged in his bid for a second term in the House by Rhinebeck Democrat Antonio Delgado and Green Party candidate Steve Greenfield of New Paltz.