Thread: Citrus Industry Recruits Guest Workers Under Federal Rules

Citrus Industry Recruits Guest Workers Under Federal Rules
17 Feb
VIDEO: The Labor Harvest: A Growing Ag Dilemma http://link.brightcove.com/services/lin ... 1421075651

Kevin Bouffard

LAKELAND | Florida citrus growers don’t like it because of the red tape. Immigrant workers from Mexico and Central America object that it offers them no pathway to U.S. citizenship.

And Florida residents object to housing large numbers of immigrant laborers in local apartment complexes, labor camps and other multiple-unit housing facilities.

Still the U.S. Department of Labor’s “guest workerâ€

The biggest expense to using H-2A is the requirement to provide each guest worker with housing that meets program standards, including minimum requirements of square feet per worker, ceiling height, window areas, and toilet and bathing facilities, said Bo Bentley, the president of Overlook Harvesting Co., a subsidiary of the family firm Bentley Brothers Inc.

Well, if you want to pay a lower wage and you have to get foriegn immigrants to accomplish this, then you are responsible for their housing if you are going to sponser them. DON'T EVEN THINK ABOUT PASSING THESE COSTS ONTO THE TAXPAYER. IT IS YOUR RESPONSIBILITY!

Our federal government has been letting businesses get away without paying the cost of housing the workers under the H-2A program by letting illegal immigrants into this country. With the illegal aliens, the housing, medical, food stamp and other benefits are paid by the taxpayer when it's the responsibility of the sponsering employer to pay these costs. We have nothing but THUGS and THIEVES running our country.

[quote] Florida citrus growers don’t like it because of the red tape. Immigrant workers from Mexico and Central America object that it offers them no pathway to U.S. citizenship........

.......Employers must recruit workers in the workers’ home countries, usually Mexico and Central America, and submit them to an elaborate Department of Homeland Security screening at the U.S. Embassy in that country.

Employers must provide transportation for the cleared employees to the U.S. and back.

“We’ll have $1,500 per worker invested before they even pick an orange,â€

Yes, it's time that these employers start footing their own bills. If you don't want to hire american citizens for these jobs, then your not getting to have the luxury of pocketing the excess money! We are not taking care of your employees.