https://freerepublic.com/tag/h2aworkvisas/ en-us Tue, 21 Mar 2006 17:16:45 GMT Focus Forum 15 https://freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/1600386/posts YAKIMA — Some farmers in Eastern Washington are looking to hire as many as 1,000 seasonal farmworkers from Mexico under a federal guest-worker program, as concerns about a labor shortage this season heighten. Last year, a severe drought in the Yakima Valley, as well as reduced crop size, enabled growers to avert a serious labor shortage, by most accounts. Still, two employers were able to justify hiring 90 workers from Thailand to harvest apples under the federal H-2A program, which allows farmers to bring in foreign workers if they can prove a labor shortage exists. This year's unprecedented recruiting comes... Seattle Times https://freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/1600386/posts#comment Tue, 21 Mar 2006 17:16:45 GMT