The Michigan Farm Bureau is raising concerns about how the coronavirus pandemic could impact migrant labor for the upcoming growing season.
Many of Michigan’s migrant workers come in from Mexico. When President Trump announced a partial border closure with Mexico last week, it suspended all non-essential travel between the two countries.
The federal government has since clarified that returning agricultural workers with visas will be allowed into the U.S.. By law, a face to face interview is required at the U.S. consulate in the country of origin to ensure workers understand their contract. Those interviews have been suspended due to the coronavirus. For returning laborers the federal government has agreed to waive the interviews.
But John Kran, with the Michigan Farm Bureau, said farms still need to bring in new workers to meet their needs.
“We aren’t going to be able to provide our consumers with the affordable food supply they’ve depended on. It might have to come from another part of the country or another country.”
Bob Boehm is the General Manager of Great Lakes Ag Labor Services. He said last year roughly 10,000 visa workers were brought into Michigan and that wasn’t enough to meet the needs of farmers.
“If we’ve only got three quarters on the high side that are returning then that puts you in several thousand, three thousand or four thousand, new workers that if we can’t get this resolved then we could be short 20, 30, 40 percent of our needed workforce.”
According to Kran, if that happens farms across the state could be in trouble.
“If we don’t have workers people are going to be forced to harvest less or maybe close their doors.”
Susan Reed is an attorney with the Michigan Immigrant Rights Center. She said she’s concerned about farms' ability to protect the health of foreign workers.
“We would be very concerned about H2A workers if they were to be admitted to the US and get sick. Right now it seems like it exposes them to a lot of risk.”
Reed said migrant workers don’t have access to health insurance or medicaid and would likely have to pay for any illness out of pocket. And, according to Reed, farms often use barrack style housing to house migrant workers. She said that kind of housing could be susceptible to the spread of the virus.
Reed said farms should be looking to domestic, not foreign workers, for help.
“We perpetually hear there is a worker shortage in agricultural work. I think it would strain credibility to suggest there is a worker shortage and foreign workers need to be brought in if we’re in the middle of what’s likely to be a situation of incredibly heightened unemployment.”
John Kran, with the Michigan Farm Bureau, said as part of the visa process, farms are required to advertise and fill positions first with domestic workers. And he said farmers will work with their local health departments to minimize the spread of any virus.
According to Reed, some farmers put prior work experience requirements into their job orders. She said those experience requirements can keep domestic workers from taking those jobs.