View original article here.

By Jasper Kenzo Sundeen, Yakima Herald-Republic

May 18, 2024

Foreign workers have become a larger part of the agricultural workforce across the United States in recent years. The federal H-2A program allows employers to bring in temporary workers from other countries if they don't have enough local labor.

This year, though, things look different in the Yakima area. The U.S. Labor Department data shows that in the first three months of 2024, 1,100 fewer H-2A workers were approved to work in Yakima County.

The reason? Growers and landowners are requesting fewer workers this year – 3,654 in the first months of 2023 compared to 4,794 at the same time last year.

The number will grow during harvest in the late summer and early fall. More than 9,000 workers came to Yakima County last year.

The decline is something many have noticed, from organizations that assist with H-2A applications to labor advocates to local businesses.

Enrique Gastelum leads Wafla, an organization which helps growers apply for H-2A workers with the federal government. He said the downward trend has been pronounced across the Pacific Northwest.

“We’ve seen some leveling off this year,” Gastelum said. “We’ve seen some pretty big increases over the last five years and now it’s leveling off.”

According to a presentation from the Employee Security Department, there were 2,000 fewer foreign workers in Washington at the beginning of 2024 than the beginning of 2023.

Nationally, the number of H-2A workers requested has been consistent. It changed by less than 0.1% between early 2023 and early 2024.

Yakima, by contrast, has had 24% fewer H-2A workers in that same period.

“There are many different factors in play behind those numbers,” Gastelum said.

Ag trends impact labor

Those factors are tied to agricultural economic trends.

Weather extremes in the past year — heat spells in late 2023 and cold spells in February — damaged crops like tree fruit. Then there are larger shifts in the labor and agriculture markets.

Gastelum thinks there are more local workers than before. USDA data shows that there are fewer small farms. As those close, Gastelum said there are more domestic workers who need jobs, decreasing the need for foreign labor.

He’s also heard of out-of-state workers migrating to Washington and applying for jobs and asylum seekers getting work authorization, two factors that add supply to the local labor market.

Changes in consumer demand for dominant agricultural products in Central Washington, like hops, grapes and tree fruit, have also affected growers. A late California cherry harvest led to an oversupply last year, driving down prices to the point the USDA declared a disaster in the region. It was a good harvest year for apples and hops. But a stockpile of hops has reduced acreage in the Valley and affected the market.

Many farmers are taking a step back from the H-2A program and could be trying to see what all these market changes mean in the long run, Gastelum said. The upcoming election could also affect labor and immigration policy – two areas that can affect the agricultural industry.

Edgar Franks, political director of Familias Unidas por la Justicia, is still concerned about the H-2A program despite the decrease in workers. FUJ is an independent farmworker union based in the Skagit Valley that has consistently spoken out against the H-2A program.

Franks still expects tens of thousands of H-2A workers to come to Washington this year. He worries that employers are reducing domestic workers’ hours in order to replace them with foreign labor.

”That’s something we’re hearing more and more of, the employment of H-2A workers as opposed to domestic workers,” Franks said.

Local businesses see changes

A shift in H-2A labor statistics can seem like an abstract concept, but for some local businesses, it has real implications.

On North First Street in Yakima, two hotels have been converted into H-2A worker housing and can host over 1,300 workers at peak times during harvest seasons.

The influx of workers is something many nearby businesses notice.

“When they come here, we get good business,” said Leonel Pablo, manager of El Riconsito, a restaurant on the corner of North First and East I Street.

Over the last several years, Pablo has seen increased business in June and July as vans full of workers stop by for meals. El Riconsito often adds staff during those times, a strategy other businesses in the area employ.

Even though it’s not yet June, Pablo has noticed differences this year on his balance sheet. There are fewer customers and less income.

“A lot of restaurants, stores, they don’t know what’s going on,” Pablo said. “We’re already noticing either they’re not coming or the apples are not as good.”

Staff at Mercado Latino, which is just around the corner on I Street, have noticed something similar. They saw increases in patronage during the last several summers as workers came to buy groceries. This year has been quieter.

“If there’s no (agricultural) business, people won’t come,” said Kulwineer Singh, who has worked at the store for more than a decade. “If more people come, there’s more business.”

Some businesses have not noticed a change. Taqueria Los Primos, a food truck on North First Street, has been at its new location for less than a year. Owner Alejandro Rodriguez said he’s grateful for farmworkers’ business.

Jung Lee owns Benchmark Gas Station and said foreign workers have come to his small convenience store for more than a decade. It is normally busier later in the summer, but he hasn’t noticed any decrease in business so far.

While those increases are good for local businesses, Franks said he’s concerned about local economies relying on seasonal foreign workers because of downturns like this.

“If you’re looking at economic impact, that’s really not a way to have a sustainable economy,” Franks said. “The real impact is when you have workers that live there year around.”

It can be good for local businesses to get a boost, but it’s not always sustainable, he added. Having local workers that are invested in their neighborhoods could mean more consistent business and community involvement in the long run, he said.