Impact of the US Immigration Policies on Agricultural Industry

Introduction 

The economic growth of the United States of America is expected to down even further in the third quarter. The ongoing uncertainties over trade policies and global growth slowdown have partly contributed to the shrinking of the country’s economy. The restrictive executive orders pointed in the direction of immigration policies have restricted the travel of new immigrants into the United States. Recent statics show that there are about 44 million immigrants in the country (Zhaniser, Hertz, Dixon, & Rimmer, 2012). Immigrants are a significant pool for the labor needed in labor-intensive industries like Agriculture. Research further shows that since 2011, immigrants drive two-thirds of the country’s economy. Also, the immigrants found thirty percent of the firms and 50 percent of startups in the U.S. valued at $1 billion (Martin, 2016). The substantive restrictive changes in U.S. immigration policies have led to a reduction in the number of immigrants entering the country. The Agriculture industry, which contributes $215 billion to U.S. GDP, has resulted in farm labor shortages, increased the cost of farm labor, rising imports, and a significant decline in key states.   

Farm Labor Shortages 

Statistics show that about 2 million workers support U.S. Agricultural industry. However, the health of American farms mainly depends on immigrants. Since the signing of several Executive Orders on immigration policies, the Agricultural sector has witnessed a decline in the population of immigrant workers (Martin, 2016). Finding enough workers willing to do strenuous physical farm jobs has been difficult. Few Americans are willing to engage in the problematic and physical involving arduous farm jobs. A research study conducted in North Carolina found out that out of 6, 500 open farm jobs, only 265 of American workers applied. Further research established that Americans filled only 0.01 of North Carolina farm jobs (Flynn, & Rosson, 2015). The statistics apply equally to other U.S. states, including Colorado, Alabama, and Florida.  

Farmers have been forced to desperately rely on the H-2A visa program to hire temporary agriculture workers. The visa program is, however, too expensive and cumbersome to farmers. The complicated and lengthy application process of H-2A Visa also led to delays in the arrival period of workers. Farmers have to go through a total of three governmental agencies to approve the H-2A Visa application. Statistics show that farmers have to wait for an average of 22 days to receive H-2A workers (Martin, 2016). Besides, the H-2A program is unable to satisfy the hired workers needed in Agriculture. Studies show that the H-2A program supplies less than four percent of the workers required in farms. 

Rising Cost of Farm Labor 

The shortage of immigrants to work on farms has led to a rise in the operation costs in Agriculture. Studies estimate that the Agriculture industry fails to produce $3.1 billion fresh produce sales per year because of a shortage of farm labor. Because other sectors like transportation and packing intertwine agriculture, additional costs of $2.8 billion each year on such related services (Flynn & Rosson, 2015). As a result, farmers have been making huge losses because costs outweigh the revenues generated. The H-2A Visa program has also become a financial burden to farmers. Data from the Ministry of Agriculture show that farmers spend an average amount of $2,500 for each H-2A worker. The delays in the arrival of H-2A workers have also lost crops worth $170 million (Martin, 2016).  

Substituting workers with machines has also been an expensive affair for farmers. Fresh fruits and vegetables have, however, defied mechanization. Fresh fruits and vegetables are delicate and require the gentle hands of humans for harvesting (Zhaniser, Hertz, Dixon, & Rimmer, 2012). Berries, fruits, and vegetables are fragile and can easily bruise during harvesting. Also, farmworkers are needed to judge which fruits are ready for picking and which ones need to allow more time to ripen. Furthermore, there are fixed costs of machines, while workers are variable. Farmers have to pay a fixed cost of $200,000, whether there are apples to pick in their farms or not (Flynn & Rosson, 2015). On the other hand, farmers need not pay workers if disease or storms destroy crops.   

Rising imports Cost 

The shortage of farm labor, coupled with the increased cost of operations, has led to a significant decline in the number of fresh fruits and vegetables harvested from American farms. Thus, it has become difficult for the Agricultural industry to satisfy the rising demand for fresh produce in the American market (Martin, 2016). As a result, the U.S. has witnessed a dramatic increase in the number of fresh fruits and vegetables imported. According to data from the U.S. Department of Labor’s Natural Agricultural Workers Survey (NAWS), the percentage share of fresh fruits and vegetables imported stands at 25.8 percent while that of fresh vegetables is 31.2 percent (Zhaniser, Hertz, Dixon, & Rimmer, 2012). The inadequate supply of farm labor has made America farmers lose their competitive advantage in the international markets. The shortage of farm labor has led to the increasing cost of agricultural production, which has, in turn, led to a significant increase in the prices of agricultural produce. As a result, imports have become cheap compared to domestically produced crops. 

Conclusion 

The labor challenges that resulted from the immigration reforms have dealt not only a massive blow to the Agricultural industry but also the American economy in general. Studies show that the shortage of farm labor has led to a decline in GDP growth by about 4$ billion dollars. A reduction in annual farm revenues has also led to the loss of more American jobs because more farmers have been compelled to cease their operations. Were it not for the labor challenges, America would have boasted more 90, 000 more jobs. Immigrants are deeply involved in the economic development of the U.S. The country needs to relax its immigration policies because America’s aging population is unlikely to supply the required physical farm labor. 

References 

Flynn Adcock, D. A., & Rosson, P. (2015). The Economic Impacts of Immigrant Labor on U.S. Dairy Farms.  Center for North American Studies . 

Martin, P. L. (2016). Whither U.S. immigration?.  Migration Letters ,  13 (2), 295-306. 

Zhaniser, S., Hertz, T., Dixon, P., & Rimmer, M. (2012). Analyzing the Effects of Immigration Reforms on Agriculture. Retrieved 4 November 2019, from http://www.choicesmagazine.org/choices-magazine/theme-articles/immigration-and-agriculture/analyzing-the-effects-of-immigration-reforms-on-agriculture