Thousands of Mexican and Central American men travel north each spring to fill America’s seasonal farms under the H-2A program. The visa pool is uncapped, and since 2013 the guest‑worker count has quadrupled to roughly one‑sixth of the agricultural labor force. With domestic workers scarce, growers rely on these visas to harvest delicate crops such as cherries and blueberries, and essential to meeting export demand.

The Trump administration has eased cost pressures by trimming the mandatory wage floor, prompting the Labor Department to approve 17% more visas in the first half of fiscal 2026 than a year earlier. Contractors like AgriLabor now field thousands of workers, but the rapid expansion fuels fraud, trafficking and wage violations – 84% of 2,857 investigations uncovered breaches.

Farmers like Washington organic grower Paige Hake argue that labor costs now consume 80% of their budgets, yet fruit prices lag behind inflation, squeezing margins. State‑level standards in Oregon and Washington add housing and heat‑protection expenses, while looser regimes in the Southeast drive a geographic shift of visas. The H-2A program now underpins U.S. food supply but strains growers’ profitability.