Georgia congressional delegation wants farm worker visas expedited

WASHINGTON – All but three lawmakers in Georgia’s 16-member congressional delegation have signed a letter calling for the U.S. Department of Labor to act quickly on guest worker applications that the lawmakers say are needed to supply workers for the state’s farmers.

U.S. Sens. Johnny Isakson, R-Marietta, and David Perdue, R-Sea Island, and Southwest Georgia Reps. Sanford Bishop, D-Albany, and Austin Scott, R-Tifton, joined with others from the Georgia delegation in a bipartisan call on the Labor Department to expedite its backlog of visa applications under the labor program known as H-2A. The group says that failure to act quickly will cause growers, particularly those who produce specialty crops, irreparable damage.

U.S. Reps. John Lewis, D-Atlanta; Tom Price, R-Roswell, and Doug Collins, R-Gainesville, were not listed as signers of the letter on a news release from Isakson’s office.

“It has come to our attention that the Department of Labor has accumulated a significant backlog of H-2A visa labor applications,” the letter to Labor Secretary Thomas Perez states. “This backlog has placed Georgia’s fruit and vegetable industry, as well as our state’s rural communities, in jeopardy.

“We ask that necessary steps be taken to expedite these applications so Georgia farmers can continue to provide their products to American consumers.”

In the release, Isakson’s office noted that the specialty crop industry provides jobs for 31,000 in Georgia and generates $4.5 billion a year in total economic impact. The state, Isakson noted, depends heavily on the H-2A visa program to provide labor for more than 20 different types of fruits and vegetables, including pecans, Vidalia onions and blueberries.

Without the needed labor, the industry cannot operate at full capacity, the senator’s office said.

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