Source:  UC DAVIS, CENTER FOR RURAL MIGRATION, 12/30/21


DOL certified over 317,000 seasonal farm jobs to be filled by H-2A workers in FY21, up 15 percent from 275,000 in FY20 and more than three times the 100,000 jobs certified in FY13. The number of H-2A jobs certified tripled between FY13 and FY21 to 317,000

About 80 percent of jobs that were certified resulted in the issuance of H-2A visas, some 258,000 in FY21, including a peak 40,000 in March, 36,000 in April, and 34,000 in May. These three months accounted for 110,000 or 43 percent of H-2A visas issued.

H-2A visas are issued to citizens of countries from Argentina to Zimbabwe, but 99 percent went to citizens of four countries: Mexico, 93 percent, South Africa, three percent, Jamaica, two percent, and Guatemala, one percent. El Salvadorans received fewer than 300 H-2A visas and Hondurans fewer than 500, while Nicaraguans received almost 800 H-2A visas.

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