The U.S. Department of Labor has granted a two-week extension of the comment period for the proposed overhaul of the migrant farm worker visa program. The original deadline was Monday. Under the program changes, employers would be required to seek U.S. employees for a longer period of time before they could recruit foreign workers.
The H-2A visa program is designed to help farmers and ranchers hire seasonal workers from Mexico and elsewhere. The administration wants to allow growers to apply directly through the federal government, rather than state agencies. The Department of Labor envisions a transition to an Internet-based submission system in the future.
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