Maine farmers and business leaders urged Congress to expand the migrant worker program

Farm owners, immigrant advocates and business leaders in Maine say the state is suffering from a severe shortage of agricultural and food workers. Now, those groups are urging Congress to pass legislation to address that labor shortage by allowing more immigrant workers into the country — and supporting those already here.

Penny Jordan is one of the owners of Jordan’s Farm, a mixed vegetable operation in Cape Elizabeth. In the past few years, she said her farm has been hit hard by seasonal aid shortages, sometimes relying on as few as three field workers to do work that should be done by six or seven people.

I make decisions every day about what to reap and what to leave behind. And it’s increasing over time,” she says.

Jordan has tried to make up for the shortage by hiring temporary agricultural workers through the H-2A visa program. But she said she found the program cumbersome and unresponsive.

“And I went back to the H-2A program, they were completely flexible and they didn’t put any workers forward,” Jordan said.

Jordan said at a press conference in Dayton on Thursday. The event was organized by the Maine Business Immigration Coalition, the Maine State Chamber of Commerce and other groups to draw attention to what they say is a shortage of agricultural workers in Maine and beyond.

James O’Neill with the American Business Immigration Coalition said stories like Jordan’s are playing out across the country.

“We have seen crops rotting in the fields, land falling uncultivated, because the farmers have no labor to work.”

Part of the answer, O’Neill said, is for the Senate to pass the Farmworker Modernization Act. The bill passed the House last year with bipartisan support.

It would expand the H-2A visa program beyond seasonal labor and allow year-round producers, such as dairy farms, to hire immigrant workers under the program. It also aims to streamline the application process.

Dana Connors, president of the Maine State Chamber of Commerce, said ensuring a permanent workforce benefits food producers and consumers.

“In terms of helping us fight inflation, it’s important to keep our grocery shelves stocked with the products we need at lower prices,” he said.

Connors pointed to a study released earlier this year by researchers at Texas A&M International University that said bringing more immigrants into the country could help reduce inflation.

The Farm Workforce Modernization Act creates a path to citizenship for immigrant workers. Juana Rodriguez-Vazquez, executive director of Mano N Mano, a migrant worker advocacy group based in Millbridge, said the supply of migrant workers in Maine will be especially important — and they recognize their contributions to the state.

“We need to create pathways to permanency and fully accept the refugees who are here and who are coming,” Vazquez said.

One group that has expressed opposition to the bill is the American Farm Bureau Federation. He is concerned about a provision allowing H-2A workers to sue US employers. And U.S. Rep. Jared Golden of Maine’s 2nd District was the only Democrat to vote in the House last year. They said it failed to close a loophole that allowed Canadian truckers to unfairly use seasonal work visas.

The Senate version of the bill is now before the Judiciary Committee. U.S. Sens. Susan Collins and King Angus of Maine will review the bill if it makes it out of committee, a spokeswoman for U.S. Sen. Susan Collins said.