Employers Seek to Block Rule Overhauling H-2A Farmworker Wages

New wage regulations covering foreign farmworkers on H-2A visas will dramatically increase labor costs for farms and ranches in the US, according to a lawsuit seeking to block them.

USA Farm Labor, one of the largest agents in the US that submits H-2A applications on behalf of farm employers, filed the complaint Monday in the US District Court for the Western District of North Carolina on behalf of itself and agricultural employers across the country.

If the regulations remain in effect, employers with reclassified workers could see labor costs rise by more than 150% for some positions, the lawsuit said. ...