Jun 19, 2015

Some stranded workers cleared to cross border; others still waiting

According to wafla, a farm-labor organization based in Washington state, most of its members’ farm workers who had been stranded at the U.S. border for more than a week obtained visas on Wednesday, June 17, day nine of what it’s calling a “crisis.”The remainder of the stranded farm workers will be moving north by the end of the week.

According to previous reports, H-2A workers were stranded at the border due to computer problems at the U.S. Department of State. About 1,000 approved H-2A workers from Mexico have been stranded for over a week at consulates in Tijuana and Nogales, waiting for visas so they can cross into the U.S. and begin working in berry harvest operations, according to Western Growers.

Some of the technical problems have been cleared up, but not all. Workers with visa applications filed after June 9 were unable to obtain consulate appointments to clear the system and cross, according to wafla. Read the State Department Technological Systems Issue page for more information, where it states that “we do not expect the system will be online before next week.”