Temporary visa program to provide Illinois farms with workers from El Salvador

[February 11, 2022]  By Zeta Cross

(The Center Square) – A new temporary visa program for workers from El Salvador will provide a welcome labor pool for Illinois farms this year.

Thanks to a 2020 agreement between the United States and the El Salvador governments, the labor program is set to bring skilled workers to the U.S. for maximum 10-month stretches.

Randy Graham, chairman of the Illinois Specialty Growers Association and co-owner of Curtis Orchards in Champaign, told The Center Square that the effort is a win-win for everyone involved.

“It seems like such a sensible solution to me,” Graham said. “You have people that don’t want to live here permanently, but they want to provide for their families. So this is a perfect opportunity."

Graham said a number of farmers had a tough time finding enough workers to pick their crops last year.

“People did lose crops,” Graham said. “I had a couple of growers call me that were basically in a panic because they were not able to find pickers.”

Speaking before the Illinois Specialty Crop Conference in January, El Salvador Consul General Federico Guerrero said the U.S. Agency for International Development worked with El Salvador to design the program. It allows workers in El Salvador to apply for 10-month H-2A and H-2B visas.

The government of El Salvador recruits and screens the workers, Guerrero said.

“A wide range of skilled workers are available,” Guerrero said. “There is no recruitment fee.”

The El Salvador consulate in Chicago and 20 other El Salvador consulates will support and monitor the workers while they are in the United States, Guerrero said.

A COVID-19 vaccination is one of the requirements for the temporary visas.

“The workers will return to their homes and families – 100%,” Guerrero told attendees at the Illinois Specialty Crop Conference last month.

A pilot program for El Salvador workers was conducted in Mississippi and Louisiana last year, Guerrero said. The El Salvador government vetted the workers and helped them fill out their paperwork. Visas were processed at the U.S. consulate in El Salvador.

Interested farmers can contact the Illinois Farm Bureau for more information. The first step is to work with an immigration attorney who is experienced with H-2A visas.