Mexican Labor Remains Crucial for U.S. Farms Despite Visa Hurdles

(U.S.) Mexican labor remains essential to U.S. farms in 2025, but visa hurdles and worker shortages are straining harvest plans from Arizona to the Midwest. As of August 18, 2025, growers say delays and paperwork in the H‑2A Visa Program are pushing planting and harvest schedules off track, risking smaller yields and higher prices across the food supply chain.

Farm labor needs are most acute in border states like Arizona, where producers in Yuma report that slow processing and competition for workers have left crews short during peak lettuce, melon, and vegetable harvests. Farmers describe paying more for domestic labor, postponing plantings, or letting fields go unpicked when crews arrive too late.

Under H‑2A, U.S. employers can hire foreign seasonal workers after proving no qualified U.S. workers are available and after meeting strict wage, housing, and transportation rules. The Department of Homeland Security updated regulations on January 17, 2025, removing prior nationality limits, a change meant to widen the pool of eligible workers. In practice, employers and recruiters say the main roadblocks remain timing and cost, not eligibility on paper.

Pressure also extends to the H‑2B program, which covers non‑agricultural seasonal jobs. For fiscal year 2025, U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services authorized a temporary increase in H‑2B visas, including a 20,000‑visa reserve for Central and South America. Mexico is not included in that set‑aside. In the late second half of FY 2025, an additional 5,000 visas are limited to returning workers regardless of nationality. Employers say those adjustments help some beach, hospitality, and processing jobs, but they do little for fruit and vegetable growers who rely mainly on H‑2A and longtime Mexican labor.

According to analysis by VisaVerge.com, agency efforts to simplify filings have not solved the core pain points for farms: high attorney and agent fees, complex paperwork, and slow adjudications that collide with short planting and harvest windows. The result, farmers say, is a cycle where they plan for crews months ahead, only to watch approvals slip past the date they need hands in the field.

For official guidance on employer eligibility and worker rights, USCIS maintains an H‑2A resource page that outlines requirements and the petition process: https://www.uscis.gov/working-in-the-united-states/temporary-workers/h-2a-temporary-agricultural-workers.

Pressure on farms as backlogs persist

Producers across the Southwest describe 2025 as the tightest year yet. They point to higher Adverse Effect Wage Rates, rising housing and transport costs, and longer waits for consular appointments.

Some crews with deep experience in pruning, picking, and packing arrive weeks late because of cascading delays—certification first, then petition approvals, then visa stamping. By the time workers reach the farm, the crop window has narrowed or closed.

Farm owners also warn that complexity in the recruitment rule—requiring acceptance of qualified U.S. workers until the midpoint of the contract—adds uncertainty when local interest spikes briefly. Many said they welcome U.S. applicants but cannot rely on last‑minute hires during short harvests where training time is limited.

Despite these headaches, employers insist Mexican labor remains the backbone of many crews because of experience, reliability, and proximity to the border. Workers from Mexico often return season after season to the same farms, bringing speed and quality that machines still cannot match for delicate crops like berries, lettuce, and leafy greens.

Policy moves in 2025 and potential changes

In Congress, a bipartisan push—the Farm Workforce Modernization Act (H.R. 3227)—seeks to:

• Offer a measured path to legal status for farmworkers
• Streamline the H‑2A process
• Test options for year‑round roles
• Require farm use of E‑Verify
• Manage wage growth so farms can plan labor costs without sharp spikes

Growers argue that even modest changes on paperwork, timing, and year‑round flexibility could steady hiring for dairies, mushroom farms, and winter vegetable operations.

USCIS and the Department of Labor say they have taken steps to simplify H‑2A filings, including clearer guidance and process tweaks. Still, employers report uneven processing times and frequent Requests for Evidence (RFEs) that push decisions past critical windows. Advocacy groups are pressing for:

• Faster filings
• More consular staffing during peak seasons
• Stronger protections to prevent worker abuse and recruiter fraud

Technology and adaptation on farms

Technology helps at the margins. Larger farms are investing in:

• Robotics
• Precision planting
• Improved logistics

These measures stretch smaller crews, but for many crops, skilled manual work remains essential. Employers see tech as a supplement, not a substitute, for trusted crews built around Mexican labor.

Worker impacts and employer responses

Key consequences land on workers as well:

• When approvals lag, some workers pay to travel and wait near the border, only to be told to return weeks later for interviews.
• Others miss a season entirely, losing income their families count on.
• Growers who do everything right—housing ready, buses booked, training prepared—say it is painful to watch a ready field decline because approvals slipped.

Growers report they can comply with strict rules if decisions arrive on time. The friction comes when each step takes longer than the calendar allows. Typical employer responses include:

• Building in weeks of cushion
• Filing earlier
• Double‑checking housing and transport documents to reduce RFEs
• Hiring full‑time compliance staff or outside agents to manage filings and worker travel

H‑2A hiring process — step by step

Below is a simple map of the process employers must complete to hire seasonal workers under H‑2A:

1. File a petition on Form I‑129 with USCIS for each job classification. Employers can access the form and filing instructions here: https://www.uscis.gov/i-129.
2. Obtain a temporary labor certification from the Department of Labor showing there are not enough U.S. workers available.
3. Offer only temporary or seasonal agricultural work and meet all wage, housing, and transportation standards.
4. Recruit through State Workforce Agencies and accept qualified U.S. applicants until 50% of the contract period has passed.
5. After approvals, workers complete consular visa applications and interviews, then travel to the U.S. for the approved work period.
6. Keep full records and stay in compliance on wages, housing, and working conditions for the entire contract.

Growers say they can work with strict rules if decisions arrive on time. The friction occurs when each step takes longer than the calendar allows. Many farms now build in buffers and use compliance resources to reduce disruptions.

Predictability is the fix: faster decisions and steady staffing so approved crews arrive when needed on time.