This page includes information on California and U.S. farmworkers related to immigration status and the H-2A Visa Program. The aim is for these data and studies to inform potential policies that might restrict immigration, change work visa program requirements, or otherwise change the number of farmworkers with different immigration statuses.

The H-2A Visa Program

The H-2A visa is an increasingly important program for U.S. farmers and ranchers who are unable to meet their labor needs with the pool of domestic workers. However, employers, workers, advocacy groups, and other stakeholders have voiced many complaints with the program, especially related to the Adverse Effect Wage Rate (AEWR). In this report, co-authored with Dr. Philip L Martin, we summarize the origins and history of the AEWR, propose alternative data sources and methodologies for constructing AEWRs, and, by comparing U.S. farm labor visa policy with that in other countries, also explore additional considerations for reforming the H-2A visa program.

Key Results

Our report emphasizes that the Farm Labor Survey has led to rapidly rising AEWRs. In most regions, FLS-based AEWRs rose more compared with AEWRs constructed with alternative data sources. Figure 1 in the report demonstrates this by comparing national FLS wage growth with wage growth according to the Employment Cost Index (ECI) for all wage and salary workers. ECI-Adjusted FLS wages are constructed by applying the annual ECI to the base FLS wage in 2001.

Figure 11 in the report demonstrates this by comparing Arizona's AEWR (based on the FLS) with an alternative AEWR based on continuing to use the FLS but additionally capping year-to-year increases in the AEWR at 3%. In some cases this led to AEWRs below the state minimum wage, so we update the effective AEWR to be the higher between the AEWR and the state minimum wage.

The report presents a comprehensive overview of alternative data sources for constructing AEWRs and details the advantages and drawbacks of each. This is summarized in Table 2, but discussed in further detail in the report.

We additionally compare other aspects of the H-2A program that impact the overall program costs for employers and the take-home pay for H-2A workers. We draw comparisons between the U.S. regulations and comparable Visa programs in Australia, New Zealand, Canada and the UK in Table 4.

Maps and data on farmworkers in California

In the maps below, click through the tabs at the top of the image to explore data on the numbers of California of crop workers and H-2A workers, and estimates of the shares and numbers of non-Citizen and Undocumented workers. Data come from the California EDD, the QCEW, ACS, and NAWS.