Washington state farmers are increasingly turning to the H-2A guest worker program amid labor shortages and changing immigration policies, with requests for these legal foreign workers more than doubling in recent years. As immigration enforcement intensifies, both farmers and workers express growing concerns about potential disruptions to the agricultural workforce that powers the state’s $12.8 billion agricultural sector.
Blaine Smith, a second-generation orchardist from Monitor, Washington, who grows cherries, pears and apples, relies on both domestic employees and H-2A guest workers to bring in his harvest. “I think everybody has been afraid of what’s going on with ICE. We’re afraid, too, that we won’t have pickers, and people won’t travel. Usually we have a lot of migrants that come up from California. We all have been afraid they won’t show up,” Smith said.
Labor Shortages Leave Fruit Unpicked
The labor shortage is already impacting harvests across Washington. Ben Buchholz, whose family has been producing cherries, pears and apples in Wapato since the 1920s, reported leaving 15-20% of his cherry crop unharvested this year because the fruit became too soft before he could find enough workers to pick it.
“We’re running into a place where we used to hire 60 migrant labor individuals that were coming from Mexico, and then going back. Now, we can maybe get 25, and this year we even had less than 25,” Buchholz explained.
About 78% of Washington farms are operated by families and small growers like Buchholz, according to the U.S. Department of Agriculture. For many smaller operations, the H-2A program remains financially out of reach despite the critical need for workers.
The current situation has created a climate of uncertainty for both farmers and workers. While no widespread raids have occurred in Washington, targeted individual detentions have increased, with ICE arrests jumping 35% in the first five months of the Trump presidency. [Source](https://www.columbian.com/news/2025/sep/14/immigration-policies-and-labor-needs-a-look-at-the-growing-reliance-on-h-2a-workers-in-the-pacific-northwest/)
H-2A Program Growth in the Pacific Northwest
Washington state has seen a dramatic increase in H-2A worker requests over the past decade. By June 2025, the Department of Homeland Security had approved just over 28,000 H-2A workers for Washington, with employers reporting a need for more than 37,000 workers total.
“Last year, we had approximately 36,000 H-2A worker positions certified by the United States Department of Labor to come to Washington and do farm work,” said Bertha Clayton, director of Washington’s Office of Agricultural and Seasonal Workforce.
According to the state’s Employment Security Department, there’s been a more than 240% increase in H-2A workers in Washington since 2013. Washington now ranks among the top states requesting these guest workers, following Florida, Georgia and California.
Neighboring states are also increasingly relying on the program, with Oregon approving more than 20,000 H-2A workers and Idaho approving more than 5,200 workers for 2025, according to U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services.
- Washington employers reported needing more than 37,000 agricultural workers in 2025
- The state has seen a 240% increase in H-2A workers since 2013
- Emergency H-2A petitions have doubled in Washington this year
- The H-2A wage rate has jumped 36% since 2018, reaching $19.82 an hour in 2024
- USDA estimates additional costs for housing and services range from $9,000 to $13,000 per worker
Challenges with the Current System
While the H-2A program provides a legal pathway for foreign workers, it comes with significant costs that many smaller farms struggle to afford. The Adverse Effect Wage Rate that sets minimum pay for H-2A farmworkers has jumped 36% since 2018, reaching $19.82 an hour in 2024—well above Washington’s $16.66 minimum wage.
Beyond wages, farmers must provide housing, transportation, and cover visa fees. Enrique Gastelum, executive director of the Worker and Farmer Labor Association, which coordinates H-2A labor contracts across Washington, explained the financial burden: “A farmer can spend anywhere from $3,000 to $6,000, $7,000, depending on if they’re filing themself or if they’re using an agent like WAFLA or even an attorney, right, depending on what those service fees are.”
For Buchholz, these costs are prohibitive. “There’s a downside, right, to how we’re handling it. Maybe H-2A, maybe you just have to spend that money and go that route, but I think that would probably bankrupt the farm at this point,” he said.
“The farmers are nervous, just like the workers are nervous. We all need each other and we need some kind of good solution,” said Blaine Smith, the orchardist from Monitor.
Immigration Enforcement Concerns
The current immigration climate has created additional uncertainty. Gastelum noted that while there hasn’t been an exponential increase in H-2A visa applications due to immigration enforcement, they’ve seen higher scrutiny of applications—even for workers who have been coming to the U.S. for years.
“When you start using words like mass deportation and workplace raids, that starts to create some uneasiness,” Gastelum said.
U.S. Representative Dan Newhouse, a Republican who represents Central Washington, acknowledged these concerns: “It’s having an impact and we’re working with the administration. We can’t tell the federal government not to enforce the law. But we can direct and focus out activities on those people that are doing bad things.”
In June, the Trump administration established a new office in the U.S. Labor Department aimed at simplifying access to employment-based visas, including H-2A programs. This came shortly after Trump indicated on social media that aggressive immigration policies were taking workers from farms and hotels whose jobs were “almost impossible to replace.”
Background
The H-2A visa program allows U.S. farmers to legally hire workers from other countries for temporary agricultural work when domestic labor is insufficient. The program has become increasingly important as the domestic agricultural workforce shrinks.
Several factors beyond immigration enforcement are contributing to the labor shortage. Bertha Clayton noted that aging demographics and the fact that younger generations are not pursuing farm work are significant factors. USDA data shows fewer young immigrants working in agriculture, raising the average age of foreign-born farmworkers and driving up the overall age of the farm workforce.
Jeff Luckstead, a professor at Washington State University’s School of Economic Sciences, pointed out that undocumented workers are also seeking higher wages and better working conditions in other industries, further reducing the available pool of agricultural workers.
“There’s just a smaller base so then they’re gonna have to rely on H-2A more and more. It could be the tipping point where farmers just rely more heavily on the H-2A program,” Luckstead said.
What’s Next
Legislative efforts are underway to address these challenges. Representative Newhouse, himself a farmer and former director of the Washington State Department of Agriculture, has reintroduced the Farm Workforce Modernization Act, a bipartisan piece of legislation from 2019.
The proposed legislation would update the H-2A visa program, create more legal pathways for farmworkers, and establish a nationwide electronic verification system for agricultural labor. It would also revamp the guest worker application process by altering wage calculations and allowing employers to submit a single application for multiple seasons.
Newhouse has also proposed a pilot program that would grant up to 10,000 workers special status, enabling them to work for any H-2A registered employer without needing individual petitions.
During recent meetings in Prosser and Yakima, Newhouse and U.S. Representative Glenn “GT” Thompson, R-PA, chairman of the House Committee on Agriculture, heard concerns about worker shortages, H-2A program costs, and the need to revitalize the agricultural industry.
Brian Crawford, president and CEO of the Beer Institute, expressed that growers understand the current administration’s goal to secure the border but also recognize the need for comprehensive immigration reform. “I do think there is a need for the beer industry, the hop industry, the farmers, to step up and say: ‘enough is enough’. Let’s figure this out and come (to) work, Democrats and Republicans alike, and get something done.”
Both Newhouse and Thompson emphasized that strengthening the agricultural sector is a matter of national security. “Without the workers, again, that’s food insecurity, which is national insecurity,” Thompson said.
For farmers like Smith, who now relies on H-2A workers for about half of his workforce, finding a sustainable solution is critical. “We haven’t had anybody knock on our door looking for work. I’ve heard from fieldmen and growers that things are tight this year for labor,” he said, adding that farmers need an affordable, accessible program to retain skilled labor.
