H-2A agriculture labor workers make way to California

YUMA, Ariz. (KYMA, KECY-TV) - Salinas and Huron, Calif. along with Yuma, Ariz. are bound by two unstoppable forces produce and consumer expectation and H-2A workers are the ones who help make it all happen.

The H-2A temporary agricultural program allows AG employers who anticipate a shortage of domestic workers to bring non-immigrant foreign workers to the U.S. to perform agricultural labor or services of a temporary or seasonal nature.

H-2A workers from Mexico are currently in the process of going from yuma to the fields in Salinas and Huron, California.

The Growers Company is a labor contracting company providing labor for these field workers.

Sonny Rodriguez, President of the Growers Company, has been using H-2A labor for the last 15 years.

“They come here, they work for us, some of them will go back to Mexico and some of them we transition up north. Just this weekend we moved about 60 people to start Huron today and we move some to Salinas. Next week we will move over 530 H-2A laborers up north," said Rodriguez.

Under the H-2A contract AG companies are required to provide housing to Field Workers.

“So about four years ago we built a 600 bed complex in Salinas that we house our workers in, it’s a pretty nice complex and then in huron we put them in apartments as well,” said Rodriguez.

They manage H-2A contracts according to the crop, so as the seasons change, leafy greens must be moved up north along with the entire crew.

“So the desert, we grow all the same stuff that we grow up north. We've got iceberg, romaine, broccoli, kales, cauliflower, the chards,” said Rodriguez.

On average, The Growers Company employs over 1,200 H-2A workers from Mexico throughout the year.

By next week the company will have moved all the laborers up north to start summer growing season.

Making it possible to have fresh salads on our tables year-round.