Smoky Mountain Today publication area sees 4,173 H-2A petitions approved for employers classified under Agriculture, Forestry, Fishing and Hunting industry during 2024

In 2024, 4,173 of the 4,178 H-2A petitions submitted by employers classified under the Agriculture, Forestry, Fishing and Hunting industry based in the Smoky Mountain Today publication area were approved, according to data provided by U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services via H-2A Employer Data Hub. They were filed by employers based in the publication area.

This represents an approval rate of 99.9%, which is higher than the nationwide average.

In 2024, the average approval rate for H-2A petitions across the U.S. stood at 98.8%, slightly higher than 2023’s 98.4%.

Employers are classified under industries based on their reported operations and may be involved in multiple industries.

The H-2A visa program allows U.S. employers to hire foreign workers for temporary or seasonal agricultural jobs when enough domestic workers are unavailable. Employers must demonstrate a short-term need and that hiring foreign workers will not negatively affect U.S. workers’ wages or working conditions. These jobs must first be offered to U.S. workers, and both domestic and H-2A workers must receive at least the highest of the Adverse Effect Wage Rate (AEWR) or other wage benchmarks.

The Agriculture, Forestry, Fishing and Hunting industry led the H-2A petition approvals in the Smoky Mountain Today publication area during 2024, filing a total of 4,178 petitions (99.8% of all submissions) and receiving 4,173 approvals, resulting in an approval rate of 99.9%. The Administrative and Support and Waste Management and Remediation Services industry followed, with three petitions (0.1% of all submissions) and an approval rate of 100%.

The local employers with most temporary visa requests during 2024 included 2JM Produce, LLC, which filed 240 petitions with an approval rate of 100%, Central Valley Agent Cooperative Regi with 94 petitions and an approval rate of 100%, and Farmers Cooperative, which filed 53 petitions with an approval rate of 100%.

Compared to 2023, Smoky Mountain Today publication area saw a 9.1% increase in the number of seasonal agricultural visas during 2024.

The United States admits around 1 million legal immigrants annually, most of whom receive permanent residence (green cards) through family sponsorship or employment-based visas. In 2023, about 1.2 million immigrants were granted green cards, a return to pre-pandemic levels. Temporary visa programs, such as the H-1B for highly skilled workers and H-2A for seasonal agricultural workers, also play a critical role in filling workforce needs.

Public opinion on immigration varies, with 46% of Americans favoring maintaining current legal immigration levels, according to a 2024 Pew Research Center survey. Additionally, 42% believe that highly skilled workers, such as scientists, doctors, and programmers, should be prioritized for legal immigration, compared to 25% who prioritize workers filling labor shortages and 19% who emphasize family sponsorship. Despite this, family sponsorship remains the most common path to permanent residency, accounting for 63% of green cards issued in 2023.

Due to manual data entry and the use of paper forms by applicants or petitioners, occasional discrepancies in employer names, tax IDs, locations, or other details may be found in the H-2A Employer Data Hub provided by the U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS), which is the data used in this article. Despite these potential issues, USCIS works to ensure accuracy.

Information in this story was obtained from the U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services. The source data can be found here.