A nursery with headquarters in Miami, Florida, has been accused of hiring foreign H-2A visa holders rather than eligible Americans for blue-collar, agricultural labor in Georgia.
The Dept. of Labor reported last month that a judge had approved the agency’s inquiry into Pure Beauty Farm Inc., ordering the nursery to pay fines totaling almost $200,000 and almost $18,000 in back wages to one specific worker.
According to the agency’s conclusions, Pure Beauty Farm Inc. reportedly offered foreign H-2A visa workers preference throughout the hiring process for agricultural positions at its farm in Greensboro, GA.
Pure Beauty Farm Inc. purportedly required 29 potential Americans to submit documentation proving they had past nursery work experience, which was not required of its foreign H-2A visa hires, and as a result rejected their applications.
Additionally, Pure Beauty Farm Inc. is accused of breaking housing regulations for the H-2A visa program by cramming foreign workers into small spaces with debris, broken fire alarms, mildew damage, and other problems.
However, the agency has decided to allow the nursery to continue using the program with outside supervision for the following three years rather than prohibiting it from importing foreign H-2A visa employees.
A limitless number of American jobs may be outsourced by U.S. agricultural businesses each year to foreign workers under the H-2A visa program, who may then extend their stay for up to three years. The H-4 visa allows foreign spouses and children of H-2A visa holders to enter the country.
Breitbart News has been documenting the program’s use to replace Americans and maintain the cheapness of agricultural labor for years.
A little over 16,000 foreign workers with visas were imported in 1997 to compete for agricultural jobs in the United States. By 2021, that number had risen to a record 258,000 foreign employees, representing a more than 1,500% increase in the H-2A visa program in less than 25 years.
