The National Pork Producers Council (NPPC) submitted comments Monday to the U.S. Department of State calling on immigration officials to establish a better system for considering and adjudicating applications for a visa widely used to fill hog farm jobs.
The TN visa, created under the North American Free Trade Agreement, allows Canadian and Mexican professionals to temporarily fill specific job openings in the U.S.
NPPC said they have received reports that eligible applicants have been denied entry into the country for no cause and cannot appeal such decisions.
“Other evidence suggests applicants have been rejected because of subjective interpretations of having “sufficient ties” to their home country and about their intent to return to it,” NPPC wrote in a release. “In one case, a veterinarian with a clinic in Mexico was denied a TN visa and told the decision was final.”
As well, NPPC made the State Department aware of a major increase in audit calls to employers from visa processing officials, which delayed the disposition of visa applications by several months.
“If the labor shortage is not addressed, it could lead to farms and plants shutting down, causing serious financial harm to the communities in which they operate,” NPPC President Jen Sorenson. “Pork production would become constrained, leading to higher food prices for consumers and the United States becoming an unreliable trading partner.”
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