The commissioner of agriculture and forestry is sounding the alarm over the lack of crawfish peelers in the state. Mike Strain says this is because the Department of Homeland Security has stopped processing H-2B applications for skilled guest workers, preventing them from coming back.
“A lot of these workers have been coming back up to 15 years. They come here, they stay about six months and they go home. Returning skilled guest workers,” Strain said.
Strain says these guest workers are doing the work for upwards of $18 an hour; and it’s work that Americans will not do, to the chagrin of crawfish farmers.
“In addition to that wage, those companies have to provide housing, transportation; there’s a lot of fees involved. So it’s very expensive to bring these workers in,” Strain explained.
Strain says of the 20 major crawfish processors, 15 of them have not received any guest workers, and the federal government’s inaction is on the verge of doing irreparable financial harm.
“The hit to our farmers is about $121 million. A hit to the economy is about $300 million, simply because they won’t allow the returning guest workers, who come every year, who are properly applied for, to come in,” Strain said.