(The Center Square) – Relief sought in the H-2A visa program litigation in North Carolina was achieved through a Louisiana case, leading a federal judge on Monday to grant a dismissal request.
USA Farm Labor v. Lori Chavez-DeRemer, in her role as secretary at the U.S. Department of Labor, ended because an injunction is in place, and a final rule from the Biden administration was found in violation of the Administrative Procedure Act. Chief Judge Martin Reidinger, at the U.S. District Court for the Western District of North Carolina, granted defendants’ request for dismissal without prejudice.
The case began with the Biden administration Labor Department proposing to change rules for H-2A visas. Secretary Marty Walsh led the department as it sought to protect farmworkers, improve transparency of the program, and give union representatives more access for H-2A workers.
The 2023 Adverse Effect Wage Rate methodology was vacated in the U.S. District Court for the Western District of Louisiana on Aug. 25. It reestablished 2010 methodology and removed the requirement of employers to raise wages for each specific job duty they listed.
Critics were on both sides of the issue.
Walsh’s department set multiple rates for different occupations and regions. North Carolina agriculture is a $111.1 billion industry, No. 1 in the state, and increased costs for farmers has been a rallying call along with the possibility some would move toward hiring people illegally living in America.
Employers using rates to hire specialized workers like mechanics or long-haul truck drivers with salaries more in line with people picking crops was a criticized loophole in a February opinion by Judge Nicole Berner of the 4th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals in Richmond, Va.
