St. Joe-Benton Harbor News

In 2024, all three H-2A petitions submitted by an employer classified under the Manufacturing industry based in the St. Joe-Benton Harbor News 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 Petro Farms, an employer based in the publication area.

This represents an approval rate of 100%, 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.

Compared to 2023, St. Joe-Benton Harbor News publication area saw an unchanged 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.

Rank	Industry	Total Petitions	% of All Submissions	% Approved	% Denied
1	Agriculture, Forestry, Fishing and Hunting	2,180	99.4%	100%	0%
2	Arts, Entertainment, and Recreation	5	0.2%	100%	0%
3	Wholesale Trade	4	0.2%	100%	0%
4	Manufacturing	3	0.1%	100%	0%
5	Transportation and Warehousing	1	<0.1%	100%	0%

Company Name	Industries	Total Petitions	% Approved	% Denied
D Perez Harvesting, LLC	Agriculture, Forestry, Fishing and Hunting	455	100%	0%
Walther Farms MI, LLC	Agriculture, Forestry, Fishing and Hunting	278	100%	0%
A and B Costanza Farms, LLC	Agriculture, Forestry, Fishing and Hunting	257	100%	0%
Leitz Farms, LLC	Agriculture, Forestry, Fishing and Hunting	223	100%	0%
Farm 13, LLC	Agriculture, Forestry, Fishing and Hunting	202	100%	0%
Russell Costanza Farms	Agriculture, Forestry, Fishing and Hunting	152	100%	0%
Schilling Family Farms, LLC	Agriculture, Forestry, Fishing and Hunting	88	100%	0%
Sunnybrooke Growers	Agriculture, Forestry, Fishing and Hunting	69	100%	0%
Berry Crew, LLC	Agriculture, Forestry, Fishing and Hunting	68	100%	0%
Harner Farms, LLC	Agriculture, Forestry, Fishing and Hunting	52	100%	0%
Gary F Bartley	Agriculture, Forestry, Fishing and Hunting	50	100%	0%
Rajzer Farms, LLC	Agriculture, Forestry, Fishing and Hunting	37	100%	0%
MJS Harvesting, LLC	Agriculture, Forestry, Fishing and Hunting	32	100%	0%
Willbrandt Enterprises, Inc.	Agriculture, Forestry, Fishing and Hunting	31	100%	0%
Heater Farms, LLC	Agriculture, Forestry, Fishing and Hunting	28	100%	0%
Kietzer Farms, Inc.	Agriculture, Forestry, Fishing and Hunting	26	100%	0%
Molter Produce, LLC	Agriculture, Forestry, Fishing and Hunting	24	100%	0%
Hawkeye Farms	Agriculture, Forestry, Fishing and Hunting, Transportation and Warehousing	17	100%	0%
Azulera Farms, LLC	Agriculture, Forestry, Fishing and Hunting	14	100%	0%
Fred Koenigshof	Agriculture, Forestry, Fishing and Hunting	10	100%	0%
St. Joe Valley Apiaries	Agriculture, Forestry, Fishing and Hunting	10	100%	0%
Pace Family Farms	Agriculture, Forestry, Fishing and Hunting	9	100%	0%
Rolling Rock Farms	Agriculture, Forestry, Fishing and Hunting	8	100%	0%
Grabemeyer Farms	Agriculture, Forestry, Fishing and Hunting	8	100%	0%
County Line Nurseries, Inc.	Agriculture, Forestry, Fishing and Hunting	6	100%	0%
Jeff Scherer Farms, LLC	Agriculture, Forestry, Fishing and Hunting	5	100%	0%
Bo Mar Enterprises, Inc.	Arts, Entertainment, and Recreation	5	100%	0%
Granor Farms, LLC	Wholesale Trade	4	100%	0%
Walther Farms FL, LLC	Agriculture, Forestry, Fishing and Hunting	4	100%	0%
Schultz Fruitridge Farms, Inc.	Agriculture, Forestry, Fishing and Hunting	4	100%	0%
Frillman Farms, LLC	Agriculture, Forestry, Fishing and Hunting	3	100%	0%
Stephen C Holden	Agriculture, Forestry, Fishing and Hunting	3	100%	0%
Petro Farms	Manufacturing	3	100%	0%
Andrew a Barbott	Agriculture, Forestry, Fishing and Hunting	3	100%	0%
Brumfield Angus Farms, LLC	Agriculture, Forestry, Fishing and Hunting	2	100%	0%
Drobny Farms, LLC	Agriculture, Forestry, Fishing and Hunting	2	100%	0%
Kuehnle Farms, LLC	Agriculture, Forestry, Fishing and Hunting	1	100%	0%

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