YUMA, AZ - Shortages in agricultural labor are nothing new. The increasing scarcity of the stuff, though, is increasingly shaping the bottom lines of agricultural companies and the availability of fresh food to shoppers throughout North America.

Thankfully, there are options for agribusiness companies and aspiring farmworkers looking to provide produce and labor, respectively, to the market.

I recently had an opportunity to talk to Jesse Duron, CEO of CITA (Centro Independiente de Trabajadores Agrícolas/Independent Agricultural Worker Center). The son of CITA Founder Janine Duron, Jesse filled me in on the bi-national agricultural workforce development program’s operations, its aims, and the ways in which it provides benefits to laborers, consumers, and operators.

“Original funding was provided by a startup grant donated through Catholic Relief Services of Mexico,” Jesse explained to me. “CITA was organized as a not-for-profit organization in the U.S. and Mexico with the mission of helping employers and their workers prosper together. “The pilot program used our knowledge of the issues inherently present in agricultural labor to promote a non-adversarial environment for change.”

Jesse continued:

“The H-2A program gained popularity as a farming necessity, not so much as a choice. Wariness—of the cost of bringing, housing, and transporting seasonal labor, of the government rules and restrictions involved, and the uncertainty of the quality of workers that would come—kept most farmers from engaging,” he said. “CITA evolved into CITA H-2A Services & Resource Center to better serve employers needing to help restore their part of America’s agricultural workforce in every sense. First, to help employers provide the best work environment possible, to navigate the complicated H-2A program, and to help resolve labor issues that may arise. Secondly, to serve America’s domestic workforce first, then supplement it with seasonal willing and able workers.”

Through CITA’s Worker Care Center, the company is able to offer resources to working families in the U.S. and Mexico.

“As a one-stop program operating in Mexico and the U.S., CITA provides a secure and guaranteed usage of the H-2A program, eliminating the risk of using fraudulent or abusive recruiters in other countries,” Jesse explained. “Information, employer assistance with the H-2A petition process, worker education and assistance are our primary activities. We stand by our 100 percent refund guarantee of petition approval with every client. All for the benefit of workers, employers, and the governments who serve us all.”

And, Jesse noted, the advantage enjoyed by CITA’s employers and workers extends beyond the care and training of accepted candidates to an H-2A contract in the U.S. CITA is also involved in helping thousands of candidates who are not selected as candidates for H-2A placement meet basic needs such as food, housing, and clothing. CITA H-2A also specializes in correcting previously denied employer petitions of other H-2A service providers—running alongside businesses needing to restore their workforce for many years to come.

“Agricultural workforce stabilization has never been more urgent or possible than it is today,” noted Jesse. “Agricultural labor shortages are here to stay, especially as technology advances and immigration laws and parameters affect the estimated 80 percent undocumented workforce. Changes are coming to allow dairies, logging operations, and packing houses access to temporary labor that can return trained and very willing workers to do the work most Americans cannot or will not do. We encourage all employers to renew their understanding of this practical, very manageable option.”

For more information, interested parties can visit CITA’s website.

CITA H-2A Services & Resource Center