Justice Department Settles with H-2A Provider

The department says the Mississippi-based company unlawfully favored H-2A visa holders over U.S. workers for ag employment.

Field workers harvesting strawberries
Field workers harvesting strawberries.
(Photo: F Armstrong, Adobe Stock )

The Justice Department says H2A Complete II Inc., a Mississippi company, settled with the department to address evidence that the company violated the Immigration and Nationality Act. The Department of Justice says H2A Complete II unfairly tipped the scales to hire H-2A visa holders over U.S. workers for agricultural employment opportunities.

The department says this settlement is the second since it re-launched its Protecting U.S. Workers Initiative, which targets, investigates and brings enforcement actions against employers that intentionally discriminate against U.S. workers due to a preference for temporary visa workers.

Under the settlement, the Department of Justice says H2A Complete II will pay $25,000 in civil penalties to the U.S., undergo training, revise its employment policies, and not include excessive experience requirements in job postings that unlawfully aim at excluding U.S. workers from employment opportunities.

“American workers seeking jobs in their own country deserve priority,” says Attorney General Pamela Bondi in a news release. “This Department of Justice will continue to protect our country’s workers from unlawful discrimination in favor of foreign nationals.”

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