Díaz-Balart: Schumer’s Shutdown is Threatening America’s Food Supply
Southern Florida – Congressman Mario Díaz-Balart (FL-26), Dean of the Florida Delegation and Vice Chair of the House Appropriations Committee, participated today in a roundtable with Florida fruit and vegetable growers regarding the urgent consequences of the ongoing Schumer shutdown.
For Florida, the nation’s largest user of the H-2A program, with roughly 50,000 positions certified each year — the shutdown immediately halts growers’ ability to secure the seasonal workforce required for harvest. Southern Florida alone supplies fresh produce to nearly 150 million consumers from fall through spring. Any delay in H-2A processing puts harvests, investments, and the national food supply at risk.
Congressman Díaz-Balart said, “We are now on Day 28 of the Schumer shutdown, and the consequences will soon be felt across the entire Eastern United States. Florida growers are moving into peak season, and every day of processing delays of H-2A certifications risks unharvested crops, unrecoverable investments, and jeopardized food supply for millions of Americans. Food security is national security. It is outrageous for Senate Democratic leadership to allow a government shutdown to trigger a preventable food crisis. I appreciate the Florida Fruit and Vegetable Association (FFVA) and today’s growers for raising this urgent alarm, and I will continue working to ensure this essential work resumes immediately.”
Jamie Fussell, FFVA’s Director of Labor Relations, said, “We are grateful to Congressman Diaz-Balart for his willingness to engage and see firsthand the challenges Florida growers face. As we have said before, shutdown-caused delays in H-2A certifications imminently threaten Florida agriculture, and H-2A processing must resume. We urge the Office of Management and Budget to deem H-2A certifications essential and allow processing to resume during the ongoing shutdown. In the absence of a budget or continuing resolution, this step is vital to ensure Florida growers have the workforce needed to harvest the fruits and vegetables that feed Americans through the winter months."
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