By TONY VINDELL
Special to the NEWS
That plate of fried shrimp people enjoy at their favorite seafood restaurants, such as the Blue Marlin or at El Pescador in San Benito could either be taken off the menus or cost a lot more.
The tastier gulf- shrimp caught by trawlers from the Texas Gulf Coast from the Brownsville/Port Isabel to the Palacios areas could also be replaced by farmed-raised crustaceans.
That’s because this South Texas industry – one of the nation’s largest – is caught in the middle of a crisis caused by today’s U.S. immigration policies and by what is going on in countries south of Mexico.
The expected arrival of hundreds of people who traditionally work on the boats, known as shrimp headers, is on halt right now; yet the kickoff of the 2022 season is about two weeks away.
Up to last year, some 300 seasonal workers mostly from south of the border have been keeping the industry afloat.
But U.S.-issued visas called H2B, or documents that allow them to work here on temporary basis in non-agricultural jobs, have not been authorized to those from Mexico and Nicaragua.
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1 comment
Oh no… sad to hear.