"Employers banned from hiring H-2A workers can ‘reinvent’ themselves to hire again,"

... Many H-2A workers face mistreatment from some employers, and the federal government can temporarily ban, or debar, employers from hiring H-2A workers. But the bans rarely occur and are easy to evade…

It is unclear how the U.S. Department of Labor determines which employers receive a temporary ban rather than a fine. As of August, 33 businesses are banned in the U.S. In six instances, employers with the same address, owner or phone number as the actively banned companies were approved for H-2A workers. The federal government approved one business for workers despite its name and location written verbatim on the banned list…

Less than 1% of all U.S. farms are audited for labor law compliance each fiscal year… Even though this figure accounts for all U.S. farms — not just those who hire H-2A workers — more than half of investigations uncover H-2A violations…

There are relatively few workplace investigators, and they focus on all industries…

The U.S. Department of Labor did not respond to multiple requests for comment…

The federal government has known for years that its system to ban H-2A employers has loopholes. In 2015, the Government Accountability Office found enforcing the bans can be difficult.

“Debarred employers may ‘reinvent’ themselves by starting new companies and submitting applications with slightly different information in order to continue hiring workers,” the report states...

Only one employer has ever been permanently banned from the H-2A program...