Passport tech glitch costing farmers millions

The technical troubles preventing the State Department from issuing visas and passports at its overseas postings is costing farmers millions of dollars each day, The Wall Street Journal reported.

As the summer harvest goes into full swing, more than 1,000 workers who were awaiting H-2A agriculture visas in Mexico are stranded at motels on the Mexican side of the border.

{mosads}“It’s a crisis,” Jason Resnick, general counsel for the Western Growers Association (WGA), told the Journal. The WGA represents farmers in California, Arizona and Colorado

Resnick estimated that California farmers are losing between $500,000 and $1 million each day that the technical snafu continues.

The State Department’s Bureau of Consular Affairs on Friday said the issues were affecting people all over the globe, but ruled out a cyberattack as the cause.

“We are working as quickly as possible to pinpoint the root cause of our technical issues,” the department said. “We apologize to travelers and recognize that this may cause hardship to individuals waiting for visas and passports overseas.”

The digital failures are rooted in the system that performs national security checks. A central database is no longer receiving biometric information, such as fingerprints, from consulates worldwide.

The glitch has rendered it impossible to print out visas, passports or other travel documents at foreign diplomatic missions, the department claimed.

“The system that helps perform necessary security checks has suffered hardware failure,” State Department spokesman Niles Cole told the Journal. “Until it is repaired, no visas can be issued.”

Visa and passport seekers within the United States have not been affected.