‘I’m just grateful to have had this opportunity’: Mexican fair worker reflects on career thanks to visa program

A native of Veracruz, Mexico, Salvador Garcia-Alvarez was 34 when he applied to work at Butler Amusements in 2000 on a visa after the company began hiring workers through the H-2B program.

Now 58, Garcia-Alvarez continues to help operate fairground attractions throughout the West Coast, including the Spokane County Interstate Fairgrounds.

“I did it for my family, and I was aware that the job I had in Mexico was not enough to help my family buy food,” Garcia-Alvarez, one of only 12 contract workers at the company in 2000, said in Spanish.

The US government grants H-2B visas to workers in industries such as hospitality, cruise ships, theme parks, sheep farming, etc. This allows people from foreign countries to come to the US to work for nine months. Once the nine months are up, they return to their home country, where they can apply for an additional visa if they wish to return.

Each year through the program, Garcia-Alvarez has helped put together rides that many children enjoy, including carousels, which he says always leave him feeling satisfied knowing he helped.

Over the years of experience, he said his favorite part was seeing the kids get on the rides and hearing them laugh and have fun.

“It makes me so happy, it gives me motivation,” Garcia-Alvarez said.

Butler Amusements began recruiting workers through the H-2B program after struggling to find employees in the United States, which has helped people like Garcia-Alvarez who can’t make ends meet in their own country.

“It’s getting harder and harder to hire Americans. I mean, everybody likes to be on the job now. You know, everybody likes their methods – and all of a sudden you need a few more guys. Well, there’s more and more guys who want to work for their families in Mexico, you know?” said Jesse Bogue, assistant manager of Butler Amusements.

The company was able to employ more than 200 workers this year, a significant growth from the first 12 employees hired in 2000.

The basic visa application fee is $460, while the anti-fraud fee is $500 and the premium processing fee is $1,500.

“It’s important for us to have these guys because they come back year after year, and you know, it’s like, with the way we have to move now, it’s like we have a lot of moving parts. And it takes a lot of people to make that happen,” Bogue said.

Garcia-Alvarez said their contract work would end in November and resume in February in California, eventually bringing them back to Washington.

“It’s so interesting to see each place,” Garcia-Alvarez said with a laugh. “I’m just grateful for the opportunity and thank God for putting me here.”