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PROPOSED LEGISLATION,(Jul. 24, 2018)
\nA group of Republican, plus two Democratic, lawmakers have teamed up to introduce and co-sponsor the “AG and Legal Workforce Act,” which would replace what sponsors called the “outdated and broken H-2A agricultural guestworker program” with a new H-2C program. The move is intended to ensure that America\u2019s farmers and ranchers have access to a reliable workforce. Among other things, the bill would expand employer eligibility and the number of visas available, make housing and transportation provision optional, and make Affordable Care Act subsidies unavailable to guestworkers, but require them to have health insurance.
\nH-2C program.\xa0The bill,\xa0H.R. 6417, would make the H-2C agricultural guestworker program available to both seasonal and year-round agricultural employers, provide a generous visa allocation for employers to ensure labor needs are met, provide much-needed flexibility to employers to minimize disruptions in farm operations, eliminate regulatory burdens on employers, and contain effective accountability and enforcement provisions,\xa0according to the lawmakers.
\nEligibility and visa allocation expanded.\xa0A\xa0bill summary\xa0points to several key features that would expand the agricultural sectors eligible for the program, as well as the number of visas available:
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\nIn addition to meeting seasonal agricultural labor needs, the H-2C program would be available to year-round agricultural employers, such as aquaculture operations, dairies, raw food processors, and others.
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\nThe total number of visas available each year would include 40,000 visas for workers employed in meat and poultry processing, and 410,000 for all other agricultural workers.
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\nReturning H-2A and H-2B workers, and previously unauthorized farmworkers who participate legally in H-2C, would not count toward the annual visa cap on non-meat and poultry processing workers.
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\nThe bill would include an automatic escalator to increase the cap on non-meat and poultry processing visas should the allocation be reached in a given year and limited discretion for the Secretary of Agriculture to allocate additional visas in the event of a labor shortage.
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\nUnauthorized workers get path to certification.\xa0H.R. 6417 would permit experienced farmworkers who are currently illegally present in the United States to get pre-certified to join the H-2C program, and after leaving the U.S. briefly, begin working legally.
\nVisa term lengths and touchback requirements.\xa0The bill would also include flexible visa term lengths and certain touchback requirements. All H-2C workers would be eligible for a three-year visa. Workers would be able to meet their touchback requirement by accruing time through multiple periods of absence from the U.S. Specifically, a worker would be required to accrue 60 days, or a time period equal to 1/12th of their stay, whichever is less, before becoming eligible for a subsequent visa.
\nWages and regulatory burdens.\xa0The bill would require that workers receive “reasonable wages” and would put an end to “excessive regulatory burdens,” according to sponsors. To that end, the proposed legislation would include these provisions:
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\nEmployers would be required to pay H-2C workers not less than the state or local minimum wage,