The legislation was introduced this week in the U.S. House of Representatives that would reform the H-2A visa program to address the agricultural labor shortage. The “Farm Workforce Modernization Act”, introduced by Representatives Zoe Lofgren from California and Dan Newhouse of Washington, would amend the H-2A program to allow a capped number of visas for farmworkers to work year-round. In …
Secretary Perdue Statement on H-2A Modernization
(USDA) — U.S. Secretary of Agriculture Sonny Perdue issued a statement applauding the Department of Labor’s final rule modernizing the H-2A visa program: “This final rule streamlining and modernizing the H-2A visa process will go a long way in ensuring American farmers have access to a stable and skilled workforce, all while removing unnecessary bureaucratic processes. USDA’s goal is to help …
USDA and DOL Announce Information Sharing to Assist H-2A Employers
(USDA) — U.S. Secretary of Agriculture Sonny Perdue announced a partnership between the U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) and the U.S. Department of Labor (DOL) to help facilitate the identification of foreign and domestic workers that may be available and eligible to transfer to other U.S. agricultural sector employers to fulfill critical workforce needs within the U.S. under existing regulatory …
Perdue Comments on Administrative Actions to Streamline H-2A Process
U.S. Secretary of Agriculture Sonny Perdue issued the following statement highlighting actions announced by the Department of Labor (DOL) that will modernize the burdensome H-2A visa process. First, DOL published a common-sense rule that eliminates the requirement to advertise a job opening in print newspapers, instead shifting to advertising on the DOL and State Workforce Agency websites, which are further …
Secretary Perdue on Labor Agreement with Guatemala
Washington, D.C. (USDA) – U.S. Secretary of Agriculture Sonny Perdue applauded the Department of Labor and Guatemala on the signing of an agreement to improve H-2A visa program operations. Secretary Perdue issued the following statement: “Our farmers and ranchers are the most productive in the world, and they want to obey immigration law. This move by the United States and …
U.S. and Guatemala Working Together on H-2A Recruiting
(NAFB) — Governments in the U.S. and Guatemala are working together to form a “registered Foreign Labor Recruiter Program” for farmworkers who want to come to the U.S. Politico says the initiative is part of several agreements that the governments are discussing to address what they call “irregular immigration patterns.” Under the program, the U.S. would prioritize H-2A visa applications …
Crawford Introduces Legislation to Reform H-2A Program
Legislation introduced in the House of Representatives would transfer jurisdiction for agricultural guest workers from the Department of Labor to the U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA). The bill comes as the Labor Department Monday opened a comment period on proposed rulemaking changes to the program. The changes “strengthen protections” for workers. Meanwhile, the Agricultural Guest Worker Reform Initiative, or AGRI …
Secretary Perdue on Dept. of Labor Rulemaking on H-2A Visa Program
U.S. Secretary of Agriculture Sonny Perdue praised proposed rulemaking by the U.S. Department of Labor (DOL), which could help farmers advertise job openings to domestic workers as required under the H-2A visa program. The DOL rulemaking would require that employers seeking to hire temporary workers post the employment opportunities online, rather than in expensive newspapers advertisements reaching a limited audience. …
Mulhern Comments on Passage of Newhouse Amendment to Improve H-2A Program for Dairy Producers
“We greatly appreciate Rep. Dan Newhouse’s (R-WA) work on behalf of America’s dairy producers to expand the H-2A farm worker visa program to include year-round employees on farms. “Rep. Newhouse’s amendment to the Homeland Security Appropriations bill would allow farm employers to use the H-2A visa program to hire foreign workers, regardless of whether those employees are engaged in temporary …
Immigration Debate in Congress Still Struggling
The Senate’s immigration debate ended on Thursday with no deal. Neither a bipartisan plan nor President Trump’s proposal had the required number of votes to pass. Every proposal considered couldn’t reach the 60-vote threshold. That leaves the undocumented immigrants in the Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals program in limbo and lawmakers unsure of what’s next in the debate. In the …
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