Legislation to update agricultural guestworker guidelines was introduced in the U.S. House of Representatives on July 18. House Judiciary Chairman Bob Goodlatte (R-VA) was joined by a bipartisan group of lawmakers in announcing the “AG and Legal Workforce Act.”
In a press release, Goodlatte’s office noted, “The AG and Legal Workforce Act replaces the outdated and broken H-2A agricultural guestworker program with a new, workable agricultural guestworker program, known as the H-2C program, to ensure America’s farmers and ranchers have access to a reliable workforce.” It went on to say, “The H-2C program is available to both seasonal and year-round agricultural employers, provides a generous visa allocation to ensure labor needs are met, provides much needed flexibility to minimize disruptions in farm operations, eliminates regulatory burdens, and contains effective accountability and enforcement provisions.
Goodlatte’s office said the provisions are supported by over 200 agricultural groups.
Among the groups largely in favor of the bill is the American Sheep Industry Association (ASI). Peter Orwick, ASI executive director, told WLJ that his organization has been seeking changes for some time and sheep industry leaders and producers have been in contact with their U.S. representatives asking them to cosponsor or support this type of legislation affecting agricultural labor.
Orwick noted there are several specific references to sheepherders and the livestock industry in the bill. “That’s not an accident,” he said. “Our industry started meeting a year ago in August on what we want to see in that legislation.”
He then outlined some of the sheep industry’s key goals is to maintain some of the vital provisions that have worked in the H-2A program. Those include provisions for mobile housing for herders who spend large spans of time on the range or in the forest caring for sheep. Additionally, Orwick said they want to maintain the provision to provide monthly, rather than hourly, wages for sheepherders. He explained, “The herders aren’t working all of the time, but they are with the sheep all of the time.”
Additionally, because sheep require care 365 days a year without start-stop dates like harvested crops, a provision under current H-2A guidelines allows sheepherders to remain in the U.S. longer periods of time. Other immigrant agricultural workers are allowed to work in the U.S. for 10 months then return to their home country for six months before reentering the U.S. “It’s very important for us to have that continuity because the animals need care year around,” Orwick said. He added, “Those are the type of procedures that whatever legislation eventually goes through Congress—our goal is to codify those rather than just leave them as regulation. That is important.” The proposed legislation would make H-2C workers eligible for a three-year visa.
In a written response on July 25, the National Cattlemen’s Beef Association (NCBA) Executive Director of Government Affairs, Allison Rivera, told WLJ, “NCBA supports efforts by Rep. Bob Goodlatte and others in Congress to help the agriculture community deal with ongoing labor shortages and the specific year-round needs of those in livestock production. Ensuring that beef producers have access to a stable, year-round workforce is critical for supporting economic growth in rural communities.” She added, “House leadership has indicated that Rep. Goodlatte’s bill will not get a vote this week, but it could be considered in the future.”
Orwick explained that many sheep producers work with Mountain Plains Ag Services and the Western Range Association to find and hire legal workers. He said those groups were instrumental in discussions with ASI leadership to identify things in the current program that would be good to keep and things that need improvement.
The current laws require a lot of money and paperwork to be done legally, but as Orwick noted, the sheep industry has a good record of maintaining a legal workforce. And although ASI would like to see some changes, he said, “If the vote goes down or doesn’t happen, we have the current program that we have made as workable as possible.”
He also noted that other segments of agriculture are also in serious need of labor, referring to a recent report that H-2A applications are up double-digits this year. “I think that speaks to the need for these workers,” Orwick said.
E-Verify
One of the many provisions of the proposed legislation will also require all U.S. employers to use E-Verify, a web-based system that allows enrolled employers to confirm the eligibility of their employees to work in the United States. E-Verify employers verify the identity and employment eligibility of newly-hired employees by electronically matching information provided by employees on the Form I-9, Employment Eligibility Verification, against records available to the Social Security Administration (SSA) and the Department of Homeland Security (DHS).
The legislation calls for phase-in of mandatory E-Verify participation for new hires in six-month increments beginning on the date of enactment. The phase-in would be based on the number of employees of each business.
Concerns
Orwick told WLJ that ASI has some additional questions and concerns regarding provisions for health insurance and a cap on the number of immigrant workers allowed in the United States.
The insurance provision calls for employees to have health insurance when they start work. Orwick said that could be cumbersome. He queried, “How would you get that lined up for someone coming in from another country? It looks very cumbersome to us and that’s why we had questions for Congress and want them to address that specifically.”
Additionally, ASI is concerned with a cap on the number of foreign agricultural workers allowed. Other industries have also voiced concern, noting that especially during times of planting or harvest it is important to have enough workers to handle perishable commodities.
Moving ahead, Orwick said ASI will continue to have talks with lawmakers to help them understand the importance of this legislation to sheep producers. “The reality is, this is a first step,” he said. — Rae Price, WLJ editor
