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Appropriations amendment expands H-2A program
The House Appropriations Committee has approved an amendment that extends the H-2A guest worker visa program to all of agriculture.
Introduced by Congressman Dan Newhouse of Washington, the amendment was approved as part of the Fiscal Year 2018 Homeland Security Appropriations Act and provides dairy, livestock and other agricultural sectors access to the program.
The H-2A program would remain a temporary source of ag labor and there are still time limits for how low workers can stay in the U.S.
The American Farm Bureau Federation, National Milk Producers Federation and American Dairy Coalition are among several ag groups supporting the measure.
Tags: ag labor, Congress, Dairy, farm labor, H2A Guest Worker, Livestock
Shortly after the H2A program was established in 1986, the US attorney general’s office was asked what constituted a temporary worker. The answer was a common sense one – anyone hired for a year or less. However, the labor department has ignored this opinion ever since, effectively excluding most egg, poultry, dairy and livestock producers from the program.
Bravo to the US House for setting them straight. The firm I work for matches workers from eastern Europe with farmers who need help, and this will really help our business as well as farmers desperate for quality help.