Media coverage: H-2A reform

So far my inbox is quiet from industry associations, but here is the reaction so far to the Administration's H-2A reforms.....

New rules will ease farm hiring, affect wages SF Chronicle

The regulations were condemned by labor, farmworker and immigrant advocates, who said they would worsen wages and working conditions for both U.S. agricultural workers and temporary guest workers.

Representatives of the farming industry, which had worked with the Bush administration to change the rules, voiced optimism that the program would be less burdensome and more attractive to use. Fewer than 10 percent of U.S. farmworkers are believed to be employed under the H-2A program.

A Department of Labor statement issued Thursday describing the changes said the new rule "addresses a number of criticisms about the current program, including that it is so cumbersome and prone to delays that many agriculture employers refuse to use it." The statement noted that the changes are the first in 20 years.

H-2A procedures streamlined Borderfire report

Key reforms in the rule:


* Relaxing the current limitations on H-2A employers to petition for multiple, unnamed agricultural workers;

* Extending from 10 days to 30 days the time a temporary or seasonal agricultural worker may remain in the country following the expiration of his or her temporary H-2A stay;

* Reducing from six months to three months the time an H-2A worker who has spent three years in the United States must reside and be physically present outside the United States before he or she is eligible to re-obtain H-2A status;

* Allowing H-2A workers, who are changing from one H-2A employer to another H-2A employer, to begin work with the new petitioning employer upon the filing of a new H-2A petition, provided the new employer is participating in USCIS’ E-Verify program (accesible through the "Related Links" section of this page);

* Prohibiting H-2A employers and recruiters from imposing certain fees on prospective H-2A workers as a condition of employment;

* Requiring an approved temporary labor certification in connection with all H-2A petitions;

* Requiring employers to notify USCIS when H-2A workers fail to show up for work, complete the work more than 30 days early, are terminated, or abscond from the worksite; and

* Permitting the approval of H-2A petitions only for nationals of certain countries designated as important to the operation of the program and appearing on a list to be published annually in the Federal Register. The initial list of participating countries to be published simultaneously with this Final Rule includes Mexico, Jamaica, and 26 others. DHS may allow on a case-by-case basis a worker from a country not on the list to be eligible for the H-2A program if such participation is in the U.S. interest.

This rule will also establish a land-border exit system pilot program requiring H-2A workers admitted through a port of entry participating in the pilot program to also depart through a participating port and to present designated biographic and/or biometric information upon departure.

These changes are being made in further fulfillment of the commitment made by President George W. Bush’s Administration in August 2007, after Congress’ failure to pass comprehensive immigration reform, to address immigration challenges using existing authorities.

This final rule supplements the extensive reforms of the H-2A program that are included in the Department of Labor’s final rule, also being published today. The final rule has been transmitted to the Federal Register and will become effective 30 days after it is posted.