HR-9535-119
Referred to the House Committee on the Judiciary.
Sponsored by Glenn Thompson (R-PA)
What it does
This bill would overhaul the H-2A temporary agricultural worker visa program by streamlining the application process, creating a unified online platform for employer petitions, redefining wage calculation methods, expanding the definition of eligible agricultural work, and allowing multi-year labor certifications. It would also create a limited pathway for unauthorized immigrants who have performed agricultural work to obtain H-2A status, and would establish new worker protections including heat illness prevention plans and capped housing charges.
Who benefits
Agricultural employers (farms, cooperatives, aquaculture operations, meat and poultry processors, logging companies) who would face less paperwork and faster processing times. H-2A workers who would gain portability between employers, clearer housing standards, and heat illness protections. Unauthorized immigrants who performed agricultural work and meet specific criteria (at least 180 days of work in the 2 years before enactment) who could obtain legal H-2A status. Agricultural associations and cooperatives that could file joint petitions. Employers who previously faced legal exposure for employing unauthorized agricultural workers who would receive limited liability protection. Rural communities dependent on agricultural labor supply. Consumers who may benefit from a more stable food supply chain.
Who is hurt
Domestic agricultural workers who may face wage competition, as the bill recalculates the "adverse effect wage rate" using the 17th percentile for entry-level jobs — lower than current benchmarks — and caps annual wage increases at 3.25%. Labor unions and worker advocacy organizations that have opposed H-2A expansion. Unauthorized immigrants who do not meet the specific work-history threshold and would not qualify for the legalization pathway. Workers in newly covered sectors (meat/poultry processing, logging, aquaculture) who may see increased labor competition. Employers in states with stronger worker protections who may face pressure to align with the new federal floor. Taxpayers who may bear costs of building and maintaining the new online platform. Consular staff at the State Department who would face new staffing and prioritization mandates.
Supporters argue
Supporters argue that U.S. agriculture faces a chronic labor shortage that domestic workers have not filled, and that the current H-2A system's bureaucratic delays — often leaving crops unharvested — cost farmers billions annually. They contend the bill addresses real operational failures: multi-agency redundancy, unpredictable wage calculations, and inflexible certification timelines that do not match agricultural realities like staggered harvests. The limited legalization pathway, they argue, recognizes the practical reality that experienced agricultural workers already in the country are essential to food production and that bringing them into a legal framework improves oversight and worker protections.
Opponents argue
Opponents argue that the bill's revised adverse effect wage rate — anchored at the 17th percentile for entry-level jobs — would structurally suppress wages for domestic farmworkers, who are already among the lowest-paid workers in the country. They contend that expanding the definition of covered agricultural work to include meat processing, logging, and aquaculture dramatically widens the program beyond its original purpose, increasing labor competition in sectors where domestic workers are present. The limited legalization pathway, critics argue, creates an incentive structure that rewards prior unauthorized employment and may encourage future unauthorized entry in anticipation of similar future provisions.
Constitutional context
Congress holds broad authority over immigration under the Naturalization Clause (Art. I, §8, cl. 4) and the Necessary and Proper Clause. The bill's legalization waiver provisions touch on executive enforcement discretion and due process protections for non-citizens under the Fifth Amendment. Post-Loper Bright (2024), the significant rulemaking authority delegated to the Secretaries of Labor, Agriculture, and Homeland Security — including defining "agricultural labor or services" and setting wage rates — would face independent judicial scrutiny rather than automatic deference.
Checks and balances
Congress gains authority by codifying specific wage calculation formulas and program structures into statute, reducing executive discretion; the Secretaries of Labor, Homeland Security, Agriculture, and State each receive defined but bounded rulemaking roles; courts retain review authority over agency determinations under the APA, and post-Loper Bright, would independently assess the validity of agency interpretations.
Historical precedent
The Immigration Reform and Control Act of 1986 (IRCA) created the H-2A program's predecessor and included a similar agricultural worker legalization provision (the Special Agricultural Worker program), which ultimately granted legal status to approximately 1.1 million workers.