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Temporary Agricultural Employment of H-2A Nonimmigrants in the United States

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League of Women Voters filings
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League of Women Voters filed 1 comment on this docket between Oct 4, 2019 and Oct 4, 2019. 96 other organizations filed here. The comment window closed 2499d ago.

What League of Women Voters filed (1)

Oct 4, 2019· League of Women Voters of Chicago - Mardikes, Catherine· ETA-2019-0007-0545

Dear Ms. Gagliardi: I write to express my concern about and opposition to several of the proposed changes to the H-2A temporary foreign agricultural worker program. The announced modifications in transportation, wages, and housing, among others, will further H-2A migrant farmworkers susceptibility to abuse and indebtedness and increase existing power imbalances between employers and workers. Under the proposed regulations: Workers will have to pay to work by assuming costs of travel and transportation from their communities of origin to the consulate or embassy. Instead of covering migrant workers entire journey, as regulations currently require, employers will only be mandated to reimburse workers for travel expenses incurred from the consulate or embassy to their place of work. This would disproportionately affect indigenous workers who often pay higher costs for traveling from isolated communities. Already, employers often do not reimburse what is required by the law, impacting migrant workers ability to pay off loans acquired to pay for traveling expenses. Proposed rules would only exacerbate the problem by increasing financial burdens on workers. The H-2A program is rife with wage theft and other abuses; DOL should not impose additional costs on vulnerable workers who already suffer from violations of existing law. New wage calculations would also undercut wages for farmworkers -- a population that is already underpaid. The current methodology by which wages are calculated would be replaced with an alternative formula that could significantly lower H-2A workers wages in many states throughout the country. As it is, H-2A workers regularly report financial challenges and poverty due to low wages, loans, and costs of travel. This change would only exacerbate these problems. Workers housing conditions would depend on the goodwill of employers -- not government oversight. Deplorable housing is a recurrent issue for workers under the H-2A program. With the new rules, buildings could be certified as housing for up to 24 months-- a period that extends over several work seasons and multiple visa issuances-- instead of the current annual government inspection. Relying on employers employers to self-inspect will result in housing worse than what workers already receive. The Department of Labor is obligated to protect the rights of workers under the program. Consequently, I urge you not to implement suggested changes as that action will directly threaten the livelihood of workers and that of their families. Sincerely, Catherine Mardikes

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Abstract

The Department of Labor (Department) proposes to amend its regulations regarding the certification of temporary employment of nonimmigrant workers employed in temporary or seasonal agricultural employment and the enforcement of the contractual obligations applicable to employers of such nonimmigrant workers. This notice of proposed rulemaking streamlines the process by which the Department reviews employers’ applications for temporary agricultural labor certifications to use in petitioning the Department of Homeland Security to employ a nonimmigrant worker in H-2A status. Amendments to the current regulations focus on modernizing the H-2A program and eliminating inefficiencies. The Department also proposes to amend the regulations for enforcement of contractual obligations for temporary foreign agricultural workers and the Wagner-Peyser Act regulations to provide consistency with revisions to H-2A program regulations governing the temporary agricultural labor certification process.

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