Chair signals no quick action on agriculture visas important to Long Island

WASHINGTON — The chairman of a key U.S. House panel is signaling no quick action on a bill to expand the use of a federal visa program that allows U.S. employers to hire migrant workers to fill temporary agririculture jobs.

House Judiciary Chairman Jim Jordan (R-Ohio) has decided for now to set aside the bill to revise the H-2A visa program for agriculture guest workers, and not take it up before Congress’ upcoming monthlong August recess. Instead, his committee will work on a broader immigration enforcement bill.

Agriculture industry groups and farmers nationally and on Long Island had been hoping the bill could move quickly. Statutorily unchanged for 40 years despite previous efforts to update, the H-2A visa program currently permits farm employers to hire only seasonal workers.

But Jordan told the news outlet Notus, "Secure the border, step one; enforcement, step two; step three, look at all that," adding, "I think you have to go in that sequence."

Then, Jordan said, perhaps inclusion or action on the H-2A program would occur "down the road.

But Jordan’s placing any potential committee action beyond August gives the bill even less chance for passage before midterm House and Senate elections in early November, and a lameduck Congress after the elections is unlikely to take it up.

Even so, House Agriculture Chairman Glenn "G.T." Thompson (R-Pa.) told Newsday on Friday that he remains hopeful his Securing Agriculture’s Workforce Act of 2026, introduced on June 30, could see movement in the House this year.

"I’m not giving up on reforming agricultural labor any time soon," Thompson said in a statement.

Extended visas

The Economic Policy Institute, a nonprofit Washington, D.C., think-tank, estimates that a vast majority of H-2A workers nationally are now employed on crop farms — picking fruits and vegetables — and the average duration of an H-2A job is roughly six months.

A major change sought in the legislation would allow for these visas to enable year-round jobs on farming operations, extending visa lengths to 350 days a year.

That and other proposed reforms, such as revised wage rules, could impact the H-2A workforce and hiring processes of the horticulture, nursery and specialty crop enterprises that make up most of Long Island’s agriculture business, as well as for dairy, livestock and other farms in New York.

The bill had seemed to represent an acknowledgment by some leading Republicans that immigrants who do not have permanent resident status in the U.S. remain critical to the country's agriculture industry.

LaLota's support

Thompson’s bill is technically bipartisan, with four Democrats among the 49 initial co-sponsors of the measure when it was introduced on June 30. But only three more lawmakers have since also signed on, among them including Long Island Rep. Nick LaLota (R-Amityville).

LaLota, in a statement, asserted that Gov. Kathy Hochul’s policies "have created some of the nation’s toughest agricultural labor conditions, and Long Island farmers continue to struggle to find enough American citizens willing to do this demanding work."

"I am proud to co-sponsor federal legislation that strengthens access to a legal immigrant workforce and helps our farmers compete and continue feeding our communities," he said.

Nationally, Thompson and others cite statistics that he says show a 2,766% growth rate over the number of H-2A visas issued since in 1996. "It’s time to bring the H-2A program into the 21st century," Thompson said.

And Labor Department statistics show New York is among the states most reliant on these visas for temporary agriculture workers.

In New York, H-2A visa positions certified have increased from 9,192 in federal fiscal year 2021 to 10,658 last year. Over the first half of this year the number is at 5,877 positions certified in New York State, which is 2,002 more than the number certified in the first six months of this year.

The bill has wide support among growers and farm groups like the Farm Bureau and Western Growers Association, most of which applaud its proposed changes to allow work contracts lasting up to 350 days, opening the door for more year-round employment by dairy, livestock poultry and other employers.

Union concerns

But it also has its detractors, including worker unions and some migrant groups.

The Trump administration has introduced rules to change the adverse effect wage rate (AEWR) and lower the minimum wages paid to seasonal agricultural workers filling H-2A visa jobs. Thompson’s legislation would codify some of the key provisions, billed as needed relief to America’s struggling farms.

And it is divisive in other ways — including within the House GOP. For instance, the measure would also create a limited pathway for some undocumented workers already in the U.S. to gain H-2A status, with a waiver of some immigration violations. That could be a hurdle in a conference where any form of amnesty for immigration law violators is dead on arrival.

But Thompson told Newsday, "There is nothing more critical than the program that helps ensure we have domestic food security."

"It would be a shame indeed if Congress allowed this opportunity for farm labor reform to pass us by," he said.