H.R. 7541

119 HR 7541 IH: U.S. Farmworker Protection Act
 U.S. House of Representatives
 2026-02-12
 text/xml
 EN
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 I  119th CONGRESS  2d Session  H. R. 7541  IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES   February 12, 2026   Ms. Jayapal  (for herself,  Ms. Pelosi ,  Mr. García of Illinois ,  Mr. Castro of Texas ,  Mr. Casar ,  Ms. Chu ,  Ms. Simon ,  Mr. Thanedar , and  Mr. Doggett ) introduced the following bill; which was referred to the  Committee on the Judiciary    A BILL
To protect United States workers by creating annual restrictions on the H–2A temporary worker program.
1.
Short title
This Act may be cited as the   U.S. Farmworker Protection Act  .
2.
Sense of Congress
It is the sense of Congress that—
(1)
the H–2A program, as created by section 218 of the Immigration and Nationality Act ( 8 U.S.C. 1188 ), has experienced unprecedented growth in recent years;
(2)
with the H–2A program having 384,865 certified jobs in fiscal year 2024, an increase of 40 percent compared to fiscal year 2020 (when there were 275,430 certified jobs), an increase of 71 percent compared to fiscal year 2017 (when there were 224,965 certified jobs), and an almost 5-time increase compared to fiscal year 2008 (when there were 82,099 certified jobs); and
(3)
the unlimited growth of the H–2A program threatens to displace United States farmworkers and depress the wages and working conditions of United States farmworkers, including those who harvest crops, drive trucks, and operate equipment.
3.
Creating annual restrictions on the H–2A program
(a)
Annual restriction established
Section 218(a) of the Immigration and Nationality Act ( 8 U.S.C. 1188(a) ) is amended by adding at the end the following:
(3)
The Secretary of Labor may not certify petitions covering more than 400,000 positions for a fiscal year. For purposes of this paragraph, any position that the petitioner, in the petition, specifies will be filled by a worker who is represented by a bargaining representative shall not be counted towards the limit under this paragraph.
 .
(b)
Definition of  bargaining representative
Section 218(i) of the Immigration and Nationality Act ( 8 U.S.C. 1188(i) ) is amended by adding at the end the following:
(3)
The term  bargaining representative  means a labor organization (as such term is defined in section 2 of the National Labor Relations Act ( 29 U.S.C. 152 )) that—
(A)
represents agricultural employees in their employment relations with agricultural employers; and
(B)
has filed an LM–2, LM–3, or LM–4 form (or any successor form) with the Secretary of Labor and has a collective bargaining agreement covering agricultural employees.
 .