By Aldgra Fredly
The Department of Labor said on Friday that it was suspending a Biden-era regulation aimed at providing workplace organizing protections to foreign farmworkers holding H-2A visas in the United States.
The farmworker rule, implemented last year under President Joe Biden’s administration, allowed farmers to hire H-2A workers, or foreign farmworkers on a temporary basis, when there are not enough willing and qualified U.S. workers available for the job.
Under this rule, farmworkers are allowed to advocate for better working conditions and improve accountability for employers in the H-2A visa program, among other provisions.
However, the department called the rule “burdensome” and said it had already been suspended due to federal court injunctions.
In a statement, the department said that suspending the rule would give American farmers greater clarity in navigating the H-2A visa program and align with President Donald Trump’s “ongoing commitment to strictly enforcing U.S. immigration laws.”
“As multiple federal court injunctions have created significant legal uncertainty, inconsistency, and operational challenges for farmers lawfully employing H-2A workers, this field assistance bulletin clarifies that the department will not be enforcing the 2024 final rule effective immediately—providing critical predictability for agricultural employers as litigation continues and as the department considers further regulatory action,” it stated.
The Epoch Times has sought comment from the United Farm Workers (UFW) but did not hear back by publication time.
The labor union had previously called for an end to federal immigration raids targeting foreign farmworkers amid the Trump administration’s mass deportation operation.
“The workers who feed us are not criminals. Most have been here for decades. We need to protect the workers who are already here from being hunted down in the fields,” UFW stated on June 12.
Trump has suggested that he would issue an order aimed at addressing the effects of his immigration policy on the workforce in agriculture, hospitality, and other sectors that depend on foreign labor.
“Our great farmers and people in the hotel and leisure business have been stating that our very aggressive policy on immigration is taking very good, long time workers away from them, with those jobs being almost impossible to replace,” he stated. “Changes are coming!”
Border czar Tom Homan said on June 19 that federal authorities will continue to target farms and hotels, but will focus on those with a “criminal nexus of trafficking, of forced labor, of tax fraud, or tax evasion.”
Homan told reporters that he was sympathetic to industries that had been affected by immigration enforcement, but added that as long as the laws are on the books, it’s ICE’s job to enforce them.
“There’s a right way and wrong way to hire workers,” he said. “There are legal programs that bring farm workers in. I’ve been saying for years that Congress needs to address this, but because Congress failed, it just doesn’t mean we ignore it.”
Joseph Lord contributed to this report.
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