Bipartisan Bill Would Expand H-2A Visas and Offer Legal Status to Some Unauthorized Farmworkers

Forty-seven House Republicans have signed onto a bipartisan bill that would expand the H-2A visa program and allow certain agriculture workers present in the United States as of May 31, 2026, to obtain visas and legal status. The Federalist reported that the measure waives some immigration violations for eligible workers and permits employers who hired them to bypass accountability. Rep.

Chairman of the House Agriculture Committee and the bill's author, circulated a Dear Colleague letter stating that with the border now secure it is time to provide fair and legal pathways for agriculture to obtain workers when U.S. citizens are unavailable. A separate document on the bill says aliens whose only offense is unlawfully obtaining employment in agriculture would be eligible to apply.

The Department of Labor has estimated that around 327,000 agriculture workers in crop production lack work authorization, a figure that excludes dairy, poultry, hog and other livestock operations. U.S. Department of Agriculture data for 2020-22 showed that 42 percent of crop farmworkers held no work authorization.

The American Farm Bureau Federation supports the bill and highlighted its designation of H-2A workers as essential. The legislation states that during a lapse in appropriations all functions for processing, certification and admission of H-2A workers shall continue uninterrupted. Current rules limit labor certifications to one year.

The bill would allow visas to last three years and would extend the annual requirement for employers to first seek U.S. workers to the same three-year period.