WASHINGTON – Today, Congressman David G. Valadao (CA-21) joined U.S. Colorado Senator Michael Bennet, Rep. Dan Newhouse (WA-04), and Rep. Salud Carbajal (CA-24) to announce a bipartisan farm worker visa reform package. The bill, the Affordable and Secure Food Act, reforms the H-2A temporary agricultural worker program to provide stability for farm workers, farmers, and our nation’s food supply.

Food prices have increased 11.4% over the last year, the fastest rate of inflation for food in over four decades. A recent report from the CATO institute shows that reforms to the H-2A program would lower food costs across the country.

“With food prices on the rise across the country, more people are starting to take notice of just how important our food supply chain is to keeping costs low and store shelves stocked. Food security is national security, and our farm workers are an essential part of this food supply chain,” said Congressman Valadao. “While these workers play an essential role in feeding America, many of them live in fear because of our broken immigration system. Making sure our farmers have access to a legal and reliable workforce and streamlining the process for the future flow of workers is just common sense. This issue is too important to not move forward, and I hope with this momentum we can finally make this commonsense fix to strengthen our farm workforce.”

Background:

Congressman Valadao is an original co-sponsor of the House-passed Farm Workforce Modernization Act, and voted in favor of the bill when it passed the House last year. This bill largely incorporates language from the Farm Workforce Modernization Act. Specifically, the Affordable and Secure Food Act would:

• Establish a program for agriculture workers, along with their spouses and minor children, to earn legal status. Farm workers in the program may earn a path to a green card after 10 years of agriculture work.
• Reform the H-2A Temporary Agricultural Worker program by providing H-2A visas for year-round jobs for the first time, modernizing the application process, creating more wage certainty, and ensuring critical protections for H-2A farm workers.
• Establish a mandatory, nationwide electronic verification system for all agricultural employment, with high standards for privacy and accuracy.
• Lower the cost of and increase access to farm workers and rural housing.

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