Colorado Sen. Michael Bennet announced a new farmworker reform bill on Thursday in hopes getting it enacted in the closing days of the congressional session. The bill would give legal status to undocumented farmworkers and reform the H-2A guestworker program, including, for the first time, visas for year-round agricultural work.
The House passed a version of the bill last year, though efforts to come up with a Senate version have stalled. Attempts at a bipartisan compromise sputtered to a halt last month. Farm groups, growers, the dairy industry, and the United Farm Workers union say reform is vital to assure a reliable and legal workforce for U.S. food production.
“There’s no reason we shouldn’t get this done,” said Bennet, a Democrat, in a statement. At a news conference, he said, “Next week is our last, best opportunity to address the farm labor crisis in American agriculture,” reported Roll Call.
A one-page description of the Affordable and Secure Food Act is available here.
A section by section description of the bill is available here.