Immigration Bill Focusing on Temporary Agricultural Workers Introduced in Senate

Senator Saxby Chambliss (R–GA) has introduced S. 3912, “The Helping Agriculture Receive Verifiable Employees Securely & Temporarily Act of 2010” (“HARVEST Act”). The HARVEST Act aims to provide a non-amnesty option for temporary agricultural workers, streamline the H-2A temporary worker program, and discourage the hiring of undocumented workers. Additionally, according to Senator Chambliss, the bill would:

• provide a mechanism for addressing the presence of undocumented workers on farms without providing a new path to citizenship;
• ensure that U.S. nationals’ jobs are protected; 
• require the U.S. Department of Labor to increase random audits and investigations of H-2A employers;
• limit the duration of a foreign worker’s continuous stay in the United States without returning to his or her home country;
• require H-2A employers to verify hired agricultural workers’ eligibility; and
• ensure that the H-2A program works for agricultural employers with year-round operations.