I 

116TH CONGRESS 

1ST SESSION H. R. 4916 

To amend the Immigration and Nationality Act to provide for terms and 

conditions for nonimmigrant workers performing agricultural labor or 

services, and for other purposes. 

IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES 

OCTOBER 30, 2019 

Ms. LOFGREN (for herself, Mr. NEWHOUSE, Mr. PETERSON, Mr. SIMPSON, 

Ms. SA ́NCHEZ, Mr. DIAZ-BALART, Mr. PANETTA, Mr. LAMALFA, Mr. 

COX of California, Mr. AMODEI, Mr. COSTA, Mr. BAIRD, Mr. HARDER

of California, Mrs. BROOKS of Indiana, Mr. BRINDISI, Mr. COLE, Ms. 

JUDY CHU of California, Mr. CURTIS, Ms. FUDGE, Mr. RODNEY DAVIS

of Illinois, Mr. LAWSON of Florida, Mr. GIBBS, Ms. SLOTKIN, Mrs. RODGERS of Washington, Mr. CORREA, Mr. MITCHELL, Ms. TORRES SMALL

of New Mexico, Mr. NUNES, Ms. GARCIA of Texas, Mr. REED, Mr. DAVID

SCOTT of Georgia, Ms. STEFANIK, Mr. CARBAJAL, Mr. STIVERS, Mr. 

SCHRADER, Mr. UPTON, Ms. CRAIG, Mr. YOUNG, Mr. CA ́RDENAS, Mr. 

WALDEN, Mr. VELA, Ms. SPANBERGER, Mrs. TORRES of California, Ms. 

SCHRIER, and Mr. FITZPATRICK) introduced the following bill; which was 

referred to the Committee on the Judiciary, and in addition to the Committees on Ways and Means, Education and Labor, and Financial Services, for a period to be subsequently determined by the Speaker, in each 

case for consideration of such provisions as fall within the jurisdiction of 

the committee concerned 

A BILL 

To amend the Immigration and Nationality Act to provide 

for terms and conditions for nonimmigrant workers performing agricultural labor or services, and for other purposes. 


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1 Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representa2 tives of the United States of America in Congress assembled, 

3 SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE; TABLE OF CONTENTS. 

4 (a) SHORT TITLE.—This Act may be cited as the 

5 ‘‘Farm Workforce Modernization Act of 2019’’. 

6 (b) TABLE OF CONTENTS.—The table of contents for 

7 this Act is as follows: 

Sec. 1. Short title; table of contents. 

TITLE I—SECURING THE DOMESTIC AGRICULTURAL WORKFORCE 

Subtitle A—Temporary Status for Certified Agricultural Workers 

Sec. 101. Certified agricultural worker status. 

Sec. 102. Terms and conditions of certified status. 

Sec. 103. Extensions of certified status. 

Sec. 104. Determination of continuous presence. 

Sec. 105. Employer obligations. 

Sec. 106. Administrative and judicial review. 

Subtitle B—Optional Earned Residence for Long-Term Workers 

Sec. 111. Optional adjustment of status for long-term agricultural workers. 

Sec. 112. Payment of taxes. 

Sec. 113. Adjudication and decision; review. 

Subtitle C—General Provisions 

Sec. 121. Definitions. 

Sec. 122. Rulemaking; Fees. 

Sec. 123. Background checks. 

Sec. 124. Protection for children. 

Sec. 125. Limitation on removal. 

Sec. 126. Documentation of agricultural work history. 

Sec. 127. Employer protections. 

Sec. 128. Correction of Social Security records. 

Sec. 129. Disclosures and privacy. 

Sec. 130. Penalties for false statements in applications. 

Sec. 131. Dissemination of information. 

Sec. 132. Exemption from numerical limitations. 

Sec. 133. Reports to Congress. 

Sec. 134. Grant program to assist eligible applicants. 

Sec. 135. Authorization of appropriations. 

TITLE II—ENSURING AN AGRICULTURAL WORKFORCE FOR THE 

FUTURE 

Subtitle A—Reforming the H–2A Temporary Worker Program 


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Sec. 201. Comprehensive and streamlined electronic H–2A platform. 

Sec. 202. H–2A program requirements. 

Sec. 203. Agency roles and responsibilities. 

Sec. 204. Worker protection and compliance. 

Sec. 205. Report on wage protections. 

Sec. 206. Portable H–2A visa pilot program. 

Sec. 207. Improving access to permanent residence. 

Subtitle B—Preservation and Construction of Farmworker Housing 

Sec. 220. Short title. 

Sec. 221. Permanent establishment of housing preservation and revitalization 

program. 

Sec. 222. Eligibility for rural housing vouchers. 

Sec. 223. Amount of voucher assistance. 

Sec. 224. Rental assistance contract authority. 

Sec. 225. Funding for multifamily technical improvements. 

Sec. 226. Plan for preserving affordability of rental projects. 

Sec. 227. Covered housing programs. 

Sec. 228. New farmworker housing. 

Sec. 229. Loan and grant limitations. 

Sec. 230. Operating assistance subsidies. 

Sec. 231. Eligibility of certified workers. 

Subtitle C—Foreign Labor Recruiter Accountability 

Sec. 251. Registration of foreign labor recruiters. 

Sec. 252. Enforcement. 

Sec. 253. Appropriations. 

Sec. 254. Definitions. 

TITLE III—ELECTRONIC VERIFICATION OF EMPLOYMENT 

ELIGIBILITY 

Sec. 301. Electronic employment eligibility verification system. 

Sec. 302. Mandatory electronic verification for the agricultural industry. 

Sec. 303. Coordination with E-Verify Program. 

Sec. 304. Fraud and misuse of documents. 

Sec. 305. Technical and conforming amendments. 

Sec. 306. Protection of Social Security Administration programs. 

Sec. 307. Report on the implementation of the electronic employment 

verification system. 

Sec. 308. Modernizing and streamlining the employment eligibility verification 

process. 

Sec. 309. Rulemaking and Paperwork Reduction Act. 


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1 TITLE I—SECURING THE DOMES2 TIC AGRICULTURAL WORK3 FORCE 

4 Subtitle A—Temporary Status for 

5 Certified Agricultural Workers 

6 SEC. 101. CERTIFIED AGRICULTURAL WORKER STATUS. 

7 (a) REQUIREMENTS FOR CERTIFIED AGRICULTURAL

8 WORKER STATUS.— 

9 (1) PRINCIPAL ALIENS.—The Secretary may 

10 grant certified agricultural worker status to an alien 

11 who submits a completed application, including the 

12 required processing fees, before the end of the period 

13 set forth in subsection (c) and who— 

14 (A) performed agricultural labor or serv15 ices in the United States for at least 1,035 

16 hours (or 180 work days) during the 2-year pe17 riod preceding the date of the introduction of 

18 this Act; 

19 (B) is inadmissible or deportable from the 

20 United States on the date of the introduction of 

21 this Act; 

22 (C) subject to section 104, has been con23 tinuously present in the United States since the 

24 date of the introduction of this Act and until 


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1 the date on which the alien is granted certified 

2 agricultural worker status; and 

3 (D) is not otherwise ineligible for certified 

4 agricultural worker status as provided in sub5 section (b). 

6 (2) DEPENDENT SPOUSE AND CHILDREN.—The 

7 Secretary may grant certified agricultural dependent 

8 status to the spouse or child of an alien granted cer9 tified agricultural worker status under paragraph 

10 (1) if the spouse or child is not ineligible for cer11 tified agricultural dependent status as provided in 

12 subsection (b). 

13 (b) GROUNDS FOR INELIGIBILITY.— 

14 (1) GROUNDS OF INADMISSIBILITY.—Except as 

15 provided in paragraph (3), an alien is ineligible for 

16 certified agricultural worker or certified agricultural 

17 dependent status if the Secretary determines that 

18 the alien is inadmissible under section 212(a) of the 

19 Immigration and Nationality Act (8 U.S.C. 

20 1182(a)), except that in determining inadmis21 sibility— 

22 (A) paragraphs (4), (5), (7), and (9)(B) of 

23 such section shall not apply; 

24 (B) subparagraphs (A), (C), (D), (F), and 

25 (G) of such section 212(a)(6) and paragraphs 


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1 (9)(C) and (10)(B) of such section 212(a) shall 

2 not apply unless based on the act of unlawfully 

3 entering the United States after the date of in4 troduction of this Act; and 

5 (C) paragraphs (6)(B) and (9)(A) of such 

6 section 212(a) shall not apply unless the rel7 evant conduct began on or after the date of fil8 ing of the application for certified agricultural 

9 worker status. 

10 (2) ADDITIONAL CRIMINAL BARS.—Except as 

11 provided in paragraph (3), an alien is ineligible for 

12 certified agricultural worker or certified agricultural 

13 dependent status if the Secretary determines that, 

14 excluding any offense under State law for which an 

15 essential element is the alien’s immigration status 

16 and any minor traffic offense, the alien has been 

17 convicted of— 

18 (A) any felony offense; 

19 (B) an aggravated felony (as defined in 

20 section 101(a)(43) of the Immigration and Na21 tionality Act (8 U.S.C. 1101(a)(43)) at the 

22 time of the conviction); 

23 (C) two misdemeanor offenses involving 

24 moral turpitude, as described in section 

25 212(a)(2)(A)(i)(I) of the Immigration and NaVerDate Sep 11 2014 00:13 Nov 08, 2019 Jkt 099200 PO 00000 Frm 00006 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H4916.IH H4916

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1 tionality Act (8 U.S.C. 1182(a)(2)(A)(i)(I)), 

2 unless an offense is waived by the Secretary 

3 under paragraph (3)(B); or 

4 (D) three or more misdemeanor offenses 

5 not occurring on the same date, and not arising 

6 out of the same act, omission, or scheme of 

7 misconduct. 

8 (3) WAIVERS FOR CERTAIN GROUNDS OF INAD9 MISSIBILITY.—For humanitarian purposes, family 

10 unity, or if otherwise in the public interest, the Sec11 retary may waive the grounds of inadmissibility 

12 under— 

13 (A) paragraph (1), (6)(E), or (10)(D) of 

14 section 212(a) of the Immigration and Nation15 ality Act (8 U.S.C. 1182(a)); or 

16 (B) subparagraphs (A) and (D) of section 

17 212(a)(2) of the Immigration and Nationality 

18 Act (8 U.S.C. 1182(a)(2)), unless inadmis19 sibility is based on a conviction that would oth20 erwise render the alien ineligible under subpara21 graph (A), (B), or (D) of paragraph (2). 

22 (c) APPLICATION.— 

23 (1) APPLICATION PERIOD.—Except as provided 

24 in paragraph (2), the Secretary shall accept initial 

25 applications for certified agricultural worker status 


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1 during the 18-month period beginning on the date 

2 on which the interim final rule is published in the 

3 Federal Register pursuant to section 122(a). 

4 (2) EXTENSION.—If the Secretary determines, 

5 during the initial period described in paragraph (1), 

6 that additional time is required to process initial ap7 plications for certified agricultural worker status or 

8 for other good cause, the Secretary may extend the 

9 period for accepting applications for up to an addi10 tional 12 months. 

11 (3) SUBMISSION OF APPLICATIONS.— 

12 (A) IN GENERAL.—An alien may file an 

13 application with the Secretary under this sec14 tion with the assistance of an attorney or a 

15 nonprofit religious, charitable, social service, or 

16 similar organization recognized by the Board of 

17 Immigration Appeals under section 292.2 of 

18 title 8, Code of Federal Regulations. The Sec19 retary shall also create a procedure for accept20 ing applications filed by qualified designated en21 tities with the consent of the applicant. 

22 (B) FARM SERVICE AGENCY OFFICES.— 

23 The Secretary, in consultation with the Sec24 retary of Agriculture, shall establish a process 

25 for the filing of applications under this section 


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1 at Farm Service Agency offices throughout the 

2 United States. 

3 (4) EVIDENCE OF APPLICATION FILING.—As 

4 soon as practicable after receiving an application for 

5 certified agricultural worker status, the Secretary 

6 shall provide the applicant with a document acknowl7 edging the receipt of such application. Such docu8 ment shall serve as interim proof of the alien’s au9 thorization to accept employment in the United 

10 States and shall be accepted by an employer as evi11 dence of employment authorization under section 

12 274A(b)(1)(C) of the Immigration and Nationality 

13 Act (8 U.S.C. 1324a(b)(1)(C)), pending a final ad14 ministrative decision on the application. 

15 (5) EFFECT OF PENDING APPLICATION.—Dur16 ing the period beginning on the date on which an 

17 alien applies for certified agricultural worker status 

18 under this subtitle, and ending on the date on which 

19 the Secretary makes a final administrative decision 

20 regarding such application, the alien and any de21 pendents included in the application— 

22 (A) may apply for advance parole, which 

23 shall be granted upon demonstrating a legiti24 mate need to travel outside the United States 

25 for a temporary purpose; 


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1 (B) may not be detained by the Secretary 

2 or removed from the United States unless the 

3 Secretary makes a prima facie determination 

4 that such alien is, or has become, ineligible for 

5 certified agricultural worker status; 

6 (C) may not be considered unlawfully 

7 present under section 212(a)(9)(B) of the Im8 migration and Nationality Act (8 U.S.C. 

9 1182(a)(9)(B)); and 

10 (D) may not be considered an unauthor11 ized alien (as defined in section 274A(h)(3) of 

12 the Immigration and Nationality Act (8 U.S.C. 

13 1324a(h)(3))). 

14 (6) WITHDRAWAL OF APPLICATION.—The Sec15 retary shall, upon receipt of a request from the ap16 plicant to withdraw an application for certified agri17 cultural worker status under this subtitle, cease 

18 processing of the application, and close the case. 

19 Withdrawal of the application shall not prejudice 

20 any future application filed by the applicant for any 

21 immigration benefit under this Act or under the Im22 migration and Nationality Act (8 U.S.C. 1101 et 

23 seq.). 

24 (d) ADJUDICATION AND DECISION.— 


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1 (1) IN GENERAL.—Subject to section 123, the 

2 Secretary shall render a decision on an application 

3 for certified agricultural worker status not later than 

4 180 days after the date the application is filed. 

5 (2) NOTICE.—Prior to denying an application 

6 for certified agricultural worker status, the Sec7 retary shall provide the alien with— 

8 (A) written notice that describes the basis 

9 for ineligibility or the deficiencies in the evi10 dence submitted; and 

11 (B) at least 90 days to contest ineligibility 

12 or submit additional evidence. 

13 (3) AMENDED APPLICATION.—An alien whose 

14 application for certified agricultural worker status is 

15 denied under this section may submit an amended 

16 application for such status to the Secretary if the 

17 amended application is submitted within the applica18 tion period described in subsection (c) and contains 

19 all the required information and fees that were miss20 ing from the initial application. 

21 (e) ALTERNATIVE H–2A STATUS.—An alien who has 

22 not met the required period of agricultural labor or serv23 ices under subsection (a)(1)(A), but is otherwise eligible 

24 for certified agricultural worker status under such sub25 section, shall be eligible for classification as a nonVerDate Sep 11 2014 00:13 Nov 08, 2019 Jkt 099200 PO 00000 Frm 00011 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H4916.IH H4916

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1 immigrant described in section 101(a)(15)(H)(ii)(a) of the 

2 Immigration and Nationality Act (8 U.S.C. 

3 1101(a)(15)(H)(ii)(a)) upon approval of a petition sub4 mitted by a sponsoring employer, if the alien has per5 formed at least 575 hours (or 100 work days) of agricul6 tural labor or services during the 3-year period preceding 

7 the date of the introduction of this Act. The Secretary 

8 shall create a procedure to provide for such classification 

9 without requiring the alien to depart the United States 

10 and obtain a visa abroad. 

11 SEC. 102. TERMS AND CONDITIONS OF CERTIFIED STATUS. 

12 (a) IN GENERAL.— 

13 (1) APPROVAL.—Upon approval of an applica14 tion for certified agricultural worker status, or an 

15 extension of such status pursuant to section 103, the 

16 Secretary shall issue— 

17 (A) documentary evidence of such status to 

18 the applicant; and 

19 (B) documentary evidence of certified agri20 cultural dependent status to any qualified de21 pendent included on such application. 

22 (2) DOCUMENTARY EVIDENCE.—In addition to 

23 any other features and information as the Secretary 

24 may prescribe, the documentary evidence described 

25 in paragraph (1)— 


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1 (A) shall be machine-readable and tamper2 resistant; 

3 (B) shall contain a digitized photograph; 

4 (C) shall serve as a valid travel and entry 

5 document for purposes of applying for admis6 sion to the United States; and 

7 (D) shall be accepted during the period of 

8 its validity by an employer as evidence of em9 ployment authorization and identity under sec10 tion 274A(b)(1)(B) of the Immigration and Na11 tionality Act (8 U.S.C. 1324a(b)(1)(B)). 

12 (3) VALIDITY PERIOD.—Certified agricultural 

13 worker and certified agricultural dependent status 

14 shall be valid for five and one-half years beginning 

15 on the date of approval. 

16 (4) TRAVEL AUTHORIZATION.—An alien with 

17 certified agricultural worker or certified agricultural 

18 dependent status may— 

19 (A) travel within and outside of the United 

20 States, including commuting to the United 

21 States from a residence in a foreign country; 

22 and 

23 (B) be admitted to the United States upon 

24 return from travel abroad without first obtain25 ing a visa if the alien is in possession of— 


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1 (i) valid, unexpired documentary evi2 dence of certified agricultural worker or 

3 certified agricultural worker dependent sta4 tus as described in subsection (a); or 

5 (ii) a travel document that has been 

6 approved by the Secretary and was issued 

7 to the alien after the alien’s original docu8 mentary evidence was lost, stolen, or de9 stroyed. 

10 (b) ABILITY TO CHANGE STATUS.— 

11 (1) CHANGE TO CERTIFIED AGRICULTURAL

12 WORKER STATUS.—Notwithstanding section 101(a), 

13 an alien with valid certified agricultural dependent 

14 status may apply to change to certified agricultural 

15 worker status, at any time, if the alien— 

16 (A) submits a completed application, in17 cluding the required processing fees; and 

18 (B) is not ineligible for certified agricul19 tural worker status under section 101(b). 

20 (2) CLARIFICATION.—Nothing in this title pro21 hibits an alien granted certified agricultural worker 

22 or certified agricultural dependent status from 

23 changing status to any other nonimmigrant classi24 fication for which the alien may be eligible. 


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1 (c) PROHIBITION ON PUBLIC BENEFITS, TAX BENE2 FITS, AND HEALTH CARE SUBSIDIES.—Aliens granted 

3 certified agricultural worker or certified agricultural de4 pendent status shall be considered lawfully present in the 

5 United States for all purposes for the duration of their 

6 status, except that such aliens— 

7 (1) are not eligible for Federal means-tested 

8 public benefits that are unavailable to qualified 

9 aliens under section 403 of the Personal Responsi10 bility and Work Opportunity Reconciliation Act of 

11 1996 (8 U.S.C. 1613); 

12 (2) are not entitled to the premium assistance 

13 tax credit authorized under section 36B of the Inter14 nal Revenue Code of 1986 (26 U.S.C. 36B), and 

15 shall be subject to the rules applicable to individuals 

16 who are not lawfully present set forth in subsection 

17 (e) of such section; 

18 (3) shall be subject to the rules applicable to in19 dividuals who are not lawfully present set forth in 

20 section 1402(e) of the Patient Protection and Af21 fordable Care Act (42 U.S.C. 18071(e)); and 

22 (4) shall be subject to the rules applicable to in23 dividuals not lawfully present set forth in section 

24 5000A(d)(3) of the Internal Revenue Code of 1986 

25 (26 U.S.C. 5000A(d)(3)). 


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1 (d) REVOCATION OF STATUS.— 

2 (1) IN GENERAL.—The Secretary may revoke 

3 certified agricultural worker or certified agricultural 

4 dependent status if, after providing notice to the 

5 alien and the opportunity to provide evidence to con6 test the proposed revocation, the Secretary deter7 mines that the alien no longer meets the eligibility 

8 requirements for such status under section 101(b). 

9 (2) INVALIDATION OF DOCUMENTATION.—Upon 

10 the Secretary’s final determination to revoke an 

11 alien’s certified agricultural worker or certified agri12 cultural dependent status, any documentation issued 

13 by the Secretary to such alien under subsection (a) 

14 shall automatically be rendered invalid for any pur15 pose except for departure from the United States. 

16 SEC. 103. EXTENSIONS OF CERTIFIED STATUS. 

17 (a) REQUIREMENTS FOR EXTENSIONS OF STATUS.— 

18 (1) PRINCIPAL ALIENS.—The Secretary may 

19 extend certified agricultural worker status for addi20 tional periods of five and one-half years to an alien 

21 who submits a completed application, including the 

22 required processing fees, within the 120-day period 

23 beginning 60 days before the expiration of the fifth 

24 year of the immediately preceding grant of certified 

25 agricultural worker status, if the alien— 


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1 (A) except as provided in subsection (b), 

2 has performed agricultural labor or services in 

3 the United States for at least 575 hours (or 

4 100 work days) for each of the prior five years 

5 in which the alien held certified agricultural 

6 worker status; and 

7 (B) has not become ineligible for certified 

8 agricultural worker status under section 101(b). 

9 (2) DEPENDENT SPOUSE AND CHILDREN.—The 

10 Secretary may grant or extend certified agricultural 

11 dependent status to the spouse or child of an alien 

12 granted an extension of certified agricultural worker 

13 status under paragraph (1) if the spouse or child is 

14 not ineligible for certified agricultural dependent sta15 tus under section 101(b). 

16 (3) WAIVER FOR LATE FILINGS.—The Sec17 retary may waive an alien’s failure to timely file be18 fore the expiration of the 120-day period described 

19 in paragraph (1) if the alien demonstrates that the 

20 delay was due to extraordinary circumstances be21 yond the alien’s control or for other good cause. 

22 (b) STATUS FOR WORKERS WITH PENDING APPLICA23 TIONS.— 

24 (1) IN GENERAL.—Certified agricultural worker 

25 status of an alien who timely files an application to 


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1 extend such status under subsection (a) (and the 

2 status of the alien’s dependents) shall be automati3 cally extended through the date on which the Sec4 retary makes a final administrative decision regard5 ing such application. 

6 (2) DOCUMENTATION OF EMPLOYMENT AU7 THORIZATION.—As soon as practicable after receipt 

8 of an application to extend certified agricultural 

9 worker status under subsection (a), the Secretary 

10 shall issue a document to the alien acknowledging 

11 the receipt of such application. An employer of the 

12 worker may not refuse to accept such document as 

13 evidence of employment authorization under section 

14 274A(b)(1)(C) of the Immigration and Nationality 

15 Act (8 U.S.C. 1324a(b)(1)(C)), pending a final ad16 ministrative decision on the application. 

17 (c) NOTICE.—Prior to denying an application to ex18 tend certified agricultural worker status, the Secretary 

19 shall provide the alien with— 

20 (1) written notice that describes the basis for 

21 ineligibility or the deficiencies of the evidence sub22 mitted; and 

23 (2) at least 90 days to contest ineligibility or 

24 submit additional evidence. 


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1 SEC. 104. DETERMINATION OF CONTINUOUS PRESENCE. 

2 (a) EFFECT OF NOTICE TO APPEAR.—The contin3 uous presence in the United States of an applicant for cer4 tified agricultural worker status under section 101 shall 

5 not terminate when the alien is served a notice to appear 

6 under section 239(a) of the Immigration and Nationality 

7 Act (8 U.S.C. 1229(a)). 

8 (b) TREATMENT OF CERTAIN BREAKS IN PRES9 ENCE.— 

10 (1) IN GENERAL.—Except as provided in para11 graphs (2) and (3), an alien shall be considered to 

12 have failed to maintain continuous presence in the 

13 United States under this subtitle if the alien de14 parted the United States for any period exceeding 

15 90 days, or for any periods, in the aggregate, ex16 ceeding 180 days. 

17 (2) EXTENSIONS FOR EXTENUATING CIR18 CUMSTANCES.—The Secretary may extend the time 

19 periods described in paragraph (1) for an alien who 

20 demonstrates that the failure to timely return to the 

21 United States was due to extenuating circumstances 

22 beyond the alien’s control, including the serious ill23 ness of the alien, or death or serious illness of a 

24 spouse, parent, son or daughter, grandparent, or sib25 ling of the alien. 


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1 (3) TRAVEL AUTHORIZED BY THE SEC2 RETARY.—Any period of travel outside of the United 

3 States by an alien that was authorized by the Sec4 retary shall not be counted toward any period of de5 parture from the United States under paragraph 

6 (1). 

7 SEC. 105. EMPLOYER OBLIGATIONS. 

8 (a) RECORD OF EMPLOYMENT.—An employer of an 

9 alien in certified agricultural worker status shall provide 

10 such alien with a written record of employment each year 

11 during which the alien provides agricultural labor or serv12 ices to such employer as a certified agricultural worker. 

13 (b) CIVIL PENALTIES.— 

14 (1) IN GENERAL.—If the Secretary determines, 

15 after notice and an opportunity for a hearing, that 

16 an employer of an alien with certified agricultural 

17 worker status has knowingly failed to provide the 

18 record of employment required under subsection (a), 

19 or has provided a false statement of material fact in 

20 such a record, the employer shall be subject to a civil 

21 penalty in an amount not to exceed $500 per viola22 tion. 

23 (2) LIMITATION.—The penalty under paragraph 

24 (1) for failure to provide employment records shall 

25 not apply unless the alien has provided the employer 


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1 with evidence of employment authorization described 

2 in section 102 or 103. 

3 (3) DEPOSIT OF CIVIL PENALTIES.—Civil pen4 alties collected under this paragraph shall be depos5 ited into the Immigration Examinations Fee Ac6 count under section 286(m) of the Immigration and 

7 Nationality Act (8 U.S.C. 1356(m)). 

8 SEC. 106. ADMINISTRATIVE AND JUDICIAL REVIEW. 

9 (a) ADMINISTRATIVE REVIEW.—The Secretary shall 

10 establish a process by which an applicant may seek admin11 istrative review of a denial of an application for certified 

12 agricultural worker status under this subtitle, an applica13 tion to extend such status, or a revocation of such status. 

14 (b) ADMISSIBILITY IN IMMIGRATION COURT.—Each 

15 record of an alien’s application for certified agricultural 

16 worker status under this subtitle, application to extend 

17 such status, revocation of such status, and each record 

18 created pursuant to the administrative review process 

19 under subsection (a) is admissible in immigration court, 

20 and shall be included in the administrative record. 

21 (c) JUDICIAL REVIEW.—Notwithstanding any other 

22 provision of law, judicial review of the Secretary’s decision 

23 to deny an application for certified agricultural worker 

24 status, an application to extend such status, or the deci25 sion to revoke such status, shall be limited to the review 


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1 of an order of removal under section 242 of the Immigra2 tion and Nationality Act (8 U.S.C. 1252). 

3 Subtitle B—Optional Earned 

4 Residence for Long-Term Workers 

5 SEC. 111. OPTIONAL ADJUSTMENT OF STATUS FOR LONG6 TERM AGRICULTURAL WORKERS. 

7 (a) REQUIREMENTS FOR ADJUSTMENT OF STA8 TUS.— 

9 (1) PRINCIPAL ALIENS.—The Secretary may 

10 adjust the status of an alien from that of a certified 

11 agricultural worker to that of a lawful permanent 

12 resident if the alien submits a completed application, 

13 including the required processing and penalty fees, 

14 and the Secretary determines that— 

15 (A) except as provided in section 126(c), 

16 the alien performed agricultural labor or serv17 ices for not less than 575 hours (or 100 work 

18 days) each year— 

19 (i) for at least 10 years prior to the 

20 date of the enactment of this Act and for 

21 at least 4 years in certified agricultural 

22 worker status; or 

23 (ii) for fewer than 10 years prior to 

24 the date of the enactment of this Act and 


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1 for at least 8 years in certified agricultural 

2 worker status; and 

3 (B) the alien has not become ineligible for 

4 certified agricultural worker status under sec5 tion 101(b). 

6 (2) DEPENDENT ALIENS.— 

7 (A) IN GENERAL.—The spouse and each 

8 child of an alien described in paragraph (1) 

9 whose status has been adjusted to that of a 

10 lawful permanent resident may be granted law11 ful permanent residence under this subtitle if— 

12 (i) the qualifying relationship to the 

13 principal alien existed on the date on which 

14 such alien was granted adjustment of sta15 tus under this subtitle; and 

16 (ii) the spouse or child is not ineligible 

17 for certified agricultural worker dependent 

18 status under section 101(b). 

19 (B) PROTECTIONS FOR SPOUSES AND

20 CHILDREN.—The Secretary of Homeland Secu21 rity shall establish procedures to allow the 

22 spouse or child of a certified agricultural work23 er to self-petition for lawful permanent resi24 dence under this subtitle in cases involving— 


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1 (i) the death of the certified agricul2 tural worker, so long as the spouse or child 

3 submits a petition not later than 2 years 

4 after the date of the worker’s death; or 

5 (ii) the spouse or a child being bat6 tered or subjected to extreme cruelty by 

7 the certified agricultural worker. 

8 (3) DOCUMENTATION OF WORK HISTORY.—An 

9 applicant for adjustment of status under this section 

10 shall not be required to resubmit evidence of work 

11 history that has been previously submitted to the 

12 Secretary in connection with an approved extension 

13 of certified agricultural worker status. 

14 (b) PENALTY FEE.—In addition to any processing 

15 fee that the Secretary may assess in accordance with sec16 tion 122(b), a principal alien seeking adjustment of status 

17 under this subtitle shall pay a $1,000 penalty fee, which 

18 shall be deposited into the Immigration Examinations Fee 

19 Account pursuant to section 286(m) of the Immigration 

20 and Nationality Act (8 U.S.C. 1356(m)). 

21 (c) EFFECT OF PENDING APPLICATION.—During the 

22 period beginning on the date on which an alien applies 

23 for adjustment of status under this subtitle, and ending 

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1 trative decision regarding such application, the alien and 

2 any dependents included on the application— 

3 (1) may apply for advance parole, which shall 

4 be granted upon demonstrating a legitimate need to 

5 travel outside the United States for a temporary 

6 purpose; 

7 (2) may not be detained by the Secretary or re8 moved from the United States unless the Secretary 

9 makes a prima facie determination that such alien 

10 is, or has become, ineligible for adjustment of status 

11 under subsection (a); 

12 (3) may not be considered unlawfully present 

13 under section 212(a)(9)(B) of the Immigration and 

14 Nationality Act (8 U.S.C. 1182(a)(9)(B)); and 

15 (4) may not be considered an unauthorized 

16 alien (as defined in section 274A(h)(3) of the Immi17 gration and Nationality Act (8 U.S.C. 

18 1324a(h)(3))). 

19 (d) EVIDENCE OF APPLICATION FILING.—As soon as 

20 practicable after receiving an application for adjustment 

21 of status under this subtitle, the Secretary shall provide 

22 the applicant with a document acknowledging the receipt 

23 of such application. Such document shall serve as interim 

24 proof of the alien’s authorization to accept employment 

25 in the United States and shall be accepted by an employer 


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1 as evidence of employment authorization under section 

2 274A(b)(1)(C) of the Immigration and Nationality Act (8 

3 U.S.C. 1324a(b)(1)(C)), pending a final administrative 

4 decision on the application. 

5 (e) WITHDRAWAL OF APPLICATION.—The Secretary 

6 shall, upon receipt of a request to withdraw an application 

7 for adjustment of status under this subtitle, cease proc8 essing of the application, and close the case. Withdrawal 

9 of the application shall not prejudice any future applica10 tion filed by the applicant for any immigration benefit 

11 under this Act or under the Immigration and Nationality 

12 Act (8 U.S.C. 1101 et seq.). 

13 SEC. 112. PAYMENT OF TAXES. 

14 (a) IN GENERAL.—An alien may not be granted ad15 justment of status under this subtitle unless the applicant 

16 has satisfied any applicable Federal tax liability. 

17 (b) COMPLIANCE.—An alien may demonstrate com18 pliance with subsection (a) by submitting such documenta19 tion as the Secretary, in consultation with the Secretary 

20 of the Treasury, may require by regulation. 

21 SEC. 113. ADJUDICATION AND DECISION; REVIEW. 

22 (a) IN GENERAL.—Subject to the requirements of 

23 section 123, the Secretary shall render a decision on an 

24 application for adjustment of status under this subtitle not 


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1 later than 180 days after the date on which the application 

2 is filed. 

3 (b) NOTICE.—Prior to denying an application for ad4 justment of status under this subtitle, the Secretary shall 

5 provide the alien with— 

6 (1) written notice that describes the basis for 

7 ineligibility or the deficiencies of the evidence sub8 mitted; and 

9 (2) at least 90 days to contest ineligibility or 

10 submit additional evidence. 

11 (c) ADMINISTRATIVE REVIEW.—The Secretary shall 

12 establish a process by which an applicant may seek admin13 istrative review of a denial of an application for adjust14 ment of status under this subtitle. 

15 (d) JUDICIAL REVIEW.—Notwithstanding any other 

16 provision of law, an alien may seek judicial review of a 

17 denial of an application for adjustment of status under 

18 this title in an appropriate United States district court. 

19 Subtitle C—General Provisions 

20 SEC. 121. DEFINITIONS. 

21 In this title: 

22 (1) IN GENERAL.—Except as otherwise pro23 vided, any term used in this title that is used in the 

24 immigration laws shall have the meaning given such 

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1 fined in section 101 of the Immigration and Nation2 ality Act (8 U.S.C. 1101)). 

3 (2) AGRICULTURAL LABOR OR SERVICES.—The 

4 term ‘‘agricultural labor or services’’ means— 

5 (A) agricultural labor or services as such 

6 term is used in section 101(a)(15)(H)(ii) of the 

7 Immigration and Nationality Act (8 U.S.C. 

8 1101(a)(15)(H)(ii)), without regard to whether 

9 the labor or services are of a seasonal or tem10 porary nature; and 

11 (B) agricultural employment as such term 

12 is defined in section 3 of the Migrant and Sea13 sonal Agricultural Worker Protection Act (29 

14 U.S.C. 1802), without regard to whether the 

15 specific service or activity is temporary or sea16 sonal. 

17 (3) APPLICABLE FEDERAL TAX LIABILITY.— 

18 The term ‘‘applicable Federal tax liability’’ means all 

19 Federal income taxes assessed in accordance with 

20 section 6203 of the Internal Revenue Code of 1986 

21 beginning on the date on which the applicant was 

22 authorized to work in the United States as a cer23 tified agricultural worker. 

24 (4) APPROPRIATE UNITED STATES DISTRICT

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1 trict court’’ means the United States District Court 

2 for the District of Columbia or the United States 

3 district court with jurisdiction over the alien’s prin4 cipal place of residence. 

5 (5) CHILD.—The term ‘‘child’’ has the meaning 

6 given such term in section 101(b)(1) of the Immi7 gration and Nationality Act (8 U.S.C. 1101(b)(1)). 

8 (6) CONVICTED OR CONVICTION.—The term 

9 ‘‘convicted’’ or ‘‘conviction’’ does not include a judg10 ment that has been expunged or set aside, that re11 sulted in a rehabilitative disposition, or the equiva12 lent. 

13 (7) EMPLOYER.—The term ‘‘employer’’ means 

14 any person or entity, including any farm labor con15 tractor or any agricultural association, that employs 

16 workers in agricultural labor or services. 

17 (8) QUALIFIED DESIGNATED ENTITY.—The 

18 term ‘‘qualified designated entity’’ means— 

19 (A) a qualified farm labor organization or 

20 an association of employers designated by the 

21 Secretary; or 

22 (B) any other entity that the Secretary 

23 designates as having substantial experience, 

24 demonstrated competence, and a history of 

25 long-term involvement in the preparation and 


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1 submission of application for adjustment of sta2 tus under title II of the Immigration and Na3 tionality Act (8 U.S.C. 1151 et seq.). 

4 (9) SECRETARY.—The term ‘‘Secretary’’ means 

5 the Secretary of Homeland Security. 

6 (10) WORK DAY.—The term ‘‘work day’’ means 

7 any day in which the individual is employed 5.75 or 

8 more hours in agricultural labor or services. 

9 SEC. 122. RULEMAKING; FEES. 

10 (a) RULEMAKING.—Not later than 180 days after the 

11 date of the enactment of this Act, the Secretary shall pub12 lish in the Federal Register, an interim final rule imple13 menting this title. Notwithstanding section 553 of title 5, 

14 United States Code, the rule shall be effective, on an in15 terim basis, immediately upon publication, but may be 

16 subject to change and revision after public notice and op17 portunity for comment. The Secretary shall finalize such 

18 rule not later than 1 year after the date of the enactment 

19 of this Act. 

20 (b) FEES.— 

21 (1) IN GENERAL.—The Secretary may require 

22 an alien applying for any benefit under this title to 

23 pay a reasonable fee that is commensurate with the 

24 cost of processing the application. 

25 (2) FEE WAIVER; INSTALLMENTS.— 


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1 (A) IN GENERAL.—The Secretary shall es2 tablish procedures to allow an alien to— 

3 (i) request a waiver of any fee that 

4 the Secretary may assess under this title if 

5 the alien demonstrates to the satisfaction 

6 the Secretary that the alien is unable to 

7 pay the prescribed fee; or 

8 (ii) pay any fee or penalty that the 

9 Secretary may assess under this title in in10 stallments. 

11 (B) CLARIFICATION.—Nothing in this sec12 tion shall be read to prohibit an employer from 

13 paying any fee or penalty that the Secretary 

14 may assess under this title on behalf of an alien 

15 and the alien’s spouse or children. 

16 SEC. 123. BACKGROUND CHECKS. 

17 (a) SUBMISSION OF BIOMETRIC AND BIOGRAPHIC

18 DATA.—The Secretary may not grant or extend certified 

19 agricultural worker or certified agricultural dependent sta20 tus under subtitle A, or grant adjustment of status to that 

21 of a lawful permanent resident under subtitle B, unless 

22 the alien submits biometric and biographic data, in accord23 ance with procedures established by the Secretary. The 

24 Secretary shall provide an alternative procedure for aliens 


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1 who cannot provide all required biometric or biographic 

2 data because of a physical impairment. 

3 (b) BACKGROUND CHECKS.—The Secretary shall use 

4 biometric, biographic, and other data that the Secretary 

5 determines appropriate to conduct security and law en6 forcement background checks and to determine whether 

7 there is any criminal, national security, or other factor 

8 that would render the alien ineligible for status under this 

9 title. An alien may not be granted any such status under 

10 this title unless security and law enforcement background 

11 checks are completed to the satisfaction of the Secretary. 

12 SEC. 124. PROTECTION FOR CHILDREN. 

13 (a) IN GENERAL.—Except as provided in subsection 

14 (b), for purposes of eligibility for certified agricultural de15 pendent status or lawful permanent resident status under 

16 this title, a determination of whether an alien is a child 

17 shall be made using the age of the alien on the date on 

18 which the initial application for certified agricultural 

19 worker status is filed with the Secretary of Homeland Se20 curity. 

21 (b) LIMITATION.—Subsection (a) shall apply for no 

22 more than 10 years after the date on which the initial 

23 application for certified agricultural worker status is filed 

24 with the Secretary of Homeland Security. 


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1 SEC. 125. LIMITATION ON REMOVAL. 

2 (a) IN GENERAL.—An alien who appears to be prima 

3 facie eligible for status under this title shall be given a 

4 reasonable opportunity to apply for such status and shall 

5 not be placed in removal proceedings or removed from the 

6 United States until a final administrative decision estab7 lishing ineligibility for such status is rendered. 

8 (b) ALIENS IN REMOVAL PROCEEDINGS.—Notwith9 standing any other provision of the law, the Attorney Gen10 eral shall (upon motion by the Secretary with the consent 

11 of the alien, or motion by the alien) terminate removal 

12 proceedings, without prejudice, against an alien who ap13 pears to be prima facie eligible for status under this title, 

14 and provide such alien a reasonable opportunity to apply 

15 for such status. 

16 (c) EFFECT OF FINAL ORDER.—An alien present in 

17 the United States who has been ordered removed or has 

18 been permitted to depart voluntarily from the United 

19 States may, notwithstanding such order or permission to 

20 depart, apply for status under this title. Such alien shall 

21 not be required to file a separate motion to reopen, recon22 sider, or vacate the order of removal. If the Secretary ap23 proves the application, the Secretary shall cancel the order 

24 of removal. If the Secretary renders a final administrative 

25 decision to deny the application, the order of removal or 

26 permission to depart shall be effective and enforceable to 


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1 the same extent as if the application had not been made, 

2 only after all available administrative and judicial rem3 edies have been exhausted. 

4 (d) EFFECT OF DEPARTURE.—Section 101(g) of the 

5 Immigration and Nationality Act (8 U.S.C. 1101(g)) shall 

6 not apply to an alien who departs the United States— 

7 (1) with advance permission to return to the 

8 United States granted by the Secretary under this 

9 title; or 

10 (2) after having been granted certified agricul11 tural worker status or lawful permanent resident 

12 status under this title. 

13 SEC. 126. DOCUMENTATION OF AGRICULTURAL WORK HIS14 TORY. 

15 (a) BURDEN OF PROOF.—An alien applying for cer16 tified agricultural worker status under subtitle A or ad17 justment of status under subtitle B shall provide evidence 

18 that the alien has worked the requisite number of hours 

19 or days required under section 101, 103, or 111, as appli20 cable. The Secretary shall establish special procedures to 

21 properly credit work in cases in which an alien was em22 ployed under an assumed name. 

23 (b) EVIDENCE.—An alien may meet the burden of 

24 proof under subsection (a) by producing sufficient evi25 dence to show the extent of such employment as a matter 


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1 of just and reasonable inference. Such evidence may in2 clude— 

3 (1) an annual record of certified agricultural 

4 worker employment as described in section 105(a), 

5 or other employment records from an employer or 

6 farm labor contractor; 

7 (2) employment records maintained by collective 

8 bargaining associations; 

9 (3) tax records or other government records; 

10 (4) sworn affidavits from individuals who have 

11 direct knowledge of the alien’s work history; or 

12 (5) any other documentation designated by the 

13 Secretary for such purpose. 

14 (c) EXCEPTION FOR EXTRAORDINARY CIR15 CUMSTANCES.— 

16 (1) IN GENERAL.—In determining whether an 

17 alien has met the requirement under section 

18 103(a)(1)(A) or 111(a)(1)(A), the Secretary may 

19 credit the alien with not more than 575 hours (or 

20 100 work days) of agricultural labor or services in 

21 the United States if the alien was unable to perform 

22 the required agricultural labor or services due to— 

23 (A) pregnancy, illness, disease, disabling 

24 injury, or physical limitation of the alien; 


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1 (B) injury, illness, disease, or other special 

2 needs of the alien’s child or spouse; 

3 (C) severe weather conditions that pre4 vented the alien from engaging in agricultural 

5 labor or services; or 

6 (D) termination from agricultural employ7 ment, if the Secretary determines that— 

8 (i) the termination was without just 

9 cause; and 

10 (ii) the alien was unable to find alter11 native agricultural employment after a rea12 sonable job search. 

13 (2) EFFECT OF DETERMINATION.—A deter14 mination under paragraph (1)(D) shall not be con15 clusive, binding, or admissible in a separate or sub16 sequent judicial or administrative action or pro17 ceeding between the alien and a current or prior em18 ployer of the alien or any other party. 

19 SEC. 127. EMPLOYER PROTECTIONS. 

20 (a) CONTINUING EMPLOYMENT.—An employer that 

21 continues to employ an alien knowing that the alien in22 tends to apply for certified agricultural worker status 

23 under subtitle A shall not violate section 274A(a)(2) of 

24 the Immigration and Nationality Act (8 U.S.C. 

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1 ration of the application period under section 101(c), and 

2 with respect to an alien who applies for certified agricul3 tural status, for the duration of the period during which 

4 the alien’s application is pending final determination. 

5 (b) USE OF EMPLOYMENT RECORDS.—Copies of em6 ployment records or other evidence of employment pro7 vided by an alien or by an alien’s employer in support of 

8 an alien’s application for certified agricultural worker or 

9 adjustment of status under this title may not be used in 

10 a civil or criminal prosecution or investigation of that em11 ployer under section 274A of the Immigration and Nation12 ality Act (8 U.S.C. 1324a) or the Internal Revenue Code 

13 of 1986 for the prior unlawful employment of that alien 

14 regardless of the outcome of such application. 

15 (c) ADDITIONAL PROTECTIONS.—Employers that 

16 provide unauthorized aliens with copies of employment 

17 records or other evidence of employment in support of an 

18 application for certified agricultural worker status or ad19 justment of status under this title shall not be subject to 

20 civil and criminal liability pursuant to such section 274A 

21 for employing such unauthorized aliens. Records or other 

22 evidence of employment provided by employers in response 

23 to a request for such records for the purpose of estab24 lishing eligibility for status under this title may not be 


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1 used for any purpose other than establishing such eligi2 bility. 

3 (d) LIMITATION ON PROTECTION.—The protections 

4 for employers under this section shall not apply if the em5 ployer provides employment records to the alien that are 

6 determined to be fraudulent. 

7 SEC. 128. CORRECTION OF SOCIAL SECURITY RECORDS. 

8 (a) IN GENERAL.—Section 208(e)(1) of the Social 

9 Security Act (42 U.S.C. 408(e)(1)) is amended— 

10 (1) in subparagraph (B)(ii), by striking ‘‘or’’ at 

11 the end; 

12 (2) in subparagraph (C), by inserting ‘‘or’’ at 

13 the end; 

14 (3) by inserting after subparagraph (C) the fol15 lowing: 

16 ‘‘(D) who is granted certified agricultural 

17 worker status, certified agricultural dependent 

18 status, or lawful permanent resident status 

19 under title I of the Farm Work Modernization 

20 Act of 2019,’’; and 

21 (4) in the undesignated matter following sub22 paragraph (D), as added by paragraph (3), by strik23 ing ‘‘1990.’’ and inserting ‘‘1990, or in the case of 

24 an alien described in subparagraph (D), if such con25 duct is alleged to have occurred before the date on 


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1 which the alien was granted status under title I of 

2 the Farm Work Modernization Act of 2019.’’. 

3 (b) EFFECTIVE DATE.—The amendments made by 

4 subsection (a) shall take effect on the first day of the sev5 enth month that begins after the date of the enactment 

6 of this Act. 

7 SEC. 129. DISCLOSURES AND PRIVACY. 

8 (a) IN GENERAL.—The Secretary may not disclose 

9 or use information provided in an application for certified 

10 agricultural worker status or adjustment of status under 

11 this title (including information provided during adminis12 trative or judicial review) for the purpose of immigration 

13 enforcement. 

14 (b) REFERRALS PROHIBITED.—The Secretary, based 

15 solely on information provided in an application for cer16 tified agricultural worker status or adjustment of status 

17 under this title (including information provided during ad18 ministrative or judicial review), may not refer an applicant 

19 to U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement, U.S. Cus20 toms and Border Protection, or any designee of either 

21 such entity. 

22 (c) EXCEPTIONS.—Notwithstanding subsections (a) 

23 and (b), information provided in an application for cer24 tified agricultural worker status or adjustment of status 


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1 under this title may be shared with Federal security and 

2 law enforcement agencies— 

3 (1) for assistance in the consideration of an ap4 plication under this title; 

5 (2) to identify or prevent fraudulent claims or 

6 schemes; 

7 (3) for national security purposes; or 

8 (4) for the investigation or prosecution of any 

9 felony not related to immigration status. 

10 (d) PENALTY.—Any person who knowingly uses, pub11 lishes, or permits information to be examined in violation 

12 of this section shall be fined not more than $10,000. 

13 (e) PRIVACY.—The Secretary shall ensure that ap14 propriate administrative and physical safeguards are in 

15 place to protect the security, confidentiality, and integrity 

16 of personally identifiable information collected, main17 tained, and disseminated pursuant to this title. 

18 SEC. 130. PENALTIES FOR FALSE STATEMENTS IN APPLICA19 TIONS. 

20 (a) CRIMINAL PENALTY.—Any person who— 

21 (1) files an application for certified agricultural 

22 worker status or adjustment of status under this 

23 title and knowingly falsifies, conceals, or covers up 

24 a material fact or makes any false, fictitious, or 

25 fraudulent statements or representations, or makes 


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1 or uses any false writing or document knowing the 

2 same to contain any false, fictitious, or fraudulent 

3 statement or entry; or 

4 (2) creates or supplies a false writing or docu5 ment for use in making such an application, 

6 shall be fined in accordance with title 18, United States 

7 Code, imprisoned not more than 5 years, or both. 

8 (b) INADMISSIBILITY.—An alien who is convicted 

9 under subsection (a) shall be deemed inadmissible to the 

10 United States under section 212(a)(6)(C)(i) of the Immi11 gration and Nationality Act (8 U.S.C. 1182(a)(6)(C)(i)). 

12 (c) DEPOSIT.—Fines collected under subsection (a) 

13 shall be deposited into the Immigration Examinations Fee 

14 Account pursuant to section 286(m) of the Immigration 

15 and Nationality Act (8 U.S.C. 1356(m)). 

16 SEC. 131. DISSEMINATION OF INFORMATION. 

17 (a) IN GENERAL.—Beginning not later than the first 

18 day of the application period described in section 101(c)— 

19 (1) the Secretary of Homeland Security, in co20 operation with qualified designated entities, shall 

21 broadly disseminate information described in sub22 section (b); and 

23 (2) the Secretary of Agriculture, in consultation 

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1 taining the information described in subsection (b) 

2 for posting at employer worksites. 

3 (b) INFORMATION DESCRIBED.—The information de4 scribed in this subsection shall include— 

5 (1) the benefits that aliens may receive under 

6 this title; and 

7 (2) the requirements that an alien must meet to 

8 receive such benefits. 

9 SEC. 132. EXEMPTION FROM NUMERICAL LIMITATIONS. 

10 The numerical limitations under title II of the Immi11 gration and Nationality Act (8 U.S.C. 1151 et seq.) shall 

12 not apply to the adjustment of aliens to lawful permanent 

13 resident status under this title, and such aliens shall not 

14 be counted toward any such numerical limitation. 

15 SEC. 133. REPORTS TO CONGRESS. 

16 Not later than 180 days after the publication of the 

17 final rule under section 122(a), and annually thereafter 

18 for the following 10 years, the Secretary shall submit a 

19 report to Congress that identifies, for the previous fiscal 

20 year— 

21 (1) the number of principal aliens who applied 

22 for certified agricultural worker status under subtitle 

23 A, and the number of dependent spouses and chil24 dren included in such applications; 


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1 (2) the number of principal aliens who were 

2 granted certified agricultural worker status under 

3 subtitle A, and the number of dependent spouses 

4 and children who were granted certified agricultural 

5 dependent status; 

6 (3) the number of principal aliens who applied 

7 for an extension of their certified agricultural worker 

8 status under subtitle A, and the number of depend9 ent spouses and children included in such applica10 tions; 

11 (4) the number of principal aliens who were 

12 granted an extension of certified agricultural worker 

13 status under subtitle A, and the number of depend14 ent spouses and children who were granted certified 

15 agricultural dependent status under such an exten16 sion; 

17 (5) the number of principal aliens who applied 

18 for adjustment of status under subtitle B, and the 

19 number of dependent spouses and children included 

20 in such applications; 

21 (6) the number of principal aliens who were 

22 granted lawful permanent resident status under sub23 title B, and the number of spouses and children who 

24 were granted such status as dependents; 


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1 (7) the number of principal aliens included in 

2 petitions described in section 101(e), and the num3 ber of dependent spouses and children included in 

4 such applications; and 

5 (8) the number of principal aliens who were 

6 granted H–2A status pursuant to petitions described 

7 in section 101(e), and the number of dependent 

8 spouses and children who were granted H–4 status. 

9 SEC. 134. GRANT PROGRAM TO ASSIST ELIGIBLE APPLI10 CANTS. 

11 (a) ESTABLISHMENT.—The Secretary shall establish 

12 a program to award grants, on a competitive basis, to eli13 gible nonprofit organizations to assist eligible applicants 

14 under this title by providing them with the services de15 scribed in subsection (c). 

16 (b) ELIGIBLE NONPROFIT ORGANIZATION.—For 

17 purposes of this section, the term ‘‘eligible nonprofit orga18 nization’’ means an organization described in section 

19 501(c)(3) of the Internal Revenue Code of 1986 (exclud20 ing a recipient of funds under title X of the Economic 

21 Opportunity Act of 1964 (42 U.S.C. 2996 et seq.)) that 

22 has demonstrated qualifications, experience, and expertise 

23 in providing quality services to farm workers or aliens. 


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1 (c) USE OF FUNDS.—Grant funds awarded under 

2 this section may be used for the design and implementa3 tion of programs that provide— 

4 (1) information to the public regarding the eli5 gibility and benefits of certified agricultural worker 

6 status authorized under this title; and 

7 (2) assistance, within the scope of authorized 

8 practice of immigration law, to individuals submit9 ting applications for certified agricultural worker 

10 status or adjustment of status under this title, in11 cluding— 

12 (A) screening prospective applicants to as13 sess their eligibility for such status; 

14 (B) completing applications, including pro15 viding assistance in obtaining necessary docu16 ments and supporting evidence; and 

17 (C) providing any other assistance that the 

18 Secretary determines useful to assist aliens in 

19 applying for certified agricultural worker status 

20 or adjustment of status under this title. 

21 (d) SOURCE OF FUNDS.—In addition to any funds 

22 appropriated to carry out this section, the Secretary may 

23 use up to $10,000,000 from the Immigration Examina24 tions Fee Account under section 286(m) of the ImmigraVerDate Sep 11 2014 00:13 Nov 08, 2019 Jkt 099200 PO 00000 Frm 00045 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H4916.IH H4916

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1 tion and Nationality Act (8 U.S.C. 1356(m)) to carry out 

2 this section. 

3 (e) ELIGIBILITY FOR SERVICES.—Section 504(a)(11) 

4 of Public Law 104–134 (110 Stat. 1321–53 et seq.) shall 

5 not be construed to prevent a recipient of funds under title 

6 X of the Economic Opportunity Act of 1964 (42 U.S.C. 

7 2996 et seq.) from providing legal assistance directly re8 lated to an application for status under this title or to 

9 an alien granted such status. 

10 SEC. 135. AUTHORIZATION OF APPROPRIATIONS. 

11 There is authorized to be appropriated to the Sec12 retary, such sums as may be necessary to implement this 

13 title, including any amounts needed for costs associated 

14 with the initiation of such implementation, for each of fis15 cal years 2020 through 2022. 

16 TITLE II—ENSURING AN AGRI17 CULTURAL WORKFORCE FOR 

18 THE FUTURE 

19 Subtitle A—Reforming the H–2A 

20 Temporary Worker Program 

21 SEC. 201. COMPREHENSIVE AND STREAMLINED ELEC22 TRONIC H–2A PLATFORM. 

23 (a) STREAMLINED H–2A PLATFORM.— 

24 (1) IN GENERAL.—Not later than 12 months 

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1 retary of Homeland Security, in consultation with 

2 the Secretary of Labor, the Secretary of Agriculture, 

3 the Secretary of State, and United States Digital 

4 Service, shall ensure the establishment of an elec5 tronic platform through which a petition for an H– 

6 2A worker may be filed. Such platform shall— 

7 (A) serve as a single point of access for an 

8 employer to input all information and sup9 porting documentation required for obtaining 

10 labor certification from the Secretary of Labor 

11 and the adjudication of the H–2A petition by 

12 the Secretary of Homeland Security; 

13 (B) serve as a single point of access for the 

14 Secretary of Homeland Security, the Secretary 

15 of Labor, and State workforce agencies to con16 currently perform their respective review and 

17 adjudicatory responsibilities in the H–2A proc18 ess; 

19 (C) facilitate communication between em20 ployers and agency adjudicators, including by 

21 allowing employers to— 

22 (i) receive and respond to notices of 

23 deficiency and requests for information; 

24 (ii) submit requests for inspections 

25 and licensing; 


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1 (iii) receive notices of approval and 

2 denial; and 

3 (iv) request reconsideration or appeal 

4 of agency decisions; and 

5 (D) provide information to the Secretary of 

6 State and U.S. Customs and Border Protection 

7 necessary for the efficient and secure processing 

8 of H–2A visas and applications for admission. 

9 (2) OBJECTIVES.—In developing the platform 

10 described in paragraph (1), the Secretary of Home11 land Security, in consultation with the Secretary of 

12 Labor, the Secretary of Agriculture, the Secretary of 

13 State, and United States Digital Service, shall 

14 streamline and improve the H–2A process, including 

15 by— 

16 (A) eliminating the need for employers to 

17 submit duplicate information and documenta18 tion to multiple agencies; 

19 (B) eliminating redundant processes, where 

20 a single matter in a petition is adjudicated by 

21 more than one agency; 

22 (C) reducing the occurrence of common pe23 tition errors, and otherwise improving and expe24 diting the processing of H–2A petitions; and 


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1 (D) ensuring compliance with H–2A pro2 gram requirements and the protection of the 

3 wages and working conditions of workers. 

4 (b) ONLINE JOB REGISTRY.—The Secretary of Labor 

5 shall maintain a national, publicly accessible online job 

6 registry and database of all job orders submitted by H– 

7 2A employers. The registry and database shall— 

8 (1) be searchable using relevant criteria, includ9 ing the types of jobs needed to be filled, the date(s) 

10 and location(s) of need, and the employer(s) named 

11 in the job order; 

12 (2) provide an interface for workers in English, 

13 Spanish, and any other language that the Secretary 

14 of Labor determines to be appropriate; and 

15 (3) provide for public access of job orders ap16 proved under section 218(h)(2) of the Immigration 

17 and Nationality Act. 

18 SEC. 202. H–2A PROGRAM REQUIREMENTS. 

19 Section 218 of the Immigration and Nationality Act 

20 (8 U.S.C. 1188) is amended to read as follows: 

21 ‘‘(a) LABOR CERTIFICATION CONDITIONS.—The Sec22 retary of Homeland Security may not approve a petition 

23 to admit an H–2A worker unless the Secretary of Labor 

24 has certified that— 


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1 ‘‘(1) there are not sufficient United States 

2 workers who are able, willing and qualified, and who 

3 will be available at the time and place needed, to 

4 perform the agricultural labor or services described 

5 in the petition; and 

6 ‘‘(2) the employment of the H–2A worker in 

7 such labor or services will not adversely affect the 

8 wages and working conditions of workers in the 

9 United States who are similarly employed. 

10 ‘‘(b) H–2A PETITION REQUIREMENTS.—An em11 ployer filing a petition for an H–2A worker to perform 

12 agricultural labor or services shall attest to and dem13 onstrate compliance, as and when appropriate, with all ap14 plicable requirements under this section, including the fol15 lowing: 

16 ‘‘(1) NEED FOR LABOR OR SERVICES.—The em17 ployer has described the need for agricultural labor 

18 or services in a job order that includes a description 

19 of the nature and location of the work to be per20 formed, the anticipated period or periods (expected 

21 start and end dates) for which the workers will be 

22 needed, and the number of job opportunities in 

23 which the employer seeks to employ the workers. 

24 ‘‘(2) NONDISPLACEMENT OF UNITED STATES

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1 place United States workers employed by the em2 ployer during the period of employment of the H– 

3 2A worker and during the 60-day period imme4 diately preceding such period of employment in the 

5 job for which the employer seeks approval to employ 

6 the H–2A worker. 

7 ‘‘(3) STRIKE OR LOCKOUT.—Each place of em8 ployment described in the petition is not, at the time 

9 of filing the petition and until the petition is ap10 proved, subject to a strike or lockout in the course 

11 of a labor dispute. 

12 ‘‘(4) RECRUITMENT OF UNITED STATES WORK13 ERS.—The employer shall engage in the recruitment 

14 of United States workers as described in subsection 

15 (c) and shall hire such workers who are able, willing 

16 and qualified, and who will be available at the time 

17 and place needed, to perform the agricultural labor 

18 or services described in the petition. The employer 

19 may reject a United States worker only for lawful, 

20 job-related reasons. 

21 ‘‘(5) WAGES, BENEFITS, AND WORKING CONDI22 TIONS.—The employer shall offer and provide, at a 

23 minimum, the wages, benefits, and working condi24 tions required by subsections (d) through (g) to the 


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1 H–2A worker and all United States workers who are 

2 similarly employed. The employer— 

3 ‘‘(A) shall offer such United States work4 ers not less than the same benefits, wages, and 

5 working conditions that the employer is offering 

6 or will provide to the H–2A worker; and 

7 ‘‘(B) may not impose on such United 

8 States workers any restrictions or obligations 

9 that will not be imposed on the H–2A worker. 

10 ‘‘(6) WORKERS’ COMPENSATION.—If the job op11 portunity is not covered by or is exempt from the 

12 State workers’ compensation law, the employer shall 

13 provide, at no cost to the worker, insurance covering 

14 injury and disease arising out of, and in the course 

15 of, the worker’s employment which will provide bene16 fits at least equal to those provided under the State 

17 workers’ compensation law. 

18 ‘‘(7) COMPLIANCE WITH LABOR AND EMPLOY19 MENT LAWS.—The employer shall comply with all 

20 applicable Federal, State and local employment-re21 lated laws and regulations. 

22 ‘‘(c) RECRUITING REQUIREMENTS.— 

23 ‘‘(1) IN GENERAL.—The employer may satisfy 

24 the recruitment requirement described in subsection 

25 (b)(4) by satisfying all of the following: 


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1 ‘‘(A) JOB ORDER.—As provided in sub2 section (h)(1), the employer shall complete a 

3 job order for posting on the electronic job reg4 istry maintained by the Secretary of Labor and 

5 for distribution by the appropriate State work6 force agency. Such posting shall remain on the 

7 job registry as an active job order through the 

8 period described in paragraph (2)(B). 

9 ‘‘(B) FORMER WORKERS.—At least 45 

10 days before each start date identified in the pe11 tition, the employer shall— 

12 ‘‘(i) make reasonable efforts to con13 tact any United States worker the em14 ployer employed in the previous year in the 

15 same occupation and area of intended em16 ployment for which an H–2A worker is 

17 sought (excluding workers who were termi18 nated for cause or abandoned the work19 site); and 

20 ‘‘(ii) post such job opportunity in a 

21 conspicuous location or locations at the 

22 place of employment. 

23 ‘‘(C) POSITIVE RECRUITMENT.—During 

24 the period of recruitment, the employer shall 

25 complete any other positive recruitment steps 


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1 within a multistate region of traditional or ex2 pected labor supply where the Secretary of 

3 Labor finds that there are a significant number 

4 of qualified United States workers who, if re5 cruited, would be willing to make themselves 

6 available for work at the time and place needed. 

7 ‘‘(2) PERIOD OF RECRUITMENT.— 

8 ‘‘(A) IN GENERAL.—For purposes of this 

9 subsection, the period of recruitment begins on 

10 the date on which the job order is posted on the 

11 online job registry and ends on the date that 

12 H–2A workers depart for the employer’s place 

13 of employment. For a petition involving more 

14 than 1 start date under subsection (h)(1)(C), 

15 the end of the period of recruitment shall be de16 termined by the date of departure of the H–2A 

17 workers for the final start date identified in the 

18 petition. 

19 ‘‘(B) REQUIREMENT TO HIRE UNITED

20 STATES WORKERS.— 

21 ‘‘(i) IN GENERAL.—Notwithstanding 

22 the limitations of subparagraph (A), the 

23 employer will provide employment to any 

24 qualified United States worker who applies 


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1 to the employer for any job opportunity in2 cluded in the petition until the later of— 

3 ‘‘(I) the date that is 30 days 

4 after the date on which work begins; 

5 or 

6 ‘‘(II) the date on which— 

7 ‘‘(aa) 33 percent of the work 

8 contract for the job opportunity 

9 has elapsed; or 

10 ‘‘(bb) if the employer is a 

11 farm labor contractor, 50 percent 

12 of the work contract for the job 

13 opportunity has elapsed. 

14 ‘‘(ii) STAGGERED ENTRY.—For a peti15 tion involving more than 1 start date 

16 under subsection (h)(1)(C), each start date 

17 designated in the petition shall establish a 

18 separate job opportunity. An employer may 

19 not reject a United States worker because 

20 the worker is unable or unwilling to fill 

21 more than 1 job opportunity included in 

22 the petition. 

23 ‘‘(iii) EXCEPTION.—Notwithstanding 

24 clause (i), the employer may offer a job op25 portunity to an H–2A worker instead of an 


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1 alien granted certified agricultural worker 

2 status under title I of the Farm Workforce 

3 Modernization Act of 2019 if the H–2A 

4 worker was employed by the employer in 

5 each of 3 years during the most recent 4- 

6 year period. 

7 ‘‘(3) RECRUITMENT REPORT.— 

8 ‘‘(A) IN GENERAL.—The employer shall 

9 maintain a recruitment report through the ap10 plicable period described in paragraph (2)(B) 

11 and submit regular updates through the elec12 tronic platform on the results of recruitment. 

13 The employer shall retain the recruitment re14 port, and all associated recruitment documenta15 tion, for a period of 3 years from the date of 

16 certification. 

17 ‘‘(B) BURDEN OF PROOF.—If the employer 

18 asserts that any eligible individual who has ap19 plied or been referred is not able, willing or 

20 qualified, the employer bears the burden of 

21 proof to establish that the individual is not able, 

22 willing or qualified because of a lawful, employ23 ment-related reason. 

24 ‘‘(d) WAGE REQUIREMENTS.— 


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1 ‘‘(1) IN GENERAL.—Each employer under this 

2 section will offer the worker, during the period of 

3 authorized employment, wages that are at least the 

4 greatest of— 

5 ‘‘(A) the agreed-upon collective bargaining 

6 wage; 

7 ‘‘(B) the adverse effect wage rate (or any 

8 successor wage established under paragraph 

9 (7)); 

10 ‘‘(C) the prevailing wage (hourly wage or 

11 piece rate); or 

12 ‘‘(D) the Federal or State minimum wage. 

13 ‘‘(2) ADVERSE EFFECT WAGE RATE DETER14 MINATIONS.— 

15 ‘‘(A) IN GENERAL.—Except as provided 

16 under subparagraph (B), the applicable adverse 

17 effect wage rate for each State and occupational 

18 classification for a calendar year shall be as fol19 lows: 

20 ‘‘(i) The annual average hourly wage 

21 for the occupational classification in the 

22 State or region as reported by the Sec23 retary of Agriculture based on a wage sur24 vey conducted by such Secretary. 


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1 ‘‘(ii) If a wage described in clause (i) 

2 is not reported, the national annual aver3 age hourly wage for the occupational clas4 sification as reported by the Secretary of 

5 Agriculture based on a wage survey con6 ducted by such Secretary. 

7 ‘‘(iii) If a wage described in clause (i) 

8 or (ii) is not reported, the statewide annual 

9 average hourly wage for the standard occu10 pational classification as reported by the 

11 Secretary of Labor based on a wage survey 

12 conducted by such Secretary. 

13 ‘‘(iv) If a wage described in clause (i), 

14 (ii), or (iii) is not reported, the national av15 erage hourly wage for the occupational 

16 classification as reported by the Secretary 

17 of Labor. 

18 ‘‘(B) LIMITATIONS ON WAGE FLUCTUA19 TIONS.— 

20 ‘‘(i) WAGE FREEZE FOR CALENDAR

21 YEAR 2020.—For calendar year 2020, the 

22 adverse effect wage rate for each State and 

23 occupational classification under this sub24 section shall be the adverse effect wage 

25 rate that was in effect for H–2A workers 


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1 in the applicable State in calendar year 

2 2019. 

3 ‘‘(ii) CALENDAR YEARS 2021 THROUGH

4 2029.—For each of calendar years 2021 

5 through 2029, the adverse effect wage rate 

6 for each State and occupational classifica7 tion under this subsection shall be the 

8 wage calculated under subparagraph (A), 

9 except that such wage may not— 

10 ‘‘(I) be more than 1.5 percent 

11 lower than the wage in effect for H– 

12 2A workers in the applicable State 

13 and occupational classification in the 

14 immediately preceding calendar year; 

15 ‘‘(II) except as provided in clause 

16 (III), be more than 3.25 percent high17 er than the wage in effect for H–2A 

18 workers in the applicable State and 

19 occupational classification in the im20 mediately preceding calendar year; 

21 and 

22 ‘‘(III) if the application of clause 

23 (II) results in a wage that is lower 

24 than 110 percent of the applicable 

25 Federal or State minimum wage, be 


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1 more than 4.25 percent higher than 

2 the wage in effect for H–2A workers 

3 in the applicable State and occupa4 tional classification in the immediately 

5 preceding calendar year. 

6 ‘‘(iii) CALENDAR YEARS AFTER

7 2029.—For any calendar year after 2029, 

8 the applicable wage rate described in para9 graph (1)(B) shall be the wage rate estab10 lished pursuant to paragraph (7)(D). Until 

11 such wage rate is effective, the adverse ef12 fect wage rate for each State and occupa13 tional classification under this subsection 

14 shall be the wage calculated under sub15 paragraph (A), except that such wage may 

16 not be more than 1.5 percent lower or 3.25 

17 percent higher than the wage in effect for 

18 H–2A workers in the applicable State and 

19 occupational classification in the imme20 diately preceding calendar year. 

21 ‘‘(3) MULTIPLE OCCUPATIONS.—If the primary 

22 job duties for the job opportunity described in the 

23 petition do not fall within a single occupational clas24 sification, the applicable wage rates under subpara25 graphs (B) and (C) of paragraph (1) for the job opVerDate Sep 11 2014 00:13 Nov 08, 2019 Jkt 099200 PO 00000 Frm 00060 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H4916.IH H4916

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1 portunity shall be based on the highest such wage 

2 rates for all applicable occupational classifications. 

3 ‘‘(4) PUBLICATION; WAGES IN EFFECT.— 

4 ‘‘(A) PUBLICATION.—Prior to the start of 

5 each calendar year, the Secretary of Labor shall 

6 publish the applicable adverse effect wage rate 

7 (or successor wage rate, if any), and prevailing 

8 wage if available, for each State and occupa9 tional classification through notice in the Fed10 eral Register. 

11 ‘‘(B) JOB ORDERS IN EFFECT.—Except as 

12 provided in subparagraph (C), publication by 

13 the Secretary of Labor of an updated adverse 

14 effect wage rate or prevailing wage for a State 

15 and occupational classification shall not affect 

16 the wage rate guaranteed in any approved job 

17 order for which recruitment efforts have com18 menced at the time of publication. 

19 ‘‘(C) EXCEPTION FOR YEAR-ROUND

20 JOBS.—If the Secretary of Labor publishes an 

21 updated adverse effect wage rate or prevailing 

22 wage for a State and occupational classification 

23 concerning a petition described in subsection 

24 (i), and the updated wage is higher than the 

25 wage rate guaranteed in the work contract, the 


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1 employer shall pay the updated wage not later 

2 than 14 days after publication of the updated 

3 wage in the Federal Register. 

4 ‘‘(5) WORKERS PAID ON A PIECE RATE OR

5 OTHER INCENTIVE BASIS.—If an employer pays by 

6 the piece rate or other incentive method and requires 

7 one or more minimum productivity standards as a 

8 condition of job retention, such standards shall be 

9 specified in the job order and shall be no more than 

10 those normally required (at the time of the first peti11 tion for H–2A workers) by other employers for the 

12 activity in the area of intended employment, unless 

13 the Secretary of Labor approves a higher minimum 

14 standard resulting from material changes in produc15 tion methods. 

16 ‘‘(6) GUARANTEE OF EMPLOYMENT.— 

17 ‘‘(A) OFFER TO WORKER.—The employer 

18 shall guarantee the worker employment for the 

19 hourly equivalent of at least three-fourths of the 

20 work days of the total period of employment, 

21 beginning with the first work day after the ar22 rival of the worker at the place of employment 

23 and ending on the date specified in the job 

24 offer. For purposes of this subparagraph, the 

25 hourly equivalent means the number of hours in 


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1 the work days as stated in the job offer and 

2 shall exclude the worker’s Sabbath and Federal 

3 holidays. If the employer affords the worker less 

4 employment than that required under this para5 graph, the employer shall pay the worker the 

6 amount which the worker would have earned 

7 had the worker, in fact, worked for the guaran8 teed number of hours. 

9 ‘‘(B) FAILURE TO WORK.—Any hours 

10 which the worker fails to work, up to a max11 imum of the number of hours specified in the 

12 job offer for a work day, when the worker has 

13 been offered an opportunity to do so, and all 

14 hours of work actually performed (including vol15 untary work in excess of the number of hours 

16 specified in the job offer in a work day, on the 

17 worker’s Sabbath, or on Federal holidays) may 

18 be counted by the employer in calculating 

19 whether the period of guaranteed employment 

20 has been met. 

21 ‘‘(C) ABANDONMENT OF EMPLOYMENT; 

22 TERMINATION FOR CAUSE.—If the worker vol23 untarily abandons employment without good 

24 cause before the end of the contract period, or 

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1 tled to the guarantee of employment described 

2 in subparagraph (A). 

3 ‘‘(D) CONTRACT IMPOSSIBILITY.—If, be4 fore the expiration of the period of employment 

5 specified in the job offer, the services of the 

6 worker are no longer required for reasons be7 yond the control of the employer due to any 

8 form of natural disaster before the guarantee in 

9 subparagraph (A) is fulfilled, the employer may 

10 terminate the worker’s employment. In the 

11 event of such termination, the employer shall 

12 fulfill the employment guarantee in subpara13 graph (A) for the work days that have elapsed 

14 from the first work day after the arrival of the 

15 worker to the termination of employment. The 

16 employer shall make efforts to transfer a 

17 United States worker to other comparable em18 ployment acceptable to the worker. If such 

19 transfer is not affected, the employer shall pro20 vide the return transportation required in sub21 section (f)(2). 

22 ‘‘(7) WAGE STANDARDS AFTER 2029.— 

23 ‘‘(A) STUDY OF ADVERSE EFFECT WAGE

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1 retary of Agriculture and Secretary of Labor 

2 shall jointly conduct a study that addresses— 

3 ‘‘(i) whether the employment of H–2A 

4 workers has depressed the wages of United 

5 States farm workers; 

6 ‘‘(ii) whether an adverse effect wage 

7 rate is necessary to protect the wages of 

8 United States farm workers in occupations 

9 in which H–2A workers are employed; 

10 ‘‘(iii) whether alternative wage stand11 ards would be sufficient to prevent wages 

12 in occupations in which H–2A workers are 

13 employed from falling below the wage level 

14 that would have prevailed in the absence of 

15 H–2A employment; 

16 ‘‘(iv) whether any changes are war17 ranted in the current methodologies for 

18 calculating the adverse effect wage rate 

19 and the prevailing wage rate; and 

20 ‘‘(v) recommendations for future wage 

21 protection under this section. 

22 ‘‘(B) FINAL REPORT.—Not later than Oc23 tober 1, 2027, the Secretary of Agriculture and 

24 Secretary of Labor shall jointly prepare and 

25 submit a report to the Congress setting forth 


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1 the findings of the study conducted under sub2 paragraph (A) and recommendations for future 

3 wage protections under this section. 

4 ‘‘(C) CONSULTATION.—In conducting the 

5 study under subparagraph (A) and preparing 

6 the report under subparagraph (B), the Sec7 retary of Agriculture and Secretary of Labor 

8 shall consult with representatives of agricultural 

9 employers and an equal number of representa10 tives of agricultural workers, at the national, 

11 State and local level. 

12 ‘‘(D) WAGE DETERMINATION AFTER

13 2029.—Upon publication of the report described 

14 in subparagraph (B), the Secretary of Labor, in 

15 consultation with and the approval of the Sec16 retary of Agriculture, shall make a rule to es17 tablish a process for annually determining the 

18 wage rate for purposes of paragraph (1)(B) for 

19 fiscal years after 2029. Such process shall be 

20 designed to ensure that the employment of H– 

21 2A workers does not undermine the wages and 

22 working conditions of similarly employed United 

23 States workers. 

24 ‘‘(e) HOUSING REQUIREMENTS.—Employers shall 

25 furnish housing in accordance with regulations established 


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1 by the Secretary of Labor. Such regulations shall be con2 sistent with the following: 

3 ‘‘(1) IN GENERAL.—The employer shall be per4 mitted at the employer’s option to provide housing 

5 meeting applicable Federal standards for temporary 

6 labor camps or to secure housing which meets the 

7 local standards for rental and/or public accommoda8 tions or other substantially similar class of habi9 tation: Provided, That in the absence of applicable 

10 local standards, State standards for rental and/or 

11 public accommodations or other substantially similar 

12 class of habitation shall be met: Provided further, 

13 That in the absence of applicable local or State 

14 standards, Federal temporary labor camp standards 

15 shall apply. 

16 ‘‘(2) PREVAILING PRACTICE.—The employer 

17 shall provide family housing to workers with families 

18 who request it when it is the prevailing practice in 

19 the area and occupation of intended employment to 

20 provide family housing. 

21 ‘‘(3) UNITED STATES WORKERS.—Notwith22 standing paragraphs (1) and (2), an employer is not 

23 required to provide housing to United States work24 ers who are reasonably able to return to their resi25 dence within the same day. 


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1 ‘‘(4) TIMING OF INSPECTION.— 

2 ‘‘(A) IN GENERAL.—The Secretary of 

3 Labor or designee shall make a determination 

4 as to whether the housing furnished by an em5 ployer for a worker meets the requirements im6 posed by this subsection prior to the date on 

7 which the Secretary of Labor is required to 

8 make a certification with respect to a petition 

9 for the admission of such worker. 

10 ‘‘(B) TIMELY INSPECTION.—The Secretary 

11 of Labor shall provide a process for— 

12 ‘‘(i) an employer to request inspection 

13 of housing up to 60 days before the date 

14 on which the employer will file a petition 

15 under this section; and 

16 ‘‘(ii) annual inspection of housing for 

17 workers who are engaged in agricultural 

18 employment that is not of a seasonal or 

19 temporary nature. 

20 ‘‘(f) TRANSPORTATION REQUIREMENTS.— 

21 ‘‘(1) TRAVEL TO PLACE OF EMPLOYMENT.—A 

22 worker who completes 50 percent of the period of 

23 employment for the job opportunity for which the 

24 worker was hired shall be reimbursed by the em25 ployer for the cost of the worker’s transportation 


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1 and subsistence from the place from which the work2 er came to work for the employer (or place of last 

3 employment, if the worker traveled from such place) 

4 to the place of employment. 

5 ‘‘(2) TRAVEL FROM PLACE OF EMPLOYMENT.— 

6 For a worker who completes the period of employ7 ment for the job opportunity or who is terminated 

8 without cause, the employer shall provide or pay for 

9 the worker’s transportation and subsistence from the 

10 place of employment to the place from which the 

11 worker, disregarding intervening employment, came 

12 to work for the employer, or to the place of next em13 ployment, if the worker has contracted with a subse14 quent employer who has not agreed to provide or 

15 pay for the worker’s transportation and subsistence 

16 to such subsequent employer’s place of employment. 

17 ‘‘(3) LIMITATION.— 

18 ‘‘(A) AMOUNT OF REIMBURSEMENT.—Ex19 cept as provided in subparagraph (B), the 

20 amount of reimbursement provided under para21 graph (1) or (2) to a worker need not exceed 

22 the lesser of— 

23 ‘‘(i) the actual cost to the worker of 

24 the transportation and subsistence in25 volved; or 


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1 ‘‘(ii) the most economical and reason2 able common carrier transportation 

3 charges and subsistence costs for the dis4 tance involved. 

5 ‘‘(B) DISTANCE TRAVELED.—If the dis6 tance traveled from the worker’s home to the 

7 relevant consulate is 50 miles or less, reim8 bursement for transportation and subsistence 

9 may be based on transportation from the con10 sulate. 

11 ‘‘(g) HEAT ILLNESS PREVENTION PLAN.—The em12 ployer shall maintain a reasonable plan that describes the 

13 employer’s procedures for the prevention of heat illness, 

14 including appropriate training, access to water and shade, 

15 the provision of breaks, and the protocols for emergency 

16 response. Such plan shall— 

17 ‘‘(1) be in writing in English and, to the extent 

18 necessary, any language common to a significant 

19 portion of the workers if they are not fluent in 

20 English; and 

21 ‘‘(2) be posted at a conspicuous location at the 

22 worksite and provided to employees prior to the com23 mencement of labor or services. 

24 ‘‘(h) H–2A PETITION PROCEDURES.— 


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1 ‘‘(1) SUBMISSION OF PETITION AND JOB

2 ORDER.— 

3 ‘‘(A) IN GENERAL.—The employer shall 

4 submit information required for the adjudica5 tion of the H–2A petition, including a job 

6 order, through the electronic platform no more 

7 than 75 calendar days and no fewer than 60 

8 calendar days before the employer’s first date of 

9 need specified in the petition. 

10 ‘‘(B) FILING BY AGRICULTURAL ASSOCIA11 TIONS.—An association of agricultural pro12 ducers that use agricultural services may file an 

13 H–2A petition under subparagraph (A). If an 

14 association is a joint or sole employer of work15 ers who perform agricultural labor or services, 

16 H–2A workers may be used for the approved 

17 job opportunities of any of the association’s 

18 producer members and such workers may be 

19 transferred among its producer members to per20 form the agricultural labor or services for which 

21 the petition was approved. 

22 ‘‘(C) PETITIONS INVOLVING STAGGERED

23 ENTRY.— 

24 ‘‘(i) IN GENERAL.—Except as pro25 vided in clause (ii), an employer may file 


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1 a petition involving employment in the 

2 same occupational classification and same 

3 area of intended employment with multiple 

4 start dates if— 

5 ‘‘(I) the petition involves tem6 porary or seasonal employment and no 

7 more than 10 start dates; 

8 ‘‘(II) the multiple start dates 

9 share a common end date that is no 

10 longer than 1 year after the first start 

11 date; 

12 ‘‘(III) no more than 120 days 

13 separate the first start date and the 

14 final start date listed in the petition; 

15 and 

16 ‘‘(IV) the need for multiple start 

17 dates arises from variations in labor 

18 needs associated with the job oppor19 tunity identified in the petition. 

20 ‘‘(ii) FARM LABOR CONTRACTORS.—A 

21 farm labor contractor may not file a peti22 tion described in clause (i) unless the farm 

23 labor contractor— 

24 ‘‘(I) is filing as a joint employer 

25 with its contractees, or is operating in 


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1 a State in which joint employment 

2 and liability between the farm labor 

3 contractor and its contractees is oth4 erwise established; or 

5 ‘‘(II) has posted and is maintain6 ing a premium surety bond as de7 scribed in subsection (l)(1). 

8 ‘‘(2) LABOR CERTIFICATION.— 

9 ‘‘(A) REVIEW OF JOB ORDER.— 

10 ‘‘(i) IN GENERAL.—The Secretary of 

11 Labor, in consultation with the relevant 

12 State workforce agency, shall review the 

13 job order for compliance with this section 

14 and notify the employer through the elec15 tronic platform of any deficiencies not later 

16 than 7 business days from the date the 

17 employer submits the necessary informa18 tion required under paragraph (1)(A). The 

19 employer shall be provided 5 business days 

20 to respond to any such notice of deficiency. 

21 ‘‘(ii) STANDARD.—The job order must 

22 include all material terms and conditions 

23 of employment, including the requirements 

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1 vided under Federal, State or local law. In 

2 considering the question of whether a spe3 cific qualification is appropriate in a job 

4 order, the Secretary shall apply the normal 

5 and accepted qualification required by non6 H–2A employers in the same or com7 parable occupations and crops. 

8 ‘‘(iii) EMERGENCY PROCEDURES.— 

9 The Secretary of Labor shall establish 

10 emergency procedures for the curing of de11 ficiencies that cannot be resolved during 

12 the period described in clause (i). 

13 ‘‘(B) APPROVAL OF JOB ORDER.— 

14 ‘‘(i) IN GENERAL.—Upon approval of 

15 the job order, the Secretary of Labor shall 

16 immediately place for public examination a 

17 copy of the job order on the online job reg18 istry, and the State workforce agency serv19 ing the area of intended employment shall 

20 commence the recruitment of United 

21 States workers. 

22 ‘‘(ii) REFERRAL OF UNITED STATES

23 WORKERS.—The Department of Labor and 

24 State workforce agency shall keep the job 

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1 scribed in subsection (c)(2) and shall refer 

2 to the employer each United States worker 

3 who applies for the job opportunity. 

4 ‘‘(C) REVIEW OF INFORMATION FOR DEFI5 CIENCIES.—Within 7 business days of the ap6 proval of the job order, the Secretary shall re7 view the information necessary to make a labor 

8 certification and notify the employer through 

9 the electronic platform if such information does 

10 not meet the standards for approval. Such noti11 fication shall include a description of any defi12 ciency, and the employer shall be provided 5 

13 business days to cure such deficiency. 

14 ‘‘(D) CERTIFICATION AND AUTHORIZATION

15 OF WORKERS.—Not later than 30 days before 

16 the date that labor or services are first required 

17 to be performed, the Secretary of Labor shall 

18 issue the requested labor certification if— 

19 ‘‘(i) the employer has complied with 

20 the requirements for certification set forth 

21 in this section; and 

22 ‘‘(ii) the Secretary of Labor deter23 mines that there are not sufficient quali24 fied, willing, and available United States 

25 workers to perform the agricultural labor 


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1 or services as required by the terms and 

2 conditions of the job offer. 

3 ‘‘(E) EXPEDITED ADMINISTRATIVE AP4 PEALS OF CERTAIN DETERMINATIONS.—The 

5 Secretary of Labor shall by regulation establish 

6 a procedure for an employer to request the ex7 pedited review of a denial of a labor certifi8 cation under this section, or the revocation of 

9 such a certification. Such procedure shall re10 quire the Secretary to expeditiously, but no 

11 later than 72 hours after expedited review is re12 quested, issue a de novo determination on a 

13 labor certification that was denied in whole or 

14 in part because of the availability of able, will15 ing and qualified workers if the employer dem16 onstrates, consistent with subsection (c)(3)(B), 

17 that such workers are not actually available at 

18 the time or place such labor or services are re19 quired. 

20 ‘‘(3) PETITION DECISION.— 

21 ‘‘(A) IN GENERAL.—Not later than 7 busi22 ness days after the Secretary of Labor issues 

23 the certification, the Secretary of Homeland Se24 curity shall issue a decision on the petition and 


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1 shall transmit a notice of action to the peti2 tioner via the electronic platform. 

3 ‘‘(B) APPROVAL.—Upon approval of a pe4 tition under this section, the Secretary of 

5 Homeland Security shall ensure that such ap6 proval is noted in the electronic platform and is 

7 available to the Secretary of State and U.S. 

8 Customs and Border Protection, as necessary, 

9 to facilitate visa issuance and admission. 

10 ‘‘(C) PARTIAL APPROVAL.—A petition for 

11 multiple named beneficiaries may be partially 

12 approved with respect to eligible beneficiaries 

13 notwithstanding the ineligibility, or potential in14 eligibility, of one or more other beneficiaries. 

15 ‘‘(D) POST-CERTIFICATION AMEND16 MENTS.—The Secretary of Labor shall provide 

17 a process for amending a request for labor cer18 tification in conjunction with an H–2A petition, 

19 subsequent to certification by the Secretary of 

20 Labor, in cases in which the requested amend21 ment does not materially change the petition 

22 (including the job order). 

23 ‘‘(4) ROLES OF AGRICULTURAL ASSOCIA24 TIONS.— 


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1 ‘‘(A) MEMBER’S VIOLATION DOES NOT

2 NECESSARILY DISQUALIFY ASSOCIATION OR

3 OTHER MEMBERS.—If an individual producer 

4 member of a joint employer association is deter5 mined to have committed an act that results in 

6 the denial of a petition with respect to the 

7 member, the denial shall apply only to that 

8 member of the association unless the Secretary 

9 of Labor determines that the association or 

10 other member participated in, had knowledge 

11 of, or reason to know of, the violation. 

12 ‘‘(B) ASSOCIATION’S VIOLATION DOES NOT

13 NECESSARILY DISQUALIFY MEMBERS.— 

14 ‘‘(i) If an association representing ag15 ricultural producers as a joint employer is 

16 determined to have committed an act that 

17 results in the denial of a petition with re18 spect to the association, the denial shall 

19 apply only to the association and does not 

20 apply to any individual producer member 

21 of the association unless the Secretary of 

22 Labor determines that the member partici23 pated in, had knowledge of, or reason to 

24 know of, the violation. 


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1 ‘‘(ii) If an association of agricultural 

2 producers certified as a sole employer is 

3 determined to have committed an act that 

4 results in the denial of a petition with re5 spect to the association, no individual pro6 ducer member of such association may be 

7 the beneficiary of the services of H–2A 

8 workers in the commodity and occupation 

9 in which such aliens were employed by the 

10 association which was denied during the 

11 period such denial is in force, unless such 

12 producer member employs such aliens in 

13 the commodity and occupation in question 

14 directly or through an association which is 

15 a joint employer of such workers with the 

16 producer member. 

17 ‘‘(5) SPECIAL PROCEDURES.—The Secretary of 

18 Labor, in consultation with the Secretary of Agri19 culture and Secretary of Homeland Security, may by 

20 regulation establish alternate procedures that rea21 sonably modify program requirements under this 

22 section, when the Secretary determines that such 

23 modifications are required due to the unique nature 

24 of the work involved. 

25 ‘‘(6) CONSTRUCTION OCCUPATIONS.— 


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1 ‘‘(A) IN GENERAL.—Unless the employer 

2 is an agricultural producer, an employer may 

3 not file a petition under this section on behalf 

4 of a worker when the majority of the worker’s 

5 duties will fall within a construction or extrac6 tion occupational classification. 

7 ‘‘(B) CLARIFICATION.—An H–2A worker 

8 may only perform duties that fall within a con9 struction or extraction occupational classifica10 tion if such duties are agricultural labor or 

11 services. 

12 ‘‘(i) NON-TEMPORARY OR -SEASONAL NEEDS.— 

13 ‘‘(1) IN GENERAL.—Notwithstanding section 

14 101(a)(15)(H)(ii)(a), the Secretary of Homeland Se15 curity may, consistent with the provisions of this 

16 subsection, approve a petition for an H–2A worker 

17 to perform agricultural services or labor that is not 

18 of a temporary or seasonal nature. 

19 ‘‘(2) NUMERICAL LIMITATIONS.— 

20 ‘‘(A) FIRST 3 FISCAL YEARS.—The total 

21 number of aliens who may be issued visas or 

22 otherwise provided H–2A nonimmigrant status 

23 under paragraph (1) for the first fiscal year 

24 during which the first visa is issued under such 


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1 paragraph and for each of the following two fis2 cal years may not exceed 20,000. 

3 ‘‘(B) FISCAL YEARS 4 THROUGH 10.— 

4 ‘‘(i) IN GENERAL.—The total number 

5 of aliens who may be issued visas or other6 wise provided H–2A nonimmigrant status 

7 under paragraph (1) for the first fiscal 

8 year following the fiscal years referred to 

9 in subparagraph (A) and for each of the 

10 following six fiscal years may not exceed a 

11 numerical limitation jointly imposed by the 

12 Secretary of Agriculture and Secretary of 

13 Labor in accordance with clause (ii). 

14 ‘‘(ii) ANNUAL ADJUSTMENTS.—For 

15 each fiscal year referred to in clause (i), 

16 the Secretary of Agriculture and Secretary 

17 of Labor, in consultation with the Sec18 retary of Homeland Security, shall estab19 lish a numerical limitation for purposes of 

20 clause (i). Such numerical limitation may 

21 not be lower 20,000 and may not vary by 

22 more than 12.5 percent compared to the 

23 numerical limitation applicable to the im24 mediately preceding fiscal year. In estab25 lishing such numerical limitation, the SecVerDate Sep 11 2014 00:13 Nov 08, 2019 Jkt 099200 PO 00000 Frm 00081 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H4916.IH H4916

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1 retaries shall consider appropriate factors, 

2 including— 

3 ‘‘(I) a demonstrated shortage of 

4 agricultural workers; 

5 ‘‘(II) the level of unemployment 

6 and underemployment of agricultural 

7 workers during the preceding fiscal 

8 year; 

9 ‘‘(III) the number of H–2A work10 ers sought by employers during the 

11 preceding fiscal year to engage in ag12 ricultural labor or services not of a 

13 temporary or seasonal nature; 

14 ‘‘(IV) the number of such H–2A 

15 workers issued a visa in the most re16 cent fiscal year who remain in the 

17 United States in compliance with the 

18 terms of such visa; 

19 ‘‘(V) the estimated number of 

20 United States workers, including 

21 workers who obtained certified agri22 cultural worker status under title I of 

23 the Farm Workforce Modernization 

24 Act of 2019, who worked during the 

25 preceding fiscal year in agricultural 


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1 labor or services not of a temporary 

2 or seasonal nature; 

3 ‘‘(VI) the number of such United 

4 States workers who accepted jobs of5 fered by employers using the online 

6 job registry during the preceding fis7 cal year; 

8 ‘‘(VII) any growth or contraction 

9 of the United States agricultural in10 dustry that has increased or decreased 

11 the demand for agricultural workers; 

12 and 

13 ‘‘(VIII) any changes in the real 

14 wages paid to agricultural workers in 

15 the United States as an indication of 

16 a shortage or surplus of agricultural 

17 labor. 

18 ‘‘(C) SUBSEQUENT FISCAL YEARS.—For 

19 each fiscal year following the fiscal years re20 ferred to in subparagraph (B), the Secretary of 

21 Agriculture and Secretary of Labor shall jointly 

22 determine, in consultation with the Secretary of 

23 Homeland Security, and after considering ap24 propriate factors, including those factors listed 

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1 graph (B)(ii), whether to establish a numerical 

2 limitation for that fiscal year. If a numerical 

3 limitation is so established— 

4 ‘‘(i) such numerical limitation may 

5 not be lower than highest number of aliens 

6 admitted under this subsection in any of 

7 the three fiscal years immediately pre8 ceding the fiscal year for which the numer9 ical limitation is to be established; and 

10 ‘‘(ii) the total number of aliens who 

11 may be issued visas or otherwise provided 

12 H–2A nonimmigrant status under para13 graph (1) for that fiscal year may not ex14 ceed such numerical limitation. 

15 ‘‘(D) EMERGENCY PROCEDURES.—The 

16 Secretary of Agriculture and Secretary of 

17 Labor, in consultation with the Secretary of 

18 Homeland Security, shall jointly establish by 

19 regulation procedures for immediately adjusting 

20 a numerical limitation imposed under subpara21 graph (B) or (C) to account for significant 

22 labor shortages. 

23 ‘‘(3) ALLOCATION OF VISAS.— 

24 ‘‘(A) BI-ANNUAL ALLOCATION.—The an25 nual allocation of visas described in paragraph 


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1 (2) shall be evenly allocated between two halves 

2 of the fiscal year unless the Secretary of Home3 land Security, in consultation with the Sec4 retary of Agriculture and Secretary of Labor, 

5 determines that an alternative allocation would 

6 better accommodate demand for visas. Any un7 used visas in the first half of the fiscal year 

8 shall be added to the allocation for the subse9 quent half of the same fiscal year. 

10 ‘‘(B) RESERVE FOR DAIRY LABOR OR

11 SERVICES.— 

12 ‘‘(i) IN GENERAL.—Of the visa num13 bers made available in each half of the fis14 cal year pursuant to subparagraph (A), 50 

15 percent of such visas shall be reserved for 

16 employers filing petitions seeking H–2A 

17 workers to engage in agricultural labor or 

18 services in the dairy industry. 

19 ‘‘(ii) EXCEPTION.—If, after four 

20 months have elapsed in one half of the fis21 cal year, the Secretary of Homeland Secu22 rity determines that application of clause 

23 (i) will result in visas going unused during 

24 that half of the fiscal year, clause (i) shall 

25 not apply to visas under this paragraph 


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1 during the remainder of such calendar 

2 half. 

3 ‘‘(4) ANNUAL ROUND TRIP HOME.— 

4 ‘‘(A) IN GENERAL.—In addition to the 

5 other requirements of this section, an employer 

6 shall provide H–2A workers employed under 

7 this subsection, at no cost to such workers, with 

8 annual round trip travel, including transpor9 tation and subsistence during travel, to their 

10 homes in their communities of origin. The em11 ployer must provide such travel within 14 

12 months of the initiation of the worker’s employ13 ment, and no more than 14 months can elapse 

14 between each required period of travel. 

15 ‘‘(B) LIMITATION.—The cost of travel 

16 under subparagraph (A) need not exceed the 

17 lesser of— 

18 ‘‘(i) the actual cost to the worker of 

19 the transportation and subsistence in20 volved; or 

21 ‘‘(ii) the most economical and reason22 able common carrier transportation 

23 charges and subsistence costs for the dis24 tance involved. 


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1 ‘‘(5) FAMILY HOUSING.—An employer seeking 

2 to employ an H–2A worker pursuant to this sub3 section shall offer family housing to workers with 

4 families if such workers are engaged in agricultural 

5 employment that is not of a seasonal or temporary 

6 nature. The worker may reject such an offer. The 

7 employer may not charge the worker for the work8 er’s housing, except that if the worker accepts family 

9 housing, a prorated rent based on the fair market 

10 value for such housing may be charged for the work11 er’s family members. 

12 ‘‘(6) WORKPLACE SAFETY PLAN FOR DAIRY EM13 PLOYEES.— 

14 ‘‘(A) IN GENERAL.—If an employer is 

15 seeking to employ a worker in agricultural labor 

16 or services in the dairy industry pursuant to 

17 this subsection, the employer must report inci18 dents consistent with the requirements under 

19 section 1904.39 of title 29, Code of Federal 

20 Regulations, and maintain an effective worksite 

21 safety and compliance plan to prevent work22 place accidents and otherwise ensure safety. 

23 Such plan shall— 

24 ‘‘(i) be in writing in English and, to 

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1 mon to a significant portion of the workers 

2 if they are not fluent in English; and 

3 ‘‘(ii) be posted at a conspicuous loca4 tion at the worksite and provided to em5 ployees prior to the commencement of 

6 labor or services. 

7 ‘‘(B) CONTENTS OF PLAN.—The Secretary 

8 of Labor, in consultation with the Secretary of 

9 Agriculture, shall establish by regulation the 

10 minimum requirements for the plan described 

11 in subparagraph (A). Such plan shall include 

12 measures to— 

13 ‘‘(i) require workers (other than the 

14 employer’s family members) whose posi15 tions require contact with animals to com16 plete animal care training, including ani17 mal handling and job-specific animal care; 

18 ‘‘(ii) protect against sexual harass19 ment and violence, resolve complaints in20 volving harassment or violence, and protect 

21 against retaliation against workers report22 ing harassment or violence; and 

23 ‘‘(iii) contain other provisions nec24 essary for ensuring workplace safety, as 

25 determined by the Secretary of Labor, in 


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1 consultation with the Secretary of Agri2 culture. 

3 ‘‘(j) ELIGIBILITY FOR H–2A STATUS AND ADMISSION

4 TO THE UNITED STATES.— 

5 ‘‘(1) DISQUALIFICATION.—An alien shall be in6 eligible for admission to the United States as an H– 

7 2A worker pursuant to a petition filed under this 

8 section if the alien was admitted to the United 

9 States as an H–2A worker within the past 5 years 

10 of the date the petition was filed and— 

11 ‘‘(A) violated a material provision of this 

12 section, including the requirement to promptly 

13 depart the United States when the alien’s au14 thorized period of admission has expired, unless 

15 the alien has good cause for such failure to de16 part; or 

17 ‘‘(B) otherwise violated a term or condition 

18 of admission into the United States as an H– 

19 2A worker. 

20 ‘‘(2) VISA VALIDITY.—A visa issued to an H– 

21 2A worker shall be valid for three years and shall 

22 allow for multiple entries during the approved period 

23 of admission. 

24 ‘‘(3) PERIOD OF AUTHORIZED STAY; ADMIS25 SION.— 


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1 ‘‘(A) IN GENERAL.—An alien admissible as 

2 an H–2A worker shall be authorized to stay in 

3 the United States for the period of employment 

4 specified in the petition approved by the Sec5 retary of Homeland Security under this section. 

6 The maximum continuous period of authorized 

7 stay for an H–2A worker is 36 months. 

8 ‘‘(B) REQUIREMENT TO REMAIN OUTSIDE

9 THE UNITED STATES.—In the case of an H–2A 

10 worker whose maximum continuous period of 

11 authorized stay (including any extensions) has 

12 expired, the alien may not again be eligible for 

13 such stay until the alien remains outside the 

14 United States for a cumulative period of at 

15 least 45 days. 

16 ‘‘(C) EXCEPTIONS.—The Secretary of 

17 Homeland Security shall deduct absences from 

18 the United States that take place during an H– 

19 2A worker’s period of authorized stay from the 

20 period that the alien is required to remain out21 side the United States under subparagraph (B), 

22 if the alien or the alien’s employer requests 

23 such a deduction, and provides clear and con24 vincing proof that the alien qualifies for such a 

25 deduction. Such proof shall consist of evidence 


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1 including, but not limited to, arrival and depar2 ture records, copies of tax returns, and records 

3 of employment abroad. 

4 ‘‘(D) ADMISSION.—In addition to the max5 imum continuous period of authorized stay, an 

6 H–2A worker’s authorized period of admission 

7 shall include an additional period of 10 days 

8 prior to the beginning of the period of employ9 ment for the purpose of traveling to the place 

10 of employment and 45 days at the end of the 

11 period of employment for the purpose of trav12 eling home or seeking an extension of status 

13 based on a subsequent offer of employment if 

14 the worker has not reached the maximum con15 tinuous period of authorized stay under sub16 paragraph (A) (subject to the exceptions in sub17 paragraph (C)). 

18 ‘‘(4) CONTINUING H–2A WORKERS.— 

19 ‘‘(A) SUCCESSIVE EMPLOYMENT.—An H– 

20 2A worker is authorized to start new or concur21 rent employment upon the filing of a nonfrivo22 lous H–2A petition, or as of the requested start 

23 date, whichever is later if— 

24 ‘‘(i) the petition to start new or con25 current employment was filed prior to the 


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1 expiration of the H–2A worker’s period of 

2 admission as defined in paragraph (3)(D); 

3 and 

4 ‘‘(ii) the H–2A worker has not been 

5 employed without authorization in the 

6 United States from the time of last admis7 sion to the United States in H–2A status 

8 through the filing of the petition for new 

9 employment. 

10 ‘‘(B) PROTECTION DUE TO IMMIGRANT

11 VISA BACKLOGS.—Notwithstanding the limita12 tions on the period of authorized stay described 

13 in paragraph (3), any H–2A worker who— 

14 ‘‘(i) is the beneficiary of an approved 

15 petition, filed under section 204(a)(1)(E) 

16 or (F) for preference status under section 

17 203(b)(3)(A)(iii); and 

18 ‘‘(ii) is eligible to be granted such sta19 tus but for the annual limitations on visas 

20 under section 203(b)(3)(A), 

21 may apply for, and the Secretary of Homeland 

22 Security may grant, an extension of such non23 immigrant status until the Secretary of Home24 land Security issues a final administrative deci25 sion on the alien’s application for adjustment of 


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1 status or the Secretary of State issues a final 

2 decision on the alien’s application for an immi3 grant visa. 

4 ‘‘(5) ABANDONMENT OF EMPLOYMENT.— 

5 ‘‘(A) IN GENERAL.—Except as provided in 

6 subparagraph (B), an H–2A worker who aban7 dons the employment which was the basis for 

8 the worker’s authorized stay, without good 

9 cause, shall be considered to have failed to 

10 maintain H–2A status and shall depart the 

11 United States or be subject to removal under 

12 section 237(a)(1)(C)(i). 

13 ‘‘(B) GRACE PERIOD TO SECURE NEW EM14 PLOYMENT.—An H–2A worker shall not be con15 sidered to have failed to maintain H–2A status 

16 solely on the basis of a cessation of the employ17 ment on which the alien’s classification was 

18 based for a period of 45 consecutive days, or 

19 until the end of the authorized validity period, 

20 whichever is shorter, once during each author21 ized validity period. 

22 ‘‘(k) REQUIRED DISCLOSURES.— 

23 ‘‘(1) DISCLOSURE OF WORK CONTRACT.—Not 

24 later than the time the H–2A worker applies for a 

25 visa, the employer shall provide the worker with a 


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1 copy of the work contract that includes the disclo2 sures and rights under this section (or in the ab3 sence of such a contract, a copy of the job order and 

4 proof of the certification described in subparagraphs 

5 (B) and (D) of subsection (h)(2)). An H–2A worker 

6 moving from one H–2A employer to a subsequent 

7 H–2A employer shall be provided with a copy of the 

8 new employment contract no later than the time an 

9 offer of employment is made by the subsequent em10 ployer. 

11 ‘‘(2) HOURS AND EARNINGS STATEMENTS.— 

12 The employer shall furnish to H–2A workers, on or 

13 before each payday, in one or more written state14 ments— 

15 ‘‘(A) the worker’s total earnings for the 

16 pay period; 

17 ‘‘(B) the worker’s hourly rate of pay, piece 

18 rate of pay, or both; 

19 ‘‘(C) the hours of employment offered to 

20 the worker and the hours of employment actu21 ally worked; 

22 ‘‘(D) if piece rates of pay are used, the 

23 units produced daily; 

24 ‘‘(E) an itemization of the deductions 

25 made from the worker’s wages; and 


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1 ‘‘(F) any other information required by 

2 Federal, State or local law. 

3 ‘‘(3) NOTICE OF WORKER RIGHTS.—The em4 ployer must post and maintain in a conspicuous lo5 cation at the place of employment, a poster provided 

6 by the Secretary of Labor in English, and, to the ex7 tent necessary, any language common to a signifi8 cant portion of the workers if they are not fluent in 

9 English, which sets out the rights and protections 

10 for workers employed pursuant to this section. 

11 ‘‘(l) FARM LABOR CONTRACTORS; FOREIGN LABOR

12 RECRUITERS; PROHIBITION ON FEES.— 

13 ‘‘(1) FARM LABOR CONTRACTORS.— 

14 ‘‘(A) SURETY BOND.—An employer that is 

15 a farm labor contractor who seeks to employ 

16 H–2A workers shall post or maintain a surety 

17 bond in an amount required under subpara18 graph (B). Such bond shall be payable to the 

19 Secretary of Labor or pursuant to the resolu20 tion of a civil or criminal proceeding, for the 

21 payment of wages and benefits, including any 

22 assessment of interest, owed to an H–2A work23 er or a similarly employed United States work24 er, or a United States worker who has been re25 jected or displaced in violation of this section. 


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1 ‘‘(B) AMOUNT OF BOND.—The Secretary 

2 of Labor shall annually publish in the Federal 

3 Register a schedule of required bond amounts 

4 that are determined by such Secretary to be 

5 sufficient for farm labor contractors to dis6 charge financial obligations under this section 

7 based on the number of workers the farm labor 

8 contractor seeks to employ and the wages such 

9 workers are required to be paid. 

10 ‘‘(C) PREMIUM BOND.—A farm labor con11 tractor seeking to file a petition involving more 

12 than 1 start date under subsection (h)(1)(C) 

13 shall post and maintain a surety bond that is 

14 at least 15 percent higher than the applicable 

15 bond amount determined by the Secretary 

16 under subparagraph (B). 

17 ‘‘(D) USE OF FUNDS.—Any sums paid to 

18 the Secretary under subparagraph (A) that are 

19 not paid to a worker because of the inability to 

20 do so within a period of 5 years following the 

21 date of a violation giving rise to the obligation 

22 to pay shall remain available to the Secretary 

23 without further appropriation until expended to 

24 support the enforcement of this section. 


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1 ‘‘(2) FOREIGN LABOR RECRUITING.—If the em2 ployer has retained the services of a foreign labor re3 cruiter, the employer shall use a foreign labor re4 cruiter registered under section 251 of the Farm 

5 Workforce Modernization Act of 2019. 

6 ‘‘(3) PROHIBITION AGAINST EMPLOYEES PAY7 ING FEES.—Neither the employer nor its agents 

8 shall seek or receive payment of any kind from any 

9 worker for any activity related to the H–2A process, 

10 including payment of the employer’s attorneys’ fees, 

11 application fees, or recruitment costs. An employer 

12 and its agents may receive reimbursement for costs 

13 that are the responsibility and primarily for the ben14 efit of the worker, such as government-required 

15 passport fees. 

16 ‘‘(4) THIRD-PARTY CONTRACTS.—The contract 

17 between an employer and any farm labor contractor 

18 or any foreign labor recruiter (or any agent of such 

19 farm labor contractor or foreign labor recruiter) 

20 whom the employer engages shall include a term 

21 providing for the termination of such contract for 

22 cause if the contractor or recruiter, either directly or 

23 indirectly, in the placement or recruitment of H–2A 

24 workers seeks or receives payments or other com25 pensation from prospective employees. Upon learning 


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1 that a farm labor contractor or foreign labor re2 cruiter has sought or collected such payments, the 

3 employer shall so terminate any contracts with such 

4 contractor or recruiter. 

5 ‘‘(m) ENFORCEMENT AUTHORITY.— 

6 ‘‘(1) IN GENERAL.—The Secretary of Labor is 

7 authorized to take such actions against employers, 

8 including imposing appropriate penalties and seeking 

9 monetary and injunctive relief and specific perform10 ance of contractual obligations, as may be necessary 

11 to ensure compliance with the requirements of this 

12 section and with the applicable terms and conditions 

13 of employment. 

14 ‘‘(2) COMPLAINT PROCESS.— 

15 ‘‘(A) PROCESS.—The Secretary of Labor 

16 shall establish a process for the receipt, inves17 tigation, and disposition of complaints alleging 

18 failure of an employer to comply with the re19 quirements under this section and with the ap20 plicable terms and conditions of employment. 

21 ‘‘(B) FILING.—A complaint referred to in 

22 subparagraph (A) may be filed not later than 2 

23 years after the date of the conduct that is the 

24 subject of the complaint. 


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1 ‘‘(C) COMPLAINT NOT EXCLUSIVE.—A 

2 complaint filed under this paragraph is not an 

3 exclusive remedy and the filing of such a com4 plaint does not waive any rights or remedies of 

5 the aggrieved party under this law or other 

6 laws. 

7 ‘‘(D) DECISION AND REMEDIES.—If the 

8 Secretary of Labor finds, after notice and op9 portunity for a hearing, that the employer failed 

10 to comply with the requirements of this section 

11 or the terms and conditions of employment, the 

12 Secretary of Labor may require payment of un13 paid wages, unpaid benefits, fees assessed in 

14 violation of this section, damages, and civil 

15 money penalties. The Secretary is also author16 ized to impose other administrative remedies, 

17 including disqualification of the employer from 

18 utilizing the H–2A program for a period of up 

19 to 5 years in the event of willful or multiple 

20 material violations. The Secretary is authorized 

21 to permanently disqualify an employer from uti22 lizing the H–2A program upon a subsequent 

23 finding involving willful or multiple material 

24 violations. 


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1 ‘‘(E) DISPOSITION OF PENALTIES.—Civil 

2 penalties collected under this paragraph shall be 

3 deposited into the H–2A Labor Certification 

4 Fee Account established under section 203 of 

5 the Farm Workforce Modernization Act of 

6 2019. 

7 ‘‘(3) STATUTORY CONSTRUCTION.—Nothing in 

8 this subsection may be construed as limiting the au9 thority of the Secretary of Labor to conduct an in10 vestigation— 

11 ‘‘(A) under any other law, including any 

12 law affecting migrant and seasonal agricultural 

13 workers; or 

14 ‘‘(B) in the absence of a complaint. 

15 ‘‘(4) RETALIATION PROHIBITED.—It is a viola16 tion of this subsection for any person who has filed 

17 a petition under this section to intimidate, threaten, 

18 restrain, coerce, blacklist, discharge, or in any other 

19 manner discriminate against, or to cause any person 

20 to intimidate, threaten, restrain, coerce, blacklist, or 

21 in any manner discriminate against, an employee, in22 cluding a former employee or an applicant for em23 ployment, because the employee— 

24 ‘‘(A) has disclosed information to the em25 ployer, or to any other person, that the emVerDate Sep 11 2014 00:13 Nov 08, 2019 Jkt 099200 PO 00000 Frm 00100 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H4916.IH H4916

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1 ployee reasonably believes evidences a violation 

2 under this section, or any rule or regulation re3 lating to this section; 

4 ‘‘(B) has filed a complaint concerning the 

5 employer’s compliance with the requirements 

6 under this section or any rule or regulation per7 taining to this section; 

8 ‘‘(C) cooperates or seeks to cooperate in an 

9 investigation or other proceeding concerning the 

10 employer’s compliance with the requirements 

11 under this section or any rule or regulation per12 taining to this section; or 

13 ‘‘(D) has taken steps to exercise or assert 

14 any right or protection under the provisions of 

15 this section, or any rule or regulation pertaining 

16 to this section, or any other relevant Federal, 

17 State, or local law. 

18 ‘‘(5) INTERAGENCY COMMUNICATION.—The 

19 Secretary of Labor, in consultation with the Sec20 retary of Homeland Security, Secretary of State and 

21 the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission, 

22 shall establish mechanisms by which the agencies 

23 and their components share information, including 

24 by public electronic means, regarding complaints, 

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1 ing compliance by employers with the requirements 

2 of the H–2A program and other employment-related 

3 laws and regulations. 

4 ‘‘(n) DEFINITIONS.—In this section: 

5 ‘‘(1) DISPLACE.—The term ‘displace’ means to 

6 lay off a similarly employed United States worker, 

7 other than for lawful job-related reasons, in the oc8 cupation and area of intended employment for the 

9 job for which H–2A workers are sought. 

10 ‘‘(2) H–2A WORKER.—The term ‘H–2A worker’ 

11 means a nonimmigrant described in section 

12 101(a)(15)(H)(ii)(a). 

13 ‘‘(3) JOB ORDER.—The term ‘job order’ means 

14 the document containing the material terms and 

15 conditions of employment relating to wages, hours, 

16 working conditions, worksite and other benefits, in17 cluding obligations and assurances required under 

18 this section. 

19 ‘‘(4) ONLINE JOB REGISTRY.—The term ‘online 

20 job registry’ means the online job registry of the 

21 Secretary of Labor required under section 201(b) of 

22 the Farm Workforce Modernization Act of 2019 (or 

23 similar successor registry). 

24 ‘‘(5) SIMILARLY EMPLOYED.—The term ‘simi25 larly employed’, in the case of a worker, means a 


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1 worker in the same occupational classification as the 

2 classification or classifications for which the H–2A 

3 worker is sought. 

4 ‘‘(6) UNITED STATES WORKER.—The term 

5 ‘United States worker’ means any worker who is— 

6 ‘‘(A) a citizen or national of the United 

7 States; 

8 ‘‘(B) an alien who is lawfully admitted for 

9 permanent residence, is admitted as a refugee 

10 under section 207, is granted asylum under sec11 tion 208, or is an immigrant otherwise author12 ized to be employed in the United States; 

13 ‘‘(C) an alien granted certified agricultural 

14 worker status under title I of the Farm Work15 force Modernization Act of 2019; or 

16 ‘‘(D) an individual who is not an unauthor17 ized alien (as defined in section 274A(h)(3)) 

18 with respect to the employment in which the 

19 worker is engaging. 

20 ‘‘(o) FEES; AUTHORIZATION OF APPROPRIATIONS.— 

21 ‘‘(1) FEES.— 

22 ‘‘(A) IN GENERAL.—The Secretary of 

23 Homeland Security shall impose a fee to proc24 ess petitions under this section. Such fee shall 

25 be set at a level that is sufficient to recover the 


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1 reasonable costs of processing the petition, in2 cluding the reasonable costs of providing labor 

3 certification by the Secretary of Labor. 

4 ‘‘(B) DISTRIBUTION.—Fees collected 

5 under subparagraph (A) shall be deposited as 

6 offsetting receipts into the immigration exami7 nations fee account in section 286(m), except 

8 that the portion of fees assessed for the Sec9 retary of Labor shall be deposited into the H– 

10 2A Labor Certification Fee Account established 

11 pursuant to section 203(c) of the Farm Work12 force Modernization Act of 2019. 

13 ‘‘(2) APPROPRIATIONS.—There are authorized 

14 to be appropriated for each fiscal year such sums as 

15 necessary for the purposes of— 

16 ‘‘(A) recruiting United States workers for 

17 labor or services which might otherwise be per18 formed by H–2A workers, including by ensuring 

19 that State workforce agencies are sufficiently 

20 funded to fulfill their functions under this sec21 tion; 

22 ‘‘(B) enabling the Secretary of Labor to 

23 make determinations and certifications under 

24 this section and under section 212(a)(5)(A)(i); 


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1 ‘‘(C) monitoring the terms and conditions 

2 under which H–2A workers (and United States 

3 workers employed by the same employers) are 

4 employed in the United States; and 

5 ‘‘(D) enabling the Secretary of Agriculture 

6 to carry out the Secretary of Agriculture’s du7 ties and responsibilities under this section.’’. 

8 SEC. 203. AGENCY ROLES AND RESPONSIBILITIES. 

9 (a) RESPONSIBILITIES OF THE SECRETARY OF

10 LABOR.—With respect to the administration of the H–2A 

11 program, the Secretary of Labor shall be responsible for— 

12 (1) consulting with State workforce agencies 

13 to— 

14 (A) review and process job orders; 

15 (B) facilitate the recruitment and referral 

16 of able, willing and qualified United States 

17 workers who will be available at the time and 

18 place needed; 

19 (C) determine prevailing wages and prac20 tices; and 

21 (D) conduct timely inspections to ensure 

22 compliance with applicable Federal, State, or 

23 local housing standards and Federal regulations 

24 for H–2A housing; 


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1 (2) determining whether the employer has met 

2 the conditions for approval of the H–2A petition de3 scribed in section 218(a) of the Immigration and 

4 Nationality Act (8 U.S.C. 1188(a)); 

5 (3) determining, in consultation with the Sec6 retary of Agriculture, whether a job opportunity is 

7 of a seasonal or temporary nature; 

8 (4) determining whether the employer has com9 plied or will comply with the H–2A program require10 ments set forth in section 218(b) of the Immigration 

11 and Nationality Act (8 U.S.C. 1188(b)); 

12 (5) processing and investigating complaints con13 sistent with section 218(m)(2) of the Immigration 

14 and Nationality Act (8 U.S.C. 1188(m)(2)); and 

15 (6) ensuring that guidance to State workforce 

16 agencies to conduct wage surveys is regularly up17 dated. 

18 (b) RESPONSIBILITIES OF THE SECRETARY OF

19 HOMELAND SECURITY.—With respect to the administra20 tion of the H–2A program, the Secretary of Homeland Se21 curity shall be responsible for— 

22 (1) adjudicating petitions for the admission of 

23 H–2A workers, which shall include an assessment as 

24 to whether each beneficiary will be employed in ac25 cordance with the terms and conditions of the cerVerDate Sep 11 2014 00:13 Nov 08, 2019 Jkt 099200 PO 00000 Frm 00106 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H4916.IH H4916

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1 tification and whether the named beneficiaries qual2 ify for such employment; 

3 (2) transmitting a copy of the final decision on 

4 the petition to the employer, and in the case of ap5 proved petitions, ensuring that the petition approval 

6 is reflected in the electronic platform to facilitate the 

7 prompt issuance of a visa by the Department of 

8 State (if required) and the admission of the H–2A 

9 workers to the United States; and 

10 (3) establishing a reliable and secure method 

11 through which H–2A workers can access information 

12 about their H–2A visa status, including information 

13 on pending, approved, or denied petitions to extend 

14 such status. 

15 (c) ESTABLISHMENT OF ACCOUNT AND USE OF

16 FUNDS.— 

17 (1) ESTABLISHMENT OF ACCOUNT.—There is 

18 established in the general fund of the Treasury a 

19 separate account, which shall be known as the ‘‘H– 

20 2A Labor Certification Fee Account’’. Notwith21 standing any other provisions of law, there shall be 

22 deposited as offsetting receipts into the account all 

23 amounts— 


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1 (A) collected as a civil penalty under sec2 tion 218(m)(2)(E) of the Immigration and Na3 tionality Act; and 

4 (B) collected as a fee under section 

5 218(o)(1)(B) of the Immigration and Nation6 ality Act. 

7 (2) USE OF FEES.—Amounts deposited into the 

8 H–2A Labor Certification Fee Account shall be 

9 available (except as otherwise provided in this para10 graph) without fiscal year limitation and without the 

11 requirement for specification in appropriations acts 

12 to the Secretary of Labor for use, directly or 

13 through grants, contracts, or other arrangements, in 

14 such amounts as the Secretary of Labor determines 

15 are necessary for the costs of Federal and State ad16 ministration in carrying out activities in connection 

17 with labor certification under section 218 of the Im18 migration and Nationality Act. Such costs may in19 clude personnel salaries and benefits, equipment and 

20 infrastructure for adjudication and customer service 

21 processes, the operation and maintenance of an on22 line job registry, and program integrity activities. 

23 The Secretary, in determining what amounts to 

24 transfer to States for State administration in car25 rying out activities in connection with labor certifiVerDate Sep 11 2014 00:13 Nov 08, 2019 Jkt 099200 PO 00000 Frm 00108 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H4916.IH H4916

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1 cation under section 218 of the Immigration and 

2 Nationality Act shall consider the number of H–2A 

3 workers employed in that State and shall adjust the 

4 amount transferred to that State accordingly. In ad5 dition, 10 percent of the amounts deposited into the 

6 H–2A Labor Certification Fee Account shall be 

7 available to the Office of Inspector General of the 

8 Department of Labor to conduct audits and criminal 

9 investigations relating to such foreign labor certifi10 cation programs. 

11 (3) ADDITIONAL FUNDS.—Amounts available 

12 under paragraph (1) shall be available in addition to 

13 any other funds appropriated or made available to 

14 the Department of Labor under other laws, includ15 ing section 218(o)(2) of the Immigration and Na16 tionality Act. 

17 SEC. 204. WORKER PROTECTION AND COMPLIANCE. 

18 (a) EQUALITY OF TREATMENT.—H–2A workers shall 

19 not be denied any right or remedy under any Federal, 

20 State, or local labor or employment law applicable to 

21 United States workers engaged in agricultural employ22 ment. 

23 (b) APPLICABILITY OF OTHER LAWS.— 

24 (1) MIGRANT AND SEASONAL AGRICULTURAL

25 WORKER PROTECTION ACT.—H–2A workers shall be 


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1 considered migrant agricultural workers for purposes 

2 of the Migrant and Seasonal Agricultural Worker 

3 Protection Act (29 U.S.C. 1801 et seq.). 

4 (2) WAIVER OF RIGHTS PROHIBITED.—Agree5 ments by H–2A workers to waive or modify any 

6 rights or protections under this Act or section 218 

7 of the Immigration and Nationality Act (8 U.S.C. 

8 1188) shall be considered void or contrary to public 

9 policy except as provided in a collective bargaining 

10 agreement with a bona fide labor organization. 

11 (3) MEDIATION.— 

12 (A) FREE MEDIATION SERVICES.—The 

13 Federal Mediation and Conciliation Service 

14 shall be available to assist in resolving disputes 

15 arising under this section between H–2A work16 ers and agricultural employers without charge 

17 to the parties. 

18 (B) COMPLAINT.—If an H–2A worker files 

19 a civil action alleging one or more violations of 

20 section 218 of the Immigration and Nationality 

21 Act (8 U.S.C. 1188), the Fair Labor Standards 

22 Act of 1938 (29 U.S.C. 201 et seq.), or the Mi23 grant and Seasonal Agricultural Worker Protec24 tion Act (29 U.S.C. 1801 et seq.), not later 

25 than 60 days after the filing of proof of service 


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1 of the complaint, a party to the action may file 

2 a request with the Federal Mediation and Con3 ciliation Service to assist the parties in reaching 

4 a satisfactory resolution of all issues involving 

5 all parties to the dispute. 

6 (C) NOTICE.—Upon filing a request under 

7 subparagraph (B) and giving of notice to the 

8 parties, the parties shall attempt mediation 

9 within the period specified in subparagraph 

10 (D), except that nothing in this paragraph shall 

11 limit the ability of a court to order preliminary 

12 injunctive relief to protect health and safety. 

13 (D) 90-DAY LIMIT.—The Federal Medi14 ation and Conciliation Service may conduct me15 diation or other nonbinding dispute resolution 

16 activities for a period not to exceed 90 days be17 ginning on the date on which the Federal Medi18 ation and Conciliation Service receives a request 

19 for assistance under subparagraph (B) unless 

20 the parties agree to an extension of such period. 

21 (E) AUTHORIZATION OF APPROPRIA22 TIONS.— 

23 (i) IN GENERAL.—Subject to clause 

24 (ii), there is authorized to be appropriated 

25 to the Federal Mediation and Conciliation 


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1 Service, $500,000 for each fiscal year to 

2 carry out this subparagraph. 

3 (ii) MEDIATION.—Notwithstanding 

4 any other provision of law, the Director of 

5 the Federal Mediation and Conciliation 

6 Service is authorized— 

7 (I) to conduct the mediation or 

8 other dispute resolution activities from 

9 any other account containing amounts 

10 available to the Director; and 

11 (II) to reimburse such account 

12 with amounts appropriated pursuant 

13 to clause (i). 

14 (F) PRIVATE MEDIATION.—If all parties 

15 agree, a private mediator may be employed as 

16 an alternative to the Federal Mediation and 

17 Conciliation Service. 

18 (c) LABOR CONTRACTOR REQUIREMENTS.— 

19 (1) SURETY BONDS.— 

20 (A) REQUIREMENT.—Section 101 of the 

21 Migrant and Seasonal Agricultural Worker Pro22 tection Act (29 U.S.C. 1811), is amended by 

23 adding at the end the following: 

24 ‘‘(e) A farm labor contractor shall post and at all 

25 times maintain a surety bond in an amount determined 


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1 by the Secretary to be sufficient for ensuring the ability 

2 of the farm labor contractor to discharge its financial obli3 gations, including payment of wages and benefits to em4 ployees. Such a bond shall be available to satisfy any 

5 amounts ordered to be paid by the Secretary or by court 

6 order for failure to comply with the obligations of this Act. 

7 The Secretary of Labor shall annually publish in the Fed8 eral Register a schedule of required bond amounts that 

9 are determined by such Secretary to be sufficient for farm 

10 labor contractors to discharge financial obligations based 

11 on the number of workers the farm labor contractor seeks 

12 to employ and the wages such workers are required to be 

13 paid.’’. 

14 (B) REGISTRATION DETERMINATIONS.— 

15 Section 103(a) of the Migrant and Seasonal Ag16 ricultural Worker Protection Act (29 U.S.C. 

17 1813(a)), is amended— 

18 (i) in paragraph (4), by striking ‘‘or’’ 

19 at the end; 

20 (ii) in paragraph (5)(B), by striking 

21 the period at the end and inserting ‘‘;’’; 

22 and 

23 (iii) by adding at the end the fol24 lowing: 


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1 ‘‘(6) has failed to post or maintain a surety 

2 bond in compliance with section 101(e); or 

3 ‘‘(7) has been disqualified by the Secretary of 

4 Labor from importing nonimmigrants described in 

5 section 101(a)(15)(H)(ii) of the Immigration and 

6 Nationality Act.’’. 

7 (2) SUCCESSORS IN INTEREST.— 

8 (A) DECLARATION.—Section 102 of the 

9 Migrant and Seasonal Agricultural Worker Pro10 tection Act (29 U.S.C. 1812), is amended— 

11 (i) in paragraph (4), by striking 

12 ‘‘and’’ at the end; 

13 (ii) in paragraph (5), by striking the 

14 period at the end and inserting ‘‘; and’’; 

15 and 

16 (iii) by adding at the end the fol17 lowing: 

18 ‘‘(6) a declaration, subscribed and sworn to by 

19 the applicant, stating whether the applicant has a 

20 familial, contractual, or employment relationship 

21 with, or shares vehicles, facilities, property, or em22 ployees with, a person who has been refused 

23 issuance or renewal of a certificate, or has had a 

24 certificate suspended or revoked, pursuant to section 

25 103.’’. 


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1 (B) REBUTTABLE PRESUMPTION.—Section 

2 103 of the Migrant and Seasonal Agricultural 

3 Worker Protection Act (29 U.S.C. 1813), as 

4 amended by this Act, is further amended by in5 serting after subsection (a) the following new 

6 subsection (and renumbering the remaining 

7 subsections accordingly): 

8 ‘‘(b)(1) There shall be a rebuttable presumption that 

9 an applicant for issuance or renewal of a certificate is not 

10 the real party in interest in the application if the appli11 cant— 

12 ‘‘(A) is the immediate family member of any 

13 person who has been refused issuance or renewal of 

14 a certificate, or has had a certificate suspended or 

15 revoked; and 

16 ‘‘(B) identifies a vehicle, facility, or real prop17 erty under paragraph (2) or (3) of section 102 that 

18 has been previously listed by a person who has been 

19 refused issuance or renewal of a certificate, or has 

20 had a certificate suspended or revoked. 

21 ‘‘(2) An applicant described in paragraph (1) bears 

22 the burden of demonstrating to the Secretary’s satisfac23 tion that the applicant is the real party in interest in the 

24 application.’’. 


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1 SEC. 205. REPORT ON WAGE PROTECTIONS. 

2 (a) Not later than 3 years after the date of the enact3 ment of this Act, and every 3 years thereafter, the Sec4 retary of Labor and Secretary of Agriculture shall prepare 

5 and transmit to the Committees on the Judiciary of the 

6 House of Representatives and Senate, a report that ad7 dresses— 

8 (1) whether, and the manner in which, the em9 ployment of H–2A workers in the United States has 

10 impacted the wages, working conditions, or job op11 portunities of United States farm workers; 

12 (2) whether, and the manner in which, the ad13 verse effect wage rate increases or decreases wages 

14 on United States farms, broken down by geographic 

15 region and farm size; 

16 (3) whether any potential impact of the adverse 

17 effect wage rate varies based on the percentage of 

18 workers in a geographic region that are H–2A work19 ers; 

20 (4) the degree to which the adverse effect wage 

21 rate is affected by the inclusion in wage surveys of 

22 piece rate compensation, bonus payments, and other 

23 pay incentives, and whether such forms of incentive 

24 compensation should be surveyed and reported sepa25 rately from hourly base rates; 


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1 (5) whether, and the manner in which, other 

2 factors may artificially affect the adverse effect wage 

3 rate, including factors that may be specific to a re4 gion, State, or region within a State; 

5 (6) whether, and the manner in which, the H– 

6 2A program affects the ability of United States 

7 farms to compete with agricultural commodities im8 ported from outside the United States; 

9 (7) the number and percentage of farmworkers 

10 in the United States whose incomes are below the 

11 poverty line; 

12 (8) whether alternative wage standards would 

13 be sufficient to prevent wages in occupations in 

14 which H–2A workers are employed from falling 

15 below the wage level that would have prevailed in the 

16 absence of the H–2A program; 

17 (9) whether any changes are warranted in the 

18 current methodologies for calculating the adverse ef19 fect wage rate and the prevailing wage; and 

20 (10) recommendations for future wage protec21 tion under this section. 

22 (b) In preparing the report described in subsection 

23 (a), the Secretary of Labor and Secretary of Agriculture 

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1 ricultural employers and agricultural workers, both locally 

2 and nationally. 

3 SEC. 206. PORTABLE H–2A VISA PILOT PROGRAM. 

4 (a) ESTABLISHMENT OF PILOT PROGRAM.— 

5 (1) IN GENERAL.—Not later than 18 months 

6 after the date of the enactment of this Act, the Sec7 retary of Homeland Security, in consultation with 

8 the Secretary of Labor and Secretary of Agriculture, 

9 shall establish through regulation a 6-year pilot pro10 gram to facilitate the free movement and employ11 ment of temporary or seasonal H–2A workers to 

12 perform agricultural labor or services for agricul13 tural employers registered with the Secretary of Ag14 riculture. Notwithstanding the requirements of sec15 tion 218 of the Immigration and Nationality Act, 

16 such regulation shall establish the requirements for 

17 the pilot program, consistent with subsection (b). 

18 For purposes of this section, such a worker shall be 

19 referred to as a portable H–2A worker, and status 

20 as such a worker shall be referred to as portable H– 

21 2A status. 

22 (2) ONLINE PLATFORM.—The Secretary of 

23 Homeland Security, in consultation with the Sec24 retary of Labor and the Secretary of Agriculture, 

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1 nect portable H–2A workers with registered agricul2 tural employers seeking workers to perform tem3 porary or seasonal agricultural labor or services. 

4 Employers shall post on the platform available job 

5 opportunities, including a description of the nature 

6 and location of the work to be performed, the antici7 pated period or periods of need, and the terms and 

8 conditions of employment. Such platform shall allow 

9 portable H–2A workers to search for available job 

10 opportunities using relevant criteria, including the 

11 types of jobs needed to be filled and the dates and 

12 locations of need. 

13 (3) LIMITATION.—Notwithstanding the issu14 ance of the regulation described in paragraph (1), 

15 the Secretary of State may not issue a visa to a 

16 portable H–2A and the Secretary of Homeland Se17 curity may not confer portable H–2A status on any 

18 alien until the Secretary of Homeland Security, in 

19 consultation with the Secretary of Labor and Sec20 retary of Agriculture, has determined that a suffi21 cient number of employers have been designated as 

22 registered agricultural employers under subsection 

23 (b)(1) and that such employers have sufficient job 

24 opportunities to employ a reasonable number of 

25 portable H–2A workers to initiate the pilot program. 


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1 (b) PILOT PROGRAM ELEMENTS.—The pilot program 

2 in subsection (a) shall contain the following elements: 

3 (1) REGISTERED AGRICULTURAL EMPLOY4 ERS.— 

5 (A) DESIGNATION.—Agricultural employ6 ers shall be provided the ability to seek designa7 tion as registered agricultural employers. Rea8 sonable fees may be assessed commensurate 

9 with the cost of processing applications for des10 ignation. A designation shall be valid for a pe11 riod of up to 3 years unless revoked for failure 

12 to comply with program requirements. Reg13 istered employers that comply with program re14 quirements may apply to renew such designa15 tion for additional periods of up to 3 years for 

16 the duration of the pilot program. 

17 (B) LIMITATIONS.—Registered agricultural 

18 employers may employ aliens with portable H– 

19 2A status without filing a petition. Such em20 ployers shall pay such aliens at least the wage 

21 required under section 218(d) of the Immigra22 tion and Nationality Act (8 U.S.C. 1188(d)). 

23 (C) WORKERS’ COMPENSATION.—If a job 

24 opportunity is not covered by or is exempt from 

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1 istered agricultural employer shall provide, at 

2 no cost to the worker, insurance covering injury 

3 and disease arising out of, and in the course of, 

4 the worker’s employment, which will provide 

5 benefits at least equal to those provided under 

6 the State workers’ compensation law. 

7 (2) DESIGNATED WORKERS.— 

8 (A) IN GENERAL.—Individuals who have 

9 been previously admitted to the United States 

10 in H–2A status, and maintained such status 

11 during the period of admission, shall be pro12 vided the opportunity to apply for portable H– 

13 2A status. Portable H–2A workers shall be sub14 ject to the provisions on visa validity and peri15 ods of authorized stay and admission for H–2A 

16 workers described in section 218(j)(2) and (3) 

17 of the Immigration and Nationality Act (8 

18 U.S.C. 1188(j)(2) and (3)). 

19 (B) LIMITATIONS ON AVAILABILITY OF

20 PORTABLE H–2A STATUS.— 

21 (i) INITIAL OFFER OF EMPLOYMENT

22 REQUIRED.—No alien may be granted 

23 portable H–2A status without an initial 

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1 porary or agricultural labor or services 

2 from a registered agricultural employer. 

3 (ii) NUMERICAL LIMITATIONS.—The 

4 total number of aliens who may hold valid 

5 portable H–2A status at any one time may 

6 not exceed 10,000. Notwithstanding such 

7 limitation, the Secretary of Homeland Se8 curity may further limit the number of 

9 aliens with valid portable H–2A status if 

10 the Secretary determines that there are an 

11 insufficient number of registered agricul12 tural employers or job opportunities to 

13 support the employment of all such port14 able H–2A workers. 

15 (C) SCOPE OF EMPLOYMENT.—During the 

16 period of admission, a portable H–2A worker 

17 may perform temporary or seasonal agricultural 

18 labor or services for any employer in the United 

19 States that is designated as a registered agri20 cultural employer pursuant to paragraph (1). 

21 An employment arrangement under this section 

22 may be terminated by either the portable H–2A 

23 worker or the registered agricultural employer 

24 at any time. 


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1 (D) TRANSFER TO NEW EMPLOYMENT.— 

2 At the cessation of employment with a reg3 istered agricultural employer, a portable H–2A 

4 worker shall have 60 days to secure new em5 ployment with a registered agricultural em6 ployer. 

7 (E) MAINTENANCE OF STATUS.—A port8 able H–2A worker who does not secure new em9 ployment with a registered agricultural em10 ployer within 60 days shall be considered to 

11 have failed to maintain such status and shall 

12 depart the United States or be subject to re13 moval under section 237(a)(1)(C)(i) of the Im14 migration and Nationality Act (8 U.S.C. 

15 1188(a)(1)(C)(i)). 

16 (3) ENFORCEMENT.—The Secretary of Labor 

17 shall be responsible for conducting investigations 

18 and random audits of employers to ensure compli19 ance with the requirements of this section, con20 sistent with section 218(m) of the Immigration and 

21 Nationality Act (8 U.S.C. 1188(m)). The Secretary 

22 of Labor shall have the authority to collect reason23 able civil penalties for violations, which shall be uti24 lized by the Secretary for the administration and en25 forcement of the provisions of this section. 


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1 (4) ELIGIBILITY FOR SERVICES.—Section 305 

2 of Public Law 99–603 (100 Stat. 3434) is amended 

3 by striking ‘‘other employment rights as provided in 

4 the worker’s specific contract under which the non5 immigrant was admitted’’ and inserting ‘‘employ6 ment-related rights’’. 

7 (c) REPORT.—Not later than 6 months before the 

8 end of the third fiscal year of the pilot program, the Sec9 retary of Homeland Security, in consultation with the Sec10 retary of Labor and the Secretary of Agriculture, shall 

11 prepare and submit to the Committees on the Judiciary 

12 of the House of Representatives and the Senate, a report 

13 that provides— 

14 (1) the number of employers designated as reg15 istered agricultural employers, broken down by geo16 graphic region, farm size, and the number of job op17 portunities offered by such employers; 

18 (2) the number of employers whose designation 

19 as a registered agricultural employer was revoked; 

20 (3) the number of individuals granted portable 

21 H–2A status in each fiscal year, along with the 

22 number of such individuals who maintained portable 

23 H–2A status during all or a portion of the 3-year 

24 period of the pilot program; 


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1 (4) an assessment of the impact of the pilot 

2 program on the wages and working conditions of 

3 United States farm workers; 

4 (5) the results of a survey of individuals grant5 ed portable H–2A status, detailing their experiences 

6 with and feedback on the pilot program; 

7 (6) the results of a survey of registered agricul8 tural employers, detailing their experiences with and 

9 feedback on the pilot program; 

10 (7) an assessment as to whether the program 

11 should be continued and if so, any recommendations 

12 for improving the program; and 

13 (8) findings and recommendations regarding ef14 fective recruitment mechanisms, including use of 

15 new technology to match workers with employers 

16 and ensure compliance with applicable labor and em17 ployment laws and regulations. 

18 SEC. 207. IMPROVING ACCESS TO PERMANENT RESIDENCE. 

19 (a) WORLDWIDE LEVEL.—Section 201(d)(1)(A) of 

20 the Immigration and Nationality Act (8 U.S.C. 

21 1151(d)(1)(A)) is amended by striking ‘‘140,000’’ and in22 serting ‘‘180,000’’. 

23 (b) VISAS FOR FARMWORKERS.—Section 203(b) of 

24 the Immigration and Nationality Act (8 U.S.C. 1153(b)) 

25 is amended— 


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1 (1) in paragraph (1) by striking ‘‘28.6 percent 

2 of such worldwide level’’ and inserting ‘‘40,040’’; 

3 (2) in paragraph (2)(A) by striking ‘‘28.6 per4 cent of such worldwide level’’ and inserting 

5 ‘‘40,040’’; 

6 (3) in paragraph (3)— 

7 (A) in subparagraph (A)— 

8 (i) in the matter before clause (i), by 

9 striking ‘‘28.6 percent of such worldwide 

10 level’’ and inserting ‘‘80,040’’; and 

11 (ii) by amending clause (iii) to read as 

12 follows: 

13 ‘‘(iii) OTHER WORKERS.—Other quali14 fied immigrants who, at the time of peti15 tioning for classification under this para16 graph— 

17 ‘‘(I) are capable of performing 

18 unskilled labor, not of a temporary or 

19 seasonal nature, for which qualified 

20 workers are not available in the 

21 United States; or 

22 ‘‘(II) can demonstrate employ23 ment in the United States as an H– 

24 2A nonimmigrant worker for at least 


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1 100 days in each of at least 10 

2 years.’’; 

3 (B) by amending subparagraph (B) to read 

4 as follows: 

5 ‘‘(B) VISAS ALLOCATED FOR OTHER

6 WORKERS.— 

7 ‘‘(i) IN GENERAL.—Except as pro8 vided in clauses (ii) and (iii), 50,000 of the 

9 visas made available under this paragraph 

10 shall be reserved for qualified immigrants 

11 described in subparagraph (A)(iii). 

12 ‘‘(ii) PREFERENCE FOR AGRICUL13 TURAL WORKERS.—Subject to clause (iii), 

14 not less than four-fifths of the visas de15 scribed in clause (i) shall be reserved for— 

16 ‘‘(I) qualified immigrants de17 scribed in subparagraph (A)(iii)(I) 

18 who will be performing agricultural 

19 labor or services in the United States; 

20 and 

21 ‘‘(II) qualified immigrants de22 scribed in subparagraph (A)(iii)(II). 

23 ‘‘(iii) EXCEPTION.—If because of the 

24 application of clause (ii), the total number 

25 of visas available under this paragraph for 


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1 a calendar quarter exceeds the number of 

2 qualified immigrants who otherwise may be 

3 issued such a visa, clause (ii) shall not 

4 apply to visas under this paragraph during 

5 the remainder of such calendar quarter. 

6 ‘‘(iv) NO PER COUNTRY LIMITS.— 

7 Visas described under clause (ii) shall be 

8 issued without regard to the numerical lim9 itation under section 202(a)(2).’’; and 

10 (C) by amending subparagraph (C) by 

11 striking ‘‘An immigrant visa’’ and inserting 

12 ‘‘Except for qualified immigrants petitioning for 

13 classification under subparagraph (A)(iii)(II), 

14 an immigrant visa’’; 

15 (4) in paragraph (4), by striking ‘‘7.1 percent 

16 of such worldwide level’’ and inserting ‘‘9,940’’; and 

17 (5) in paragraph (5)(A), in the matter before 

18 clause (i), by striking ‘‘7.1 percent of such world19 wide level’’ and inserting ‘‘9,940’’. 

20 (c) PETITIONING PROCEDURE.—Section 

21 204(a)(1)(E) of the Immigration and Nationality Act (8 

22 U.S.C. 1154(a)(1)(E)) is amended by inserting ‘‘or 

23 203(b)(3)(A)(iii)(II)’’ after ‘‘203(b)(1)(A)’’. 

24 (d) DUAL INTENT.—Section 214(b) of the Immigra25 tion and Nationality Act (8 U.S.C. 1184(b)) is amended 


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1 by striking ‘‘section 101(a)(15)(H)(i) except subclause 

2 (b1) of such section’’ and inserting ‘‘clause (i), except sub3 clause (b1), or (ii)(a) of section 101(a)(15)(H)’’. 

4 Subtitle B—Preservation and Con5 struction of Farmworker Hous6 ing 

7 SEC. 220. SHORT TITLE. 

8 This subtitle may be cited as the ‘‘Strategy and In9 vestment in Rural Housing Preservation Act of 2019’’. 

10 SEC. 221. PERMANENT ESTABLISHMENT OF HOUSING PRES11 ERVATION AND REVITALIZATION PROGRAM. 

12 Title V of the Housing Act of 1949 (42 U.S.C. 1471 

13 et seq.) is amended by adding at the end the following 

14 new section: 

15 ‘‘SEC. 545. HOUSING PRESERVATION AND REVITALIZATION 

16 PROGRAM. 

17 ‘‘(a) ESTABLISHMENT.—The Secretary shall carry 

18 out a program under this section for the preservation and 

19 revitalization of multifamily rental housing projects fi20 nanced under section 515 or both sections 514 and 516. 

21 ‘‘(b) NOTICE OF MATURING LOANS.— 

22 ‘‘(1) TO OWNERS.—On an annual basis, the 

23 Secretary shall provide written notice to each owner 

24 of a property financed under section 515 or both 

25 sections 514 and 516 that will mature within the 4- 


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1 year period beginning upon the provision of such no2 tice, setting forth the options and financial incen3 tives that are available to facilitate the extension of 

4 the loan term or the option to decouple a rental as5 sistance contract pursuant to subsection (f). 

6 ‘‘(2) TO TENANTS.— 

7 ‘‘(A) IN GENERAL.—For each property fi8 nanced under section 515 or both sections 514 

9 and 516, not later than the date that is 2 years 

10 before the date that such loan will mature, the 

11 Secretary shall provide written notice to each 

12 household residing in such property that in13 forms them of the date of the loan maturity, 

14 the possible actions that may happen with re15 spect to the property upon such maturity, and 

16 how to protect their right to reside in federally 

17 assisted housing after such maturity. 

18 ‘‘(B) LANGUAGE.—Notice under this para19 graph shall be provided in plain English and 

20 shall be translated to other languages in the 

21 case of any property located in an area in which 

22 a significant number of residents speak such 

23 other languages. 

24 ‘‘(c) LOAN RESTRUCTURING.—Under the program 

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1 isting housing loans, as the Secretary considers appro2 priate, for the purpose of ensuring that such projects have 

3 sufficient resources to preserve the projects to provide safe 

4 and affordable housing for low-income residents and farm 

5 laborers, by— 

6 ‘‘(1) reducing or eliminating interest; 

7 ‘‘(2) deferring loan payments; 

8 ‘‘(3) subordinating, reducing, or reamortizing 

9 loan debt; and 

10 ‘‘(4) providing other financial assistance, in11 cluding advances, payments, and incentives (includ12 ing the ability of owners to obtain reasonable re13 turns on investment) required by the Secretary. 

14 ‘‘(d) RENEWAL OF RENTAL ASSISTANCE.—When the 

15 Secretary offers to restructure a loan pursuant to sub16 section (c), the Secretary shall offer to renew the rental 

17 assistance contract under section 521(a)(2) for a 20-year 

18 term that is subject to annual appropriations, provided 

19 that the owner agrees to bring the property up to such 

20 standards that will ensure its maintenance as decent, safe, 

21 and sanitary housing for the full term of the rental assist22 ance contract. 

23 ‘‘(e) RESTRICTIVE USE AGREEMENTS.— 

24 ‘‘(1) REQUIREMENT.—As part of the preserva25 tion and revitalization agreement for a project, the 


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1 Secretary shall obtain a restrictive use agreement 

2 that obligates the owner to operate the project in ac3 cordance with this title. 

4 ‘‘(2) TERM.— 

5 ‘‘(A) NO EXTENSION OF RENTAL ASSIST6 ANCE CONTRACT.—Except when the Secretary 

7 enters into a 20-year extension of the rental as8 sistance contract for the project, the term of 

9 the restrictive use agreement for the project 

10 shall be consistent with the term of the restruc11 tured loan for the project. 

12 ‘‘(B) EXTENSION OF RENTAL ASSISTANCE

13 CONTRACT.—If the Secretary enters into a 20- 

14 year extension of the rental assistance contract 

15 for a project, the term of the restrictive use 

16 agreement for the project shall be for 20 years. 

17 ‘‘(C) TERMINATION.—The Secretary may 

18 terminate the 20-year use restrictive use agree19 ment for a project prior to the end of its term 

20 if the 20-year rental assistance contract for the 

21 project with the owner is terminated at any 

22 time for reasons outside the owner’s control. 

23 ‘‘(f) DECOUPLING OF RENTAL ASSISTANCE.— 

24 ‘‘(1) RENEWAL OF RENTAL ASSISTANCE CON25 TRACT.—If the Secretary determines that a maturVerDate Sep 11 2014 00:13 Nov 08, 2019 Jkt 099200 PO 00000 Frm 00132 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H4916.IH H4916

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1 ing loan for a project cannot reasonably be restruc2 tured in accordance with subsection (c) and the 

3 project was operating with rental assistance under 

4 section 521, the Secretary may renew the rental as5 sistance contract, notwithstanding any provision of 

6 section 521, for a term, subject to annual appropria7 tions, of at least 10 years but not more than 20 

8 years. 

9 ‘‘(2) RENTS.—Any agreement to extend the 

10 term of the rental assistance contract under section 

11 521 for a project shall obligate the owner to con12 tinue to maintain the project as decent, safe and 

13 sanitary housing and to operate the development in 

14 accordance with this title, except that rents shall be 

15 based on the lesser of— 

16 ‘‘(A) the budget-based needs of the project; 

17 or 

18 ‘‘(B) the operating cost adjustment factor 

19 as a payment standard as provided under sec20 tion 524 of the Multifamily Assisted Housing 

21 Reform and Affordability Act of 1997 (42 

22 U.S.C. 1437 note). 

23 ‘‘(g) MULTIFAMILY HOUSING TRANSFER TECHNICAL

24 ASSISTANCE.—Under the program under this section, the 

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1 nizations and public housing agencies to provide technical 

2 assistance, including financial and legal services, to bor3 rowers under loans under this title for multifamily housing 

4 to facilitate the acquisition of such multifamily housing 

5 properties in areas where the Secretary determines there 

6 is a risk of loss of affordable housing. 

7 ‘‘(h) TRANSFER OF RENTAL ASSISTANCE.—After the 

8 loan or loans for a rental project originally financed under 

9 section 515 or both sections 514 and 516 have matured 

10 or have been prepaid and the owner has chosen not to 

11 restructure the loan pursuant to subsection (c), a tenant 

12 residing in such project shall have 18 months prior to loan 

13 maturation or prepayment to transfer the rental assist14 ance assigned to the tenant’s unit to another rental project 

15 originally financed under section 515 or both sections 514 

16 and 516, and the owner of the initial project may rent 

17 the tenant’s previous unit to a new tenant without income 

18 restrictions. 

19 ‘‘(i) ADMINISTRATIVE EXPENSES.—Of any amounts 

20 made available for the program under this section for any 

21 fiscal year, the Secretary may use not more than 

22 $1,000,000 for administrative expenses for carrying out 

23 such program. 

24 ‘‘(j) AUTHORIZATION OF APPROPRIATIONS.—There 

25 is authorized to be appropriated for the program under 


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1 this section $200,000,000 for each of fiscal years 2020 

2 through 2024.’’. 

3 SEC. 222. ELIGIBILITY FOR RURAL HOUSING VOUCHERS. 

4 Section 542 of the Housing Act of 1949 (42 U.S.C. 

5 1490r) is amended by adding at the end the following new 

6 subsection: 

7 ‘‘(c) ELIGIBILITY OF HOUSEHOLDS IN SECTIONS

8 514, 515, AND 516 PROJECTS.—The Secretary may pro9 vide rural housing vouchers under this section for any low10 income household (including those not receiving rental as11 sistance) residing, for a term longer than the remaining 

12 term of their lease in effect just prior to prepayment, in 

13 a property financed with a loan made or insured under 

14 section 514 or 515 (42 U.S.C. 1484, 1485) which has 

15 been prepaid without restrictions imposed by the Secretary 

16 pursuant to section 502(c)(5)(G)(ii)(I) (42 U.S.C. 

17 1472(c)(5)(G)(ii)(I)), has been foreclosed, or has matured 

18 after September 30, 2005, or residing in a property as19 sisted under section 514 or 516 that is owned by a non20 profit organization or public agency.’’. 

21 SEC. 223. AMOUNT OF VOUCHER ASSISTANCE. 

22 Notwithstanding any other provision of law, in the 

23 case of any rural housing voucher provided pursuant to 

24 section 542 of the Housing Act of 1949 (42 U.S.C. 

25 1490r), the amount of the monthly assistance payment for 


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1 the household on whose behalf such assistance is provided 

2 shall be determined as provided in subsection (a) of such 

3 section 542. 

4 SEC. 224. RENTAL ASSISTANCE CONTRACT AUTHORITY. 

5 Subsection (d) of section 521 of the Housing Act of 

6 1949 (42 U.S.C. 1490a(d)) is amended— 

7 (1) in paragraph (1), by inserting after sub8 paragraph (A) the following new subparagraph (and 

9 renumbering the remaining subparagraphs accord10 ingly): 

11 ‘‘(B) upon request of an owner of a project 

12 financed under section 514 or 515, the Sec13 retary is authorized to enter into renewal of 

14 such agreements for a period of 20 years or the 

15 term of the loan, whichever is shorter, subject 

16 to amounts made available in appropriations 

17 Acts;’’; and 

18 (2) by adding at the end the following new 

19 paragraph: 

20 ‘‘(3) In the case of any rental assistance con21 tract authority that becomes available because of the 

22 termination of assistance on behalf of an assisted 

23 family— 

24 ‘‘(A) at the option of the owner of the 

25 rental project, the Secretary shall provide the 


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1 owner a period of 6 months before such assist2 ance is made available pursuant to subpara3 graph (B) during which the owner may use 

4 such assistance authority to provide assistance 

5 of behalf of an eligible unassisted family that— 

6 ‘‘(i) is residing in the same rental 

7 project that the assisted family resided in 

8 prior to such termination; or 

9 ‘‘(ii) newly occupies a dwelling unit in 

10 such rental project during such period; and 

11 ‘‘(B) except for assistance used as provided 

12 in subparagraph (A), the Secretary shall use 

13 such remaining authority to provide such assist14 ance on behalf of eligible families residing in 

15 other rental projects originally financed under 

16 section 515 or both sections 514 and 516 of 

17 this Act.’’. 

18 SEC. 225. FUNDING FOR MULTIFAMILY TECHNICAL IM19 PROVEMENTS. 

20 There is authorized to be appropriated to the Sec21 retary of Agriculture $50,000,000 for fiscal year 2020 for 

22 improving the technology of the Department of Agri23 culture used to process loans for multifamily housing and 

24 otherwise managing such housing. Such improvements 

25 shall be made within the 5-year period beginning upon the 


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1 appropriation of such amounts and such amount shall re2 main available until the expiration of such 5-year period. 

3 SEC. 226. PLAN FOR PRESERVING AFFORDABILITY OF 

4 RENTAL PROJECTS. 

5 (a) PLAN.—The Secretary of Agriculture (in this sec6 tion referred to as the ‘‘Secretary’’) shall submit a written 

7 plan to the Congress, not later than the expiration of the 

8 6-month period beginning on the date of the enactment 

9 of this Act, for preserving the affordability for low-income 

10 families of rental projects for which loans were made 

11 under section 515 or made to nonprofit or public agencies 

12 under section 514 and avoiding the displacement of tenant 

13 households, which shall— 

14 (1) set forth specific performance goals and 

15 measures; 

16 (2) set forth the specific actions and mecha17 nisms by which such goals will be achieved; 

18 (3) set forth specific measurements by which 

19 progress towards achievement of each goal can be 

20 measured; 

21 (4) provide for detailed reporting on outcomes; 

22 and 

23 (5) include any legislative recommendations to 

24 assist in achievement of the goals under the plan. 

25 (b) ADVISORY COMMITTEE.— 


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1 (1) ESTABLISHMENT; PURPOSE.—The Sec2 retary shall establish an advisory committee whose 

3 purpose shall be to assist the Secretary in preserving 

4 section 515 properties and section 514 properties 

5 owned by nonprofit or public agencies through the 

6 multifamily housing preservation and revitalization 

7 program under section 545 and in implementing the 

8 plan required under subsection (a). 

9 (2) MEMBER.—The advisory committee shall 

10 consist of 16 members, appointed by the Secretary, 

11 as follows: 

12 (A) A State Director of Rural Develop13 ment for the Department of Agriculture. 

14 (B) The Administrator for Rural Housing 

15 Service of the Department of Agriculture. 

16 (C) Two representatives of for-profit devel17 opers or owners of multifamily rural rental 

18 housing. 

19 (D) Two representatives of nonprofit devel20 opers or owners of multifamily rural rental 

21 housing. 

22 (E) Two representatives of State housing 

23 finance agencies. 

24 (F) Two representatives of tenants of mul25 tifamily rural rental housing. 


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1 (G) One representative of a community de2 velopment financial institution that is involved 

3 in preserving the affordability of housing as4 sisted under sections 514, 515, and 516 of the 

5 Housing Act of 1949. 

6 (H) One representative of a nonprofit or7 ganization that operates nationally and has ac8 tively participated in the preservation of hous9 ing assisted by the Rural Housing Service by 

10 conducting research regarding, and providing fi11 nancing and technical assistance for, preserving 

12 the affordability of such housing. 

13 (I) One representative of low-income hous14 ing tax credit investors. 

15 (J) One representative of regulated finan16 cial institutions that finance affordable multi17 family rural rental housing developments. 

18 (K) Two representatives from nonprofit or19 ganizations representing farmworkers, including 

20 one organization representing farmworker 

21 women. 

22 (3) MEETINGS.—The advisory committee shall 

23 meet not less often than once each calendar quarter. 


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1 (4) FUNCTIONS.—In providing assistance to the 

2 Secretary to carry out its purpose, the advisory com3 mittee shall carry out the following functions: 

4 (A) Assisting the Rural Housing Service of 

5 the Department of Agriculture to improve esti6 mates of the size, scope, and condition of rental 

7 housing portfolio of the Service, including the 

8 time frames for maturity of mortgages and 

9 costs for preserving the portfolio as affordable 

10 housing. 

11 (B) Reviewing current policies and proce12 dures of the Rural Housing Service regarding 

13 preservation of affordable rental housing fi14 nanced under sections 514, 515, 516, and 538 

15 of the Housing Act of 1949, the Multifamily 

16 Preservation and Revitalization Demonstration 

17 program (MPR), and the rental assistance pro18 gram and making recommendations regarding 

19 improvements and modifications to such policies 

20 and procedures. 

21 (C) Providing ongoing review of Rural 

22 Housing Service program results. 

23 (D) Providing reports to the Congress and 

24 the public on meetings, recommendations, and 

25 other findings of the advisory committee. 


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1 (5) TRAVEL COSTS.—Any amounts made avail2 able for administrative costs of the Department of 

3 Agriculture may be used for costs of travel by mem4 bers of the advisory committee to meetings of the 

5 committee. 

6 SEC. 227. COVERED HOUSING PROGRAMS. 

7 Paragraph (3) of section 41411(a) of the Violence 

8 Against Women Act of 1994 (34 U.S.C. 12491(a)(3)) is 

9 amended— 

10 (1) in subparagraph (I), by striking ‘‘and’’ at 

11 the end; 

12 (2) by redesignating subparagraph (J) as sub13 paragraph (K); and 

14 (3) by inserting after subparagraph (I) the fol15 lowing new subparagraph: 

16 ‘‘(J) rural development housing voucher 

17 assistance provided by the Secretary of Agri18 culture pursuant to section 542 of the Housing 

19 Act of 1949 (42 U.S.C. 1490r), without regard 

20 to subsection (b) of such section, and applicable 

21 appropriation Acts; and’’. 

22 SEC. 228. NEW FARMWORKER HOUSING. 

23 Section 513 of the Housing Act of 1949 (42 U.S.C. 

24 1483) is amended by adding at the end the following new 

25 subsection: 


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1 ‘‘(f) FUNDING FOR FARMWORKER HOUSING.— 

2 ‘‘(1) SECTION 514 FARMWORKER HOUSING

3 LOANS.— 

4 ‘‘(A) INSURANCE AUTHORITY.—The Sec5 retary of Agriculture may, to the extent ap6 proved in appropriation Acts, insure loans 

7 under section 514 (42 U.S.C. 1484) during 

8 each of fiscal years 2020 through 2029 in an 

9 aggregate amount not to exceed $200,000,000. 

10 ‘‘(B) AUTHORIZATION OF APPROPRIATIONS

11 FOR COSTS.—There is authorized to be appro12 priated $75,000,000 for each of fiscal years 

13 2020 through 2029 for costs (as such term is 

14 defined in section 502 of the Congressional 

15 Budget Act of 1974 (2 U.S.C. 661a)) of loans 

16 insured pursuant the authority under subpara17 graph (A). 

18 ‘‘(2) SECTION 516 GRANTS FOR FARMWORKER

19 HOUSING.—There is authorized to be appropriated 

20 $30,000,000 for each of fiscal years 2020 through 

21 2029 for financial assistance under section 516 (42 

22 U.S.C. 1486). 

23 ‘‘(3) SECTION 521 HOUSING ASSISTANCE.— 

24 There is authorized to be appropriated 

25 $2,700,000,000 for each of fiscal years 2020 


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1 through 2029 for rental assistance agreements en2 tered into or renewed pursuant to section 521(a)(2) 

3 (42 U.S.C. 1490a(a)(2)) or agreements entered into 

4 in lieu of debt forgiveness or payments for eligible 

5 households as authorized by section 502(c)(5)(D).’’. 

6 SEC. 229. LOAN AND GRANT LIMITATIONS. 

7 Subsection (j) of section 514 of the Housing Act of 

8 1949 (42 U.S.C. 1484(j)) shall be amended to read as 

9 follows: 

10 ‘‘(j) PER PROJECT LIMITATIONS ON ASSISTANCE.— 

11 If the Secretary, in making available assistance in any 

12 area under this section or section 516 (42 U.S.C. 1486), 

13 establishes a limitation on the amount of assistance avail14 able per project, the limitation on a grant or loan award 

15 per project shall not be less than $5 million.’’. 

16 SEC. 230. OPERATING ASSISTANCE SUBSIDIES. 

17 Subsection (a)(5) of section 521 of the Housing Act 

18 of 1949 (42 U.S.C. 1490a(a)(5)) is amended— 

19 (1) in subparagraph (A) by inserting ‘‘or do20 mestic farm labor legally admitted to the United 

21 States and authorized to work in agriculture’’ after 

22 ‘‘migrant farmworkers’’; 

23 (2) in subparagraph (B)— 

24 (A) by striking ‘‘AMOUNT.—In any fiscal 

25 year’’ and inserting ‘‘AMOUNT.— 


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1 ‘‘(i) HOUSING FOR MIGRANT FARM2 WORKERS.—In any fiscal year’’; 

3 (B) by inserting ‘‘providing housing for mi4 grant farmworkers’’ after ‘‘any project’’; and 

5 (C) by inserting at the end the following: 

6 ‘‘(ii) HOUSING FOR OTHER FARM

7 LABOR.—In any fiscal year, the assistance 

8 provided under this paragraph for any 

9 project providing housing for domestic 

10 farm labor legally admitted to the United 

11 States and authorized to work in agri12 culture shall not exceed an amount equal 

13 to 50 percent of the operating costs for the 

14 project for the year, as determined by the 

15 Secretary. The owner of such project shall 

16 not qualify for operating assistance unless 

17 the Secretary certifies that the project was 

18 unoccupied or underutilized before making 

19 units available to such farm labor, and 

20 that a grant under this section will not dis21 place any farm worker who is a United 

22 States worker.’’; and 

23 (3) in subparagraph (D), by adding at the end 

24 the following: 


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1 ‘‘(iii) The term ‘domestic farm labor’ 

2 has the same meaning given such term in 

3 section 514(f)(3) (42 U.S.C. 1484(f)(3)), 

4 except that subparagraph (A) of such sec5 tion shall not apply for purposes this sec6 tion.’’. 

7 SEC. 231. ELIGIBILITY OF CERTIFIED WORKERS. 

8 Subsection (a) of section 214 of the Housing and 

9 Community Development Act of 1980 (42 U.S.C. 1436a) 

10 is amended— 

11 (1) in paragraph (6), by striking ‘‘or’’ at the 

12 end; 

13 (2) by redesignating paragraph (7) as para14 graph (8); and 

15 (3) by inserting after paragraph (6) the fol16 lowing: 

17 ‘‘(7) an alien granted certified agricultural 

18 worker or certified agricultural dependent status 

19 under title I of the Farm Workforce Modernization 

20 Act of 2019, but solely for financial assistance made 

21 available pursuant to section 521 or 542 of the 

22 Housing Act of 1949 (42 U.S.C. 1490a, 1490r); 

23 or’’. 


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1 Subtitle C—Foreign Labor 

2 Recruiter Accountability 

3 SEC. 251. REGISTRATION OF FOREIGN LABOR RECRUITERS. 

4 (a) IN GENERAL.—Not later than 1 year after the 

5 date of the enactment of this Act, the Secretary of Labor, 

6 in consultation with the Secretary of State and the Sec7 retary of Homeland Security, shall establish procedures 

8 for the electronic registration of foreign labor recruiters 

9 engaged in the recruitment of nonimmigrant workers de10 scribed in section 101(a)(15)(H)(ii)(a) of the Immigration 

11 and Nationality Act (8 U.S.C. 1101(a)(15)(H)(ii)(a)) to 

12 perform agricultural labor or services in the United States. 

13 (b) PROCEDURAL REQUIREMENTS.—The procedures 

14 described in subsection (a) shall— 

15 (1) require the applicant to submit a sworn dec16 laration— 

17 (A) stating the applicant’s permanent 

18 place of residence or principal place of business, 

19 as applicable; 

20 (B) describing the foreign labor recruiting 

21 activities in which the applicant is engaged; and 

22 (C) including such other relevant informa23 tion as the Secretary of Labor and the Sec24 retary of State may require; 


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1 (2) include an expeditious means to update and 

2 renew registrations; 

3 (3) include a process, which shall include the 

4 placement of personnel at each United States diplo5 matic mission in accordance with subsection (g)(2), 

6 to receive information from the public regarding for7 eign labor recruiters who have allegedly engaged in 

8 a foreign labor recruiting activity that is prohibited 

9 under this subtitle; 

10 (4) include procedures for the receipt and proc11 essing of complaints against foreign labor recruiters 

12 and for remedies, including the revocation of a reg13 istration or the assessment of fines upon a deter14 mination by the Secretary of Labor that the foreign 

15 labor recruiter has violated the requirements of this 

16 subtitle; 

17 (5) require the applicant to post a bond in an 

18 amount sufficient to ensure the ability of the appli19 cant to discharge its responsibilities and ensure pro20 tection of workers, including payment of wages; and 

21 (6) allow the Secretary of Labor and the Sec22 retary of State to consult with other appropriate 

23 Federal agencies to determine whether any reason 

24 exists to deny registration to a foreign labor re25 cruiter or revoke such registration. 


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1 (c) ATTESTATIONS.—Foreign labor recruiters reg2 istering under this subtitle shall attest and agree to abide 

3 by the following requirements: 

4 (1) PROHIBITED FEES.—The foreign labor re5 cruiter, including any agent or employee of such for6 eign labor recruiter, shall not assess any recruitment 

7 fees on a worker for any foreign labor recruiting ac8 tivity. 

9 (2) PROHIBITION ON FALSE AND MISLEADING

10 INFORMATION.—The foreign labor recruiter shall not 

11 knowingly provide materially false or misleading in12 formation to any worker concerning any matter re13 quired to be disclosed under this subtitle. 

14 (3) REQUIRED DISCLOSURES.—The foreign 

15 labor recruiter shall ascertain and disclose to the 

16 worker in writing in English and in the primary lan17 guage of the worker at the time of the worker’s re18 cruitment, the following information: 

19 (A) The identity and address of the em20 ployer and the identity and address of the per21 son conducting the recruiting on behalf of the 

22 employer, including each subcontractor or agent 

23 involved in such recruiting. 

24 (B) A copy of the approved job order or 

25 work contract under section 218 of the ImmiVerDate Sep 11 2014 00:13 Nov 08, 2019 Jkt 099200 PO 00000 Frm 00149 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H4916.IH H4916

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1 gration and Nationality Act, including all assur2 ances and terms and conditions of employment. 

3 (C) A statement, in a form specified by the 

4 Secretary— 

5 (i) describing the general terms and 

6 conditions associated with obtaining an H– 

7 2A visa and maintaining H–2A status; 

8 (ii) affirming the prohibition on the 

9 assessment of fees described in paragraph 

10 (1), and explaining that such fees, if paid 

11 by the employer, may not be passed on to 

12 the worker; 

13 (iii) describing the protections af14 forded the worker under this subtitle, in15 cluding procedures for reporting violations 

16 to the Secretary of State, filing a com17 plaint with the Secretary of Labor, or fil18 ing a civil action; and 

19 (iv) describing the protections af20 forded the worker by section 202 of the 

21 William Wilberforce Trafficking Victims 

22 Protection Reauthorization Act of 2008 (8 

23 U.S.C. 1375b), including the telephone 

24 number for the national human trafficking 

25 resource center hotline number. 


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1 (4) BOND.—The foreign labor recruiter shall 

2 agree to post a bond sufficient to ensure the ability 

3 of the foreign labor recruiter to discharge its respon4 sibilities and ensure protection of workers, and to 

5 forfeit such bond in an amount determined by the 

6 Secretary under subsections (b)(1)(C)(ii) or 

7 (c)(2)(C) of section 252 for failure to comply with 

8 the provisions of this subtitle. 

9 (5) COOPERATION IN INVESTIGATION.—The 

10 foreign labor recruiter shall agree to cooperate in 

11 any investigation under section 252 of this subtitle 

12 by the Secretary or other appropriate authorities. 

13 (6) NO RETALIATION.—The foreign labor re14 cruiter shall agree to refrain from intimidating, 

15 threatening, restraining, coercing, discharging, 

16 blacklisting or in any other manner discriminating 

17 or retaliating against any worker or their family 

18 members (including a former worker or an applicant 

19 for employment) because such worker disclosed in20 formation to any person based on a reason to believe 

21 that the foreign labor recruiter, or any agent or sub22 contractee of such foreign labor recruiter, is engag23 ing or has engaged in a foreign labor recruiting ac24 tivity that does not comply with this subtitle. 


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1 (7) EMPLOYEES, AGENTS, AND

2 SUBCONTRACTEES.—The foreign labor recruiter 

3 shall consent to be liable for the conduct of any 

4 agents or subcontractees of any level in relation to 

5 the foreign labor recruiting activity of the agent or 

6 subcontractee to the same extent as if the foreign 

7 labor recruiter had engaged in such conduct. 

8 (8) ENFORCEMENT.—If the foreign labor re9 cruiter is conducting foreign labor recruiting activity 

10 wholly outside the United States, such foreign labor 

11 recruiter shall establish a registered agent in the 

12 United States who is authorized to accept service of 

13 process on behalf of the foreign labor recruiter for 

14 the purpose of any administrative proceeding under 

15 this title or any Federal court civil action, if such 

16 service is made in accordance with the appropriate 

17 Federal rules for service of process. 

18 (d) TERM OF REGISTRATION.—Unless suspended or 

19 revoked, a registration under this section shall be valid 

20 for 2 years. 

21 (e) APPLICATION FEE.—The Secretary shall require 

22 a foreign labor recruiter that submits an application for 

23 registration under this section to pay a reasonable fee, suf24 ficient to cover the full costs of carrying out the registra25 tion activities under this subtitle. 


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1 (f) NOTIFICATION.— 

2 (1) EMPLOYER NOTIFICATION.— 

3 (A) IN GENERAL.—Not less frequently 

4 than once every year, an employer of H–2A 

5 workers shall provide the Secretary with the 

6 names and addresses of all foreign labor re7 cruiters engaged to perform foreign labor re8 cruiting activity on behalf of the employer, 

9 whether the foreign labor recruiter is to receive 

10 any economic compensation for such services, 

11 and, if so, the identity of the person or entity 

12 who is paying for the services. 

13 (B) AGREEMENT TO COOPERATE.—In ad14 dition to the requirements of subparagraph (A), 

15 the employer shall— 

16 (i) provide to the Secretary the iden17 tity of any foreign labor recruiter whom 

18 the employer has reason to believe is en19 gaging in foreign labor recruiting activities 

20 that do not comply with this subtitle; and 

21 (ii) promptly respond to any request 

22 by the Secretary for information regarding 

23 the identity of a foreign labor recruiter 

24 with whom the employer has a contract or 

25 other agreement. 


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1 (2) FOREIGN LABOR RECRUITER NOTIFICA2 TION.—A registered foreign labor recruiter shall no3 tify the Secretary, not less frequently than once 

4 every year, of the identity of any subcontractee, 

5 agent, or foreign labor recruiter employee involved in 

6 any foreign labor recruiting activity for, or on behalf 

7 of, the foreign labor recruiter. 

8 (g) ADDITIONAL RESPONSIBILITIES OF THE SEC9 RETARY OF STATE.— 

10 (1) LISTS.—The Secretary of State, in con11 sultation with the Secretary of Labor shall maintain 

12 and make publicly available in written form and on 

13 the websites of United States embassies in the offi14 cial language of that country, and on websites main15 tained by the Secretary of Labor, regularly updated 

16 lists— 

17 (A) of foreign labor recruiters who hold 

18 valid registrations under this section, includ19 ing— 

20 (i) the name and address of the for21 eign labor recruiter; 

22 (ii) the countries in which such re23 cruiters conduct recruitment; 

24 (iii) the employers for whom recruit25 ing is conducted; 


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1 (iv) the occupations that are the sub2 ject of recruitment; 

3 (v) the States where recruited workers 

4 are employed; and 

5 (vi) the name and address of the reg6 istered agent in the United States who is 

7 authorized to accept service of process on 

8 behalf of the foreign labor recruiter; and 

9 (B) of foreign labor recruiters whose reg10 istration the Secretary has revoked. 

11 (2) PERSONNEL.—The Secretary of State shall 

12 ensure that each United States diplomatic mission is 

13 staffed with a person who shall be responsible for re14 ceiving information from members of the public re15 garding potential violations of the requirements ap16 plicable to registered foreign labor recruiters and en17 suring that such information is conveyed to the Sec18 retary of Labor for evaluation and initiation of an 

19 enforcement action, if appropriate. 

20 (3) VISA APPLICATION PROCEDURES.—The Sec21 retary shall ensure that consular officers issuing 

22 visas to nonimmigrants under section 

23 101(a)(1)(H)(ii)(a) of the Immigration and Nation24 ality Act (8 U.S.C. 11001(a)(1)(H)(ii)(a))— 


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1 (A) provide to and review with the appli2 cant, in the applicant’s language (or a language 

3 the applicant understands), a copy of the infor4 mation and resources pamphlet required by sec5 tion 202 of the William Wilberforce Trafficking 

6 Victims Protection Reauthorization Act of 2008 

7 (8 U.S.C. 1375b); 

8 (B) ensure that the applicant has a copy of 

9 the approved job offer or work contract; 

10 (C) note in the visa application file wheth11 er the foreign labor recruiter has a valid reg12 istration under this section; and 

13 (D) if the foreign labor recruiter holds a 

14 valid registration, review and include in the visa 

15 application file, the foreign labor recruiter’s dis16 closures required by subsection (c)(3). 

17 (4) DATA.—The Secretary of State shall make 

18 publicly available online, on an annual basis, data 

19 disclosing the gender, country of origin (and State, 

20 county, or province, if available), age, wage, level of 

21 training, and occupational classification, disaggre22 gated by State, of nonimmigrant workers described 

23 in section 101(a)(15)(H)(ii)(a) of the Immigration 

24 and Nationality Act. 


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1 SEC. 252. ENFORCEMENT. 

2 (a) DENIAL OR REVOCATION OF REGISTRATION.— 

3 (1) GROUNDS FOR DENIAL OR REVOCATION.— 

4 The Secretary shall deny an application for registra5 tion, or revoke a registration, if the Secretary deter6 mines that the foreign labor recruiter, or any agent 

7 or subcontractee of such foreign labor recruiter— 

8 (A) knowingly made a material misrepre9 sentation in the registration application; 

10 (B) materially failed to comply with one or 

11 more of the attestations provided under section 

12 251(c); or 

13 (C) is not the real party in interest. 

14 (2) NOTICE.—Prior to denying an application 

15 for registration or revoking a registration under this 

16 subsection, the Secretary shall provide written notice 

17 of the intent to deny or revoke the registration to 

18 the foreign labor recruiter. Such notice shall— 

19 (A) articulate with specificity all grounds 

20 for denial or revocation; and 

21 (B) provide the foreign labor recruiter with 

22 not less than 60 days to respond. 

23 (3) RE-REGISTRATION.—A foreign labor re24 cruiter whose registration was revoked under sub25 section (a) may re-register if the foreign labor re26 cruiter demonstrates to the Secretary’s satisfaction 


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1 that the foreign labor recruiter has not violated this 

2 subtitle in the 5 years preceding the date an applica3 tion for registration is filed and has taken sufficient 

4 steps to prevent future violations of this subtitle. 

5 (b) ADMINISTRATIVE ENFORCEMENT.— 

6 (1) COMPLAINT PROCESS.— 

7 (A) FILING.—A complaint may be filed 

8 with the Secretary of Labor, in accordance with 

9 the procedures established under section 

10 251(b)(4) not later than 2 years after the ear11 lier of— 

12 (i) the date of the last action which 

13 constituted the conduct that is the subject 

14 of the complaint took place; or 

15 (ii) the date on which the aggrieved 

16 party had actual knowledge of such con17 duct. 

18 (B) DECISION AND PENALTIES.—If the 

19 Secretary of Labor finds, after notice and an 

20 opportunity for a hearing, that a foreign labor 

21 recruiter failed to comply with any of the re22 quirements of this subtitle, the Secretary of 

23 Labor may— 


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1 (i) levy a fine against the foreign 

2 labor recruiter in an amount not more 

3 than— 

4 (I) $10,000 per violation; and 

5 (II) $25,000 per violation, upon 

6 the third violation; 

7 (ii) order the forfeiture of bond and 

8 release of as much of the bond as the Sec9 retary determines is necessary for the 

10 worker to recover prohibited recruitment 

11 fees; 

12 (iii) refuse to issue or renew a reg13 istration, or revoke a registration; or 

14 (iv) disqualify the foreign labor re15 cruiter from registration for a period of up 

16 to 5 years, or in the case of a subsequent 

17 finding involving willful or multiple mate18 rial violations, permanently disqualify the 

19 foreign labor recruiter from registration. 

20 (2) AUTHORITY TO ENSURE COMPLIANCE.—The 

21 Secretary of Labor is authorized to take other such 

22 actions, including issuing subpoenas and seeking ap23 propriate injunctive relief, as may be necessary to 

24 assure compliance with the terms and conditions of 

25 this subtitle. 


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1 (3) STATUTORY CONSTRUCTION.—Nothing in 

2 this subsection may be construed as limiting the au3 thority of the Secretary of Labor to conduct an in4 vestigation— 

5 (A) under any other law, including any law 

6 affecting migrant and seasonal agricultural 

7 workers; or 

8 (B) in the absence of a complaint. 

9 (c) CIVIL ACTION.— 

10 (1) IN GENERAL.—The Secretary of Labor or 

11 any person aggrieved by a violation of this subtitle 

12 may bring a civil action against any foreign labor re13 cruiter, or any employer that does not meet the re14 quirements under subsection (d)(1), in any court of 

15 competent jurisdiction— 

16 (A) to seek remedial action, including in17 junctive relief; and 

18 (B) for damages in accordance with the 

19 provisions of this subsection. 

20 (2) AWARD FOR CIVIL ACTION FILED BY AN IN21 DIVIDUAL.— 

22 (A) IN GENERAL.—If the court finds in a 

23 civil action filed by an individual under this sec24 tion that the defendant has violated any provi25 sion of this subtitle, the court may award— 


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1 (i) damages, up to and including an 

2 amount equal to the amount of actual 

3 damages, and statutory damages of up to 

4 $1,000 per plaintiff per violation, or other 

5 equitable relief, except that with respect to 

6 statutory damages— 

7 (I) multiple infractions of a sin8 gle provision of this subtitle (or of a 

9 regulation under this subtitle) shall 

10 constitute only 1 violation for pur11 poses of this subsection to determine 

12 the amount of statutory damages due 

13 a plaintiff; and 

14 (II) if such complaint is certified 

15 as a class action the court may 

16 award— 

17 (aa) damages up to an 

18 amount equal to the amount of 

19 actual damages; and 

20 (bb) statutory damages of 

21 not more than the lesser of up to 

22 $1,000 per class member per vio23 lation, or up to $500,000; and 

24 other equitable relief; 


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1 (ii) reasonable attorneys’ fees and 

2 costs; and 

3 (iii) such other and further relief as 

4 necessary to effectuate the purposes of this 

5 subtitle. 

6 (B) CRITERIA.—In determining the 

7 amount of statutory damages to be awarded 

8 under subparagraph (A), the court is author9 ized to consider whether an attempt was made 

10 to resolve the issues in dispute before the resort 

11 to litigation. 

12 (C) BOND.—To satisfy the damages, fees, 

13 and costs found owing under this paragraph, 

14 the Secretary shall release as much of the bond 

15 held pursuant to section 251(c)(4) as necessary. 

16 (3) SUMS RECOVERED IN ACTIONS BY THE SEC17 RETARY OF LABOR.— 

18 (A) ESTABLISHMENT OF ACCOUNT.— 

19 There is established in the general fund of the 

20 Treasury a separate account, which shall be 

21 known as the ‘‘H–2A Foreign Labor Recruiter 

22 Compensation Account’’. Notwithstanding any 

23 other provisions of law, there shall be deposited 

24 as offsetting receipts into the account, all sums 


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1 recovered in an action by the Secretary of 

2 Labor under this subsection. 

3 (B) USE OF FUNDS.—Amounts deposited 

4 into the H–2A Foreign Labor Recruiter Com5 pensation Account and shall be paid directly to 

6 each worker affected. Any such sums not paid 

7 to a worker because of inability to do so within 

8 a period of 5 years following the date such 

9 funds are deposited into the account shall re10 main available to the Secretary until expended. 

11 The Secretary may transfer all or a portion of 

12 such remaining sums to appropriate agencies to 

13 support the enforcement of the laws prohibiting 

14 the trafficking and exploitation of persons or 

15 programs that aid trafficking victims. 

16 (d) EMPLOYER SAFE HARBOR.— 

17 (1) IN GENERAL.—An employer that hires 

18 workers referred by a foreign labor recruiter with a 

19 valid registration at the time of hiring shall not be 

20 held jointly liable for a violation committed solely by 

21 a foreign labor recruiter under this subtitle— 

22 (A) in any administrative action initiated 

23 by the Secretary concerning such violation; or 

24 (B) in any Federal or State civil court ac25 tion filed against the foreign labor recruiter by 


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1 or on behalf of such workers or other aggrieved 

2 party under this subtitle. 

3 (2) CLARIFICATION.—Nothing in this subtitle 

4 shall be construed to prohibit an aggrieved party or 

5 parties from bringing a civil action for violations of 

6 this subtitle or any other Federal or State law 

7 against any employer who hired workers referred by 

8 a foreign labor recruiter— 

9 (A) without a valid registration at the time 

10 of hire; or 

11 (B) with a valid registration if the em12 ployer knew or learned of the violation and 

13 failed to report such violation to the Secretary. 

14 (e) PAROLE TO PURSUE RELIEF.—If other immigra15 tion relief is not available, the Secretary of Homeland Se16 curity may grant parole to permit an individual to remain 

17 legally in the United States for time sufficient to fully and 

18 effectively participate in all legal proceedings related to 

19 any action taken pursuant to subsection (b) or (c). 

20 (f) WAIVER OF RIGHTS.—Agreements by employees 

21 purporting to waive or to modify their rights under this 

22 subtitle shall be void as contrary to public policy. 

23 (g) LIABILITY FOR AGENTS.—Foreign labor recruit24 ers shall be subject to the provisions of this section for 

25 violations committed by the foreign labor recruiter’s 


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1 agents or subcontractees of any level in relation to their 

2 foreign labor recruiting activity to the same extent as if 

3 the foreign labor recruiter had committed the violation. 

4 SEC. 253. APPROPRIATIONS. 

5 There is authorized to be appropriated such sums as 

6 may be necessary for the Secretary of Labor and Secretary 

7 of State to carry out the provisions of this subtitle. 

8 SEC. 254. DEFINITIONS. 

9 For purposes of this subtitle: 

10 (1) FOREIGN LABOR RECRUITER.—The term 

11 ‘‘foreign labor recruiter’’ means any person who per12 forms foreign labor recruiting activity in exchange 

13 for money or other valuable consideration paid or 

14 promised to be paid, to recruit individuals to work 

15 as nonimmigrant workers described in section 

16 101(a)(15)(H)(ii)(a) of the Immigration and Nation17 ality Act (8 U.S.C. 1101(a)(15)(H)(ii)(a)), including 

18 any person who performs foreign labor recruiting ac19 tivity wholly outside of the United States. Such term 

20 does not include any entity of the United States 

21 Government or an employer, or employee of an em22 ployer, who engages in foreign labor recruiting activ23 ity solely to find employees for that employer’s own 

24 use, and without the participation of any other for25 eign labor recruiter. 


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1 (2) FOREIGN LABOR RECRUITING ACTIVITY.— 

2 The term ‘‘foreign labor recruiting activity’’ means 

3 recruiting, soliciting, or related activities with re4 spect to an individual who resides outside of the 

5 United States in furtherance of employment in the 

6 United States, including when such activity occurs 

7 wholly outside of the United States. 

8 (3) RECRUITMENT FEES.—The term ‘‘recruit9 ment fees’’ has the meaning given to such term 

10 under section 22.1702 of title 22 of the Code of 

11 Federal Regulations, as in effect on the date of en12 actment of this Act. 

13 (4) PERSON.—The term ‘‘person’’ means any 

14 natural person or any corporation, company, firm, 

15 partnership, joint stock company or association or 

16 other organization or entity (whether organized 

17 under law or not), including municipal corporations. 

18 TITLE III—ELECTRONIC VERIFI19 CATION OF EMPLOYMENT 

20 ELIGIBILITY 

21 SEC. 301. ELECTRONIC EMPLOYMENT ELIGIBILITY VERIFI22 CATION SYSTEM. 

23 (a) IN GENERAL.—Chapter 8 of title II of the Immi24 gration and Nationality Act (8 U.S.C. 1321 et seq.) is 

25 amended by inserting after section 274D the following: 


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1 ‘‘SEC. 274E. REQUIREMENTS FOR THE ELECTRONIC VERIFI2 CATION OF EMPLOYMENT ELIGIBILITY. 

3 ‘‘(a) EMPLOYMENT ELIGIBILITY VERIFICATION SYS4 TEM.— 

5 ‘‘(1) IN GENERAL.—The Secretary of Homeland 

6 Security (referred to in this section as the ‘Sec7 retary’) shall establish and administer an electronic 

8 verification system (referred to in this section as the 

9 ‘System’), patterned on the E-Verify Program de10 scribed in section 403(a) of the Illegal Immigration 

11 Reform and Immigrant Responsibility Act of 1996 

12 (8 U.S.C. 1324a note) (as in effect on the day be13 fore the effective date described in section 303(a)(4) 

14 of the Farm Workforce Modernization Act of 2019), 

15 and using the employment eligibility confirmation 

16 system established under section 404 of such Act (8 

17 U.S.C. 1324a note) (as so in effect) as a foundation, 

18 through which the Secretary shall— 

19 ‘‘(A) respond to inquiries made by persons 

20 or entities seeking to verify the identify and em21 ployment authorization of individuals that such 

22 persons or entities seek to hire, or to recruit or 

23 refer for a fee, for employment in the United 

24 States; and 

25 ‘‘(B) maintain records of the inquiries that 

26 were made, and of verifications provided (or not 


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1 provided) to such persons or entities as evidence 

2 of compliance with the requirements of this sec3 tion. 

4 ‘‘(2) INITIAL RESPONSE DEADLINE.—The Sys5 tem shall provide confirmation or a tentative non6 confirmation of an individual’s identity and employ7 ment authorization as soon as practicable, but not 

8 later than 3 calendar days after the initial inquiry. 

9 ‘‘(3) GENERAL DESIGN AND OPERATION OF

10 SYSTEM.—The Secretary shall design and operate 

11 the System— 

12 ‘‘(A) using responsive web design and 

13 other technologies to maximize its ease of use 

14 and accessibility for users on a variety of elec15 tronic devices and screen sizes, and in remote 

16 locations; 

17 ‘‘(B) to maximize the accuracy of re18 sponses to inquiries submitted by persons or en19 tities; 

20 ‘‘(C) to maximize the reliability of the Sys21 tem and to register each instance when the Sys22 tem is unable to receive inquiries; 

23 ‘‘(D) to protect the privacy and security of 

24 the personally identifiable information main25 tained by or submitted to the System; 


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1 ‘‘(E) to provide direct notification of an in2 quiry to an individual with respect to whom the 

3 inquiry is made, including the results of such 

4 inquiry, and information related to the process 

5 for challenging the results; and 

6 ‘‘(F) to maintain appropriate administra7 tive, technical, and physical safeguards to pre8 vent misuse of the System and unfair immigra9 tion-related employment practices. 

10 ‘‘(4) MEASURES TO PREVENT IDENTITY THEFT

11 AND OTHER FORMS OF FRAUD.—To prevent identity 

12 theft and other forms of fraud, the Secretary shall 

13 design and operate the System with the following at14 tributes: 

15 ‘‘(A) PHOTO MATCHING TOOL.—The Sys16 tem shall display the digital photograph of the 

17 individual, if any, that corresponds to the docu18 ment presented by an individual to establish 

19 identity and employment authorization so that 

20 the person or entity that makes an inquiry can 

21 compare the photograph displayed by the Sys22 tem to the photograph on the document pre23 sented by the individual. 

24 ‘‘(B) INDIVIDUAL MONITORING AND SUS25 PENSION OF IDENTIFYING INFORMATION.—The 


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1 System shall enable individuals to establish user 

2 accounts, after authentication of an individual’s 

3 identity, that would allow an individual to— 

4 ‘‘(i) confirm the individual’s own em5 ployment authorization; 

6 ‘‘(ii) receive electronic notification 

7 when the individual’s social security ac8 count number or other personally identi9 fying information has been submitted to 

10 the System; 

11 ‘‘(iii) monitor the use history of the 

12 individual’s personally identifying informa13 tion in the System, including the identities 

14 of all persons or entities that have sub15 mitted such identifying information to the 

16 System, the date of each query run, and 

17 the System response for each query run; 

18 ‘‘(iv) suspend or limit the use of the 

19 individual’s social security account number 

20 or other personally identifying information 

21 for purposes of the System; and 

22 ‘‘(v) provide notice to the Department 

23 of Homeland Security of any suspected 

24 identity fraud or other improper use of 

25 personally identifying information. 


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1 ‘‘(C) BLOCKING MISUSED SOCIAL SECU2 RITY ACCOUNT NUMBERS.— 

3 ‘‘(i) IN GENERAL.—The Secretary, in 

4 consultation with the Commissioner of So5 cial Security (referred to in this section as 

6 the ‘Commissioner’), shall develop, after 

7 publication in the Federal Register and an 

8 opportunity for public comment, a process 

9 in which social security account numbers 

10 that have been identified to be subject to 

11 unusual multiple use in the System or that 

12 are otherwise suspected or determined to 

13 have been compromised by identity fraud 

14 or other misuse, shall be blocked from use 

15 in the System unless the individual using 

16 such number is able to establish, through 

17 secure and fair procedures, that the indi18 vidual is the legitimate holder of the num19 ber. 

20 ‘‘(ii) NOTICE.—If the Secretary blocks 

21 or suspends a social security account num22 ber under this subparagraph, the Secretary 

23 shall provide notice to the persons or enti24 ties that have made inquiries to the Sys25 tem using such account number that the 


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1 identity and employment authorization of 

2 the individual who provided such account 

3 number must be re-verified. 

4 ‘‘(D) ADDITIONAL IDENTITY AUTHENTICA5 TION TOOL.—The Secretary shall develop, after 

6 publication in the Federal Register and an op7 portunity for public comment, additional secu8 rity measures to adequately verify the identity 

9 of an individual whose identity may not be 

10 verified using the photo tool described in sub11 paragraph (A). Such additional security meas12 ures— 

13 ‘‘(i) shall be kept up-to-date with 

14 technological advances; and 

15 ‘‘(ii) shall be designed to provide a 

16 high level of certainty with respect to iden17 tity authentication. 

18 ‘‘(E) CHILD-LOCK PILOT PROGRAM.—The 

19 Secretary, in consultation with the Commis20 sioner, shall establish a reliable, secure program 

21 through which parents or legal guardians may 

22 suspend or limit the use of the social security 

23 account number or other personally identifying 

24 information of a minor under their care for 

25 purposes of the System. The Secretary may imVerDate Sep 11 2014 00:13 Nov 08, 2019 Jkt 099200 PO 00000 Frm 00172 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H4916.IH H4916

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1 plement the program on a limited pilot basis be2 fore making it fully available to all individuals. 

3 ‘‘(5) RESPONSIBILITIES OF THE COMMISSIONER

4 OF SOCIAL SECURITY.—The Commissioner, in con5 sultation with the Secretary, shall establish a reli6 able, secure method, which, within the time periods 

7 specified in paragraph (2) and subsection 

8 (b)(4)(D)(i)(II), compares the name and social secu9 rity account number provided in an inquiry against 

10 such information maintained by the Commissioner in 

11 order to validate (or not validate) the information 

12 provided by the person or entity with respect to an 

13 individual whose identity and employment authoriza14 tion the person or entity seeks to confirm, the cor15 respondence of the name and number, and whether 

16 the individual has presented a social security ac17 count number that is not valid for employment. The 

18 Commissioner shall not disclose or release social se19 curity information (other than such confirmation or 

20 nonconfirmation) under the System except as pro21 vided under this section or section 205(c)(2)(I) of 

22 the Social Security Act (42 U.S.C. 405). 

23 ‘‘(6) RESPONSIBILITIES OF THE SECRETARY OF

24 HOMELAND SECURITY.— 


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1 ‘‘(A) IN GENERAL.—The Secretary of 

2 Homeland Security shall establish a reliable, se3 cure method, which, within the time periods 

4 specified in paragraph (2) and subsection 

5 (b)(4)(D)(i)(II), compares the name and identi6 fication or other authorization number (or any 

7 other information determined relevant by the 

8 Secretary) which are provided in an inquiry 

9 against such information maintained or 

10 accessed by the Secretary in order to validate 

11 (or not validate) the information provided, the 

12 correspondence of the name and number, and 

13 whether the individual is authorized to be em14 ployed in the United States. 

15 ‘‘(B) TRAINING.—The Secretary shall pro16 vide and regularly update training materials on 

17 the use of the System for persons and entities 

18 making inquiries. 

19 ‘‘(C) AUDIT.—The Secretary shall provide 

20 for periodic auditing of the System to detect 

21 and prevent misuse, discrimination, fraud, and 

22 identity theft, to protect privacy and assess 

23 System accuracy, and to preserve the integrity 

24 and security of the information in the System. 


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1 ‘‘(D) NOTICE OF SYSTEM CHANGES.—The 

2 Secretary shall provide appropriate notification 

3 to persons and entities registered in the System 

4 of any change made by the Secretary or the 

5 Commissioner related to permitted and prohib6 ited documents, and use of the System. 

7 ‘‘(7) RESPONSIBILITIES OF THE SECRETARY OF

8 STATE.—As part of the System, the Secretary of 

9 State shall provide to the Secretary of Homeland Se10 curity access to passport and visa information as 

11 needed to confirm that a passport or passport card 

12 presented under subsection (b)(3)(A)(i) confirms the 

13 employment authorization and identity of the indi14 vidual presenting such document, and that a pass15 port, passport card, or visa photograph matches the 

16 Secretary of State’s records, and shall provide such 

17 assistance as the Secretary of Homeland Security 

18 may request in order to resolve tentative noncon19 firmations or final nonconfirmations relating to such 

20 information. 

21 ‘‘(8) UPDATING INFORMATION.—The Commis22 sioner, the Secretary of Homeland Security, and the 

23 Secretary of State shall update records in their cus24 tody in a manner that promotes maximum accuracy 

25 of the System and shall provide a process for the 


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1 prompt correction of erroneous information, includ2 ing instances in which it is brought to their atten3 tion through the secondary verification process 

4 under subsection (b)(4)(D). 

5 ‘‘(9) MANDATORY AND VOLUNTARY SYSTEM

6 USES.— 

7 ‘‘(A) MANDATORY USERS.—Except as oth8 erwise provided under Federal or State law, 

9 such as sections 302 and 303 of the Farm 

10 Workforce Modernization Act of 2019, nothing 

11 in this section shall be construed as requiring 

12 the use of the System by any person or entity 

13 hiring, recruiting, or referring for a fee, an in14 dividual for employment in the United States. 

15 ‘‘(B) VOLUNTARY USERS.—Beginning 

16 after the date that is 30 days after the date on 

17 which final rules are published under section 

18 309(a) of the Farm Workforce Modernization 

19 Act of 2019, a person or entity may use the 

20 System on a voluntary basis to seek verification 

21 of the identity and employment authorization of 

22 individuals the person or entity is hiring, re23 cruiting, or referring for a fee for employment 

24 in the United States. 


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1 ‘‘(C) PROCESS FOR NON-USERS.—The em2 ployment verification process for any person or 

3 entity hiring, recruiting, or referring for a fee, 

4 an individual for employment in the United 

5 States shall be governed by section 274A(b) un6 less the person or entity— 

7 ‘‘(i) is required by Federal or State 

8 law to use the System; or 

9 ‘‘(ii) has opted to use the System vol10 untarily in accordance with subparagraph 

11 (B). 

12 ‘‘(10) NO FEE FOR USE.—The Secretary may 

13 not charge a fee to an individual, person, or entity 

14 related to the use of the System. 

15 ‘‘(b) NEW HIRES, RECRUITMENT, AND REFERRAL.— 

16 Notwithstanding section 274A(b), the requirements re17 ferred to in paragraphs (1)(B) and (3) of section 274A(a) 

18 are, in the case of a person or entity that uses the System 

19 for the hiring, recruiting, or referring for a fee, an indi20 vidual for employment in the United States, the following: 

21 ‘‘(1) INDIVIDUAL ATTESTATION OF EMPLOY22 MENT AUTHORIZATION.—During the period begin23 ning on the date on which an offer of employment 

24 is accepted and ending on the date of hire, the indi25 vidual shall attest, under penalty of perjury on a 


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1 form designated by the Secretary, that the individual 

2 is authorized to be employed in the United States by 

3 providing on such form— 

4 ‘‘(A) the individual’s name and date of 

5 birth; 

6 ‘‘(B) the individual’s social security ac7 count number (unless the individual has applied 

8 for and not yet been issued such a number); 

9 ‘‘(C) whether the individual is— 

10 ‘‘(i) a citizen or national of the United 

11 States; 

12 ‘‘(ii) an alien lawfully admitted for 

13 permanent residence; or 

14 ‘‘(iii) an alien who is otherwise au15 thorized by the Secretary to be hired, re16 cruited, or referred for employment in the 

17 United States; and 

18 ‘‘(D) if the individual does not attest to 

19 United States citizenship or nationality, such 

20 identification or other authorization number es21 tablished by the Department of Homeland Se22 curity for the alien as the Secretary may speci23 fy. 

24 ‘‘(2) EMPLOYER ATTESTATION AFTER EXAM25 INATION OF DOCUMENTS.— 


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1 ‘‘(A) ATTESTATION.—Not later than 3 

2 business days after the date of hire, the person 

3 or entity shall attest, under penalty of perjury 

4 on the form designated by the Secretary for 

5 purposes of paragraph (1), that it has verified 

6 that the individual is not an unauthorized alien 

7 by— 

8 ‘‘(i) obtaining from the individual the 

9 information described in paragraph (1) 

10 and recording such information on the 

11 form; 

12 ‘‘(ii) examining— 

13 ‘‘(I) a document described in 

14 paragraph (3)(A); or 

15 ‘‘(II) a document described in 

16 paragraph (3)(B) and a document de17 scribed in paragraph (3)(C); and 

18 ‘‘(iii) attesting that the information 

19 recorded on the form is consistent with the 

20 documents examined. 

21 ‘‘(3) ACCEPTABLE DOCUMENTS.— 

22 ‘‘(A) DOCUMENTS ESTABLISHING EMPLOY23 MENT AUTHORIZATION AND IDENTITY.—A doc24 ument described in this subparagraph is an in25 dividual’s— 


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1 ‘‘(i) United States passport or pass2 port card; 

3 ‘‘(ii) permanent resident card that 

4 contains a photograph; 

5 ‘‘(iii) foreign passport containing tem6 porary evidence of lawful permanent resi7 dence in the form of an official I–551 (or 

8 successor) stamp from the Department of 

9 Homeland Security or a printed notation 

10 on a machine-readable immigrant visa; 

11 ‘‘(iv) unexpired employment author12 ization card that contains a photograph; 

13 ‘‘(v) in the case of a nonimmigrant 

14 alien authorized to engage in employment 

15 for a specific employer incident to status, 

16 a foreign passport with Form I–94, Form 

17 I–94A, or other documentation as des18 ignated by the Secretary specifying the 

19 alien’s nonimmigrant status as long as 

20 such status has not yet expired and the 

21 proposed employment is not in conflict 

22 with any restrictions or limitations identi23 fied in the documentation; 

24 ‘‘(vi) passport from the Federated 

25 States of Micronesia or the Republic of the 


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1 Marshall Islands with Form I–94, Form I– 

2 94A, or other documentation as designated 

3 by the Secretary, indicating nonimmigrant 

4 admission under the Compact of Free As5 sociation Between the United States and 

6 the Federated States of Micronesia or the 

7 Republic of the Marshall Islands; or 

8 ‘‘(vii) other document designated by 

9 the Secretary, by notice published in the 

10 Federal Register, if the document— 

11 ‘‘(I) contains a photograph of the 

12 individual, biometric identification 

13 data, and other personal identifying 

14 information relating to the individual; 

15 ‘‘(II) is evidence of authorization 

16 for employment in the United States; 

17 and 

18 ‘‘(III) contains security features 

19 to make it resistant to tampering, 

20 counterfeiting, and fraudulent use. 

21 ‘‘(B) DOCUMENTS ESTABLISHING EMPLOY22 MENT AUTHORIZATION.—A document described 

23 in this subparagraph is— 

24 ‘‘(i) an individual’s social security ac25 count number card (other than such a card 


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1 which specifies on the face that the 

2 issuance of the card does not authorize em3 ployment in the United States); or 

4 ‘‘(ii) a document establishing employ5 ment authorization that the Secretary de6 termines, by notice published in the Fed7 eral Register, to be acceptable for purposes 

8 of this subparagraph, provided that such 

9 documentation contains security features 

10 to make it resistant to tampering, counter11 feiting, and fraudulent use. 

12 ‘‘(C) DOCUMENTS ESTABLISHING IDEN13 TITY.—A document described in this subpara14 graph is— 

15 ‘‘(i) an individual’s driver’s license or 

16 identification card if it was issued by a 

17 State or one of the outlying possessions of 

18 the United States and contains a photo19 graph and personal identifying information 

20 relating to the individual; 

21 ‘‘(ii) an individual’s unexpired United 

22 States military identification card; 

23 ‘‘(iii) an individual’s unexpired Native 

24 American tribal identification document 


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1 issued by a tribal entity recognized by the 

2 Bureau of Indian Affairs; 

3 ‘‘(iv) in the case of an individual 

4 under 18 years of age, a parent or legal 

5 guardian’s attestation under penalty of law 

6 as to the identity and age of the individual; 

7 or 

8 ‘‘(v) a document establishing identity 

9 that the Secretary determines, by notice 

10 published in the Federal Register, to be ac11 ceptable for purposes of this subparagraph, 

12 if such documentation contains a photo13 graph of the individual, biometric identi14 fication data, and other personal identi15 fying information relating to the indi16 vidual, and security features to make it re17 sistant to tampering, counterfeiting, and 

18 fraudulent use. 

19 ‘‘(D) AUTHORITY TO PROHIBIT USE OF

20 CERTAIN DOCUMENTS.—If the Secretary finds 

21 that any document or class of documents de22 scribed in subparagraph (A), (B), or (C) does 

23 not reliably establish identity or employment 

24 authorization or is being used fraudulently to 

25 an unacceptable degree, the Secretary may, by 


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1 notice published in the Federal Register, pro2 hibit or place conditions on the use of such doc3 ument or class of documents for purposes of 

4 this section. 

5 ‘‘(4) USE OF THE SYSTEM TO SCREEN IDEN6 TITY AND EMPLOYMENT AUTHORIZATION.— 

7 ‘‘(A) IN GENERAL.—In the case of a per8 son or entity that uses the System for the hir9 ing, recruiting, or referring for a fee an indi10 vidual for employment in the United States, 

11 during the period described in subparagraph 

12 (B), the person or entity shall submit an in13 quiry through the System described in sub14 section (a) to seek verification of the identity 

15 and employment authorization of the individual. 

16 ‘‘(B) VERIFICATION PERIOD.— 

17 ‘‘(i) IN GENERAL.—Except as pro18 vided in clause (ii), and subject to sub19 section (d), the verification period shall 

20 begin on the date of hire and end on the 

21 date that is 3 business days after the date 

22 of hire, or such other reasonable period as 

23 the Secretary may prescribe. 

24 ‘‘(ii) SPECIAL RULE.—In the case of 

25 an alien who is authorized to be employed 


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1 in the United States and who provides evi2 dence from the Social Security Administra3 tion that the alien has applied for a social 

4 security account number, the verification 

5 period shall end 3 business days after the 

6 alien receives the social security account 

7 number. 

8 ‘‘(C) CONFIRMATION.—If a person or enti9 ty receives confirmation of an individual’s iden10 tity and employment authorization, the person 

11 or entity shall record such confirmation on the 

12 form designated by the Secretary for purposes 

13 of paragraph (1). 

14 ‘‘(D) TENTATIVE NONCONFIRMATION.— 

15 ‘‘(i) IN GENERAL.—In cases of ten16 tative nonconfirmation, the Secretary shall 

17 provide, in consultation with the Commis18 sioner, a process for— 

19 ‘‘(I) an individual to contest the 

20 tentative nonconfirmation not later 

21 than 10 business days after the date 

22 of the receipt of the notice described 

23 in clause (ii); and 

24 ‘‘(II) the Secretary to issue a 

25 confirmation or final nonconfirmation 


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1 of an individual’s identity and employ2 ment authorization not later than 30 

3 calendar days after the Secretary re4 ceives notice from the individual con5 testing a tentative nonconfirmation. 

6 ‘‘(ii) NOTICE.—If a person or entity 

7 receives a tentative nonconfirmation of an 

8 individual’s identity or employment author9 ization, the person or entity shall, not later 

10 than 3 business days after receipt, notify 

11 such individual in writing in a language 

12 understood by the individual and on a form 

13 designated by the Secretary, that shall in14 clude a description of the individual’s right 

15 to contest the tentative nonconfirmation. 

16 The person or entity shall attest, under 

17 penalty of perjury, that the person or enti18 ty provided (or attempted to provide) such 

19 notice to the individual, and the individual 

20 shall acknowledge receipt of such notice in 

21 a manner specified by the Secretary. 

22 ‘‘(iii) NO CONTEST.— 

23 ‘‘(I) IN GENERAL.—A tentative 

24 nonconfirmation shall become final if, 


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1 upon receiving the notice described in 

2 clause (ii), the individual— 

3 ‘‘(aa) refuses to acknowledge 

4 receipt of such notice; 

5 ‘‘(bb) acknowledges in writ6 ing, in a manner specified by the 

7 Secretary, that the individual will 

8 not contest the tentative noncon9 firmation; or 

10 ‘‘(cc) fails to contest the 

11 tentative nonconfirmation within 

12 the 10-business-day period begin13 ning on the date the individual 

14 received such notice. 

15 ‘‘(II) RECORD OF NO CON16 TEST.—The person or entity shall in17 dicate in the System that the indi18 vidual did not contest the tentative 

19 nonconfirmation and shall specify the 

20 reason the tentative nonconfirmation 

21 became final under subclause (I). 

22 ‘‘(III) EFFECT OF FAILURE TO

23 CONTEST.—An individual’s failure to 

24 contest a tentative nonconfirmation 

25 shall not be considered an admission 


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1 of any fact with respect to any viola2 tion of this Act or any other provision 

3 of law. 

4 ‘‘(iv) CONTEST.— 

5 ‘‘(I) IN GENERAL.—An individual 

6 may contest a tentative nonconfirma7 tion by using the process for sec8 ondary verification under clause (i), 

9 not later than 10 business days after 

10 receiving the notice described in 

11 clause (ii). Except as provided in 

12 clause (iii), the nonconfirmation shall 

13 remain tentative until a confirmation 

14 or final nonconfirmation is provided 

15 by the System. 

16 ‘‘(II) PROHIBITION ON TERMI17 NATION.—In no case shall a person or 

18 entity terminate employment or take 

19 any adverse employment action 

20 against an individual for failure to ob21 tain confirmation of the individual’s 

22 identity and employment authoriza23 tion until the person or entity receives 

24 a notice of final nonconfirmation from 

25 the System. Nothing in this subclause 


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1 shall prohibit an employer from termi2 nating the employment of the indi3 vidual for any other lawful reason. 

4 ‘‘(III) CONFIRMATION OR FINAL

5 NONCONFIRMATION.—The Secretary, 

6 in consultation with the Commis7 sioner, shall issue notice of a con8 firmation or final nonconfirmation of 

9 the individual’s identity and employ10 ment authorization not later than 30 

11 calendar days after the date the Sec12 retary receives notice from the indi13 vidual contesting the tentative non14 confirmation. 

15 ‘‘(E) FINAL NONCONFIRMATION.— 

16 ‘‘(i) NOTICE.—If a person or entity 

17 receives a final nonconfirmation of an indi18 vidual’s identity or employment authoriza19 tion, the person or entity shall, not later 

20 than 3 business days after receipt, notify 

21 such individual of the final nonconfirma22 tion in writing, on a form designated by 

23 the Secretary, which shall include informa24 tion regarding the individual’s right to ap25 peal the final nonconfirmation as provided 


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1 under subparagraph (F). The person or 

2 entity shall attest, under penalty of per3 jury, that the person or entity provided (or 

4 attempted to provide) the notice to the in5 dividual, and the individual shall acknowl6 edge receipt of such notice in a manner 

7 designated by the Secretary. 

8 ‘‘(ii) TERMINATION OR NOTIFICATION

9 OF CONTINUED EMPLOYMENT.—If a per10 son or entity receives a final nonconfirma11 tion regarding an individual, the person or 

12 entity may terminate employment of the 

13 individual. If the person or entity does not 

14 terminate such employment pending appeal 

15 of the final nonconfirmation, the person or 

16 entity shall notify the Secretary of such 

17 fact through the System. Failure to notify 

18 the Secretary in accordance with this 

19 clause shall be deemed a violation of sec20 tion 274A(a)(1)(A). 

21 ‘‘(iii) PRESUMPTION OF VIOLATION

22 FOR CONTINUED EMPLOYMENT.—If a per23 son or entity continues to employ an indi24 vidual after receipt of a final nonconfirma25 tion, there shall be a rebuttable presumpVerDate Sep 11 2014 00:13 Nov 08, 2019 Jkt 099200 PO 00000 Frm 00190 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H4916.IH H4916

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1 tion that the person or entity has violated 

2 paragraphs (1)(A) and (a)(2) of section 

3 274A(a). 

4 ‘‘(F) APPEAL OF FINAL NONCONFIRMA5 TION.— 

6 ‘‘(i) ADMINISTRATIVE APPEAL.—The 

7 Secretary, in consultation with the Com8 missioner, shall develop a process by which 

9 an individual may seek administrative re10 view of a final nonconfirmation. Such proc11 ess shall— 

12 ‘‘(I) permit the individual to sub13 mit additional evidence establishing 

14 identity or employment authorization; 

15 ‘‘(II) ensure prompt resolution of 

16 an appeal (but in no event shall there 

17 be a failure to respond to an appeal 

18 within 30 days); and 

19 ‘‘(III) permit the Secretary to 

20 impose a civil money penalty (not to 

21 exceed $500) on an individual upon 

22 finding that an appeal was frivolous 

23 or filed for purposes of delay. 


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1 ‘‘(ii) COMPENSATION FOR LOST

2 WAGES RESULTING FROM GOVERNMENT

3 ERROR OR OMISSION.— 

4 ‘‘(I) IN GENERAL.—If, upon con5 sideration of an appeal of a final non6 confirmation, the Secretary deter7 mines that the final nonconfirmation 

8 was issued in error, the Secretary 

9 shall further determine whether the 

10 final nonconfirmation was the result 

11 of government error or omission. If 

12 the Secretary determines that the 

13 final nonconfirmation was solely the 

14 result of government error or omission 

15 and the individual was terminated 

16 from employment, the Secretary shall 

17 compensate the individual for lost 

18 wages. 

19 ‘‘(II) CALCULATION OF LOST

20 WAGES.—Lost wages shall be cal21 culated based on the wage rate and 

22 work schedule that were in effect 

23 prior to the individual’s termination. 

24 The individual shall be compensated 

25 for lost wages beginning on the first 


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1 scheduled work day after employment 

2 was terminated and ending 90 days 

3 after completion of the administrative 

4 review process described in this sub5 paragraph or the day the individual is 

6 reinstated or obtains other employ7 ment, whichever occurs first. 

8 ‘‘(III) LIMITATION ON COM9 PENSATION.—No compensation for 

10 lost wages shall be awarded for any 

11 period during which the individual 

12 was not authorized for employment in 

13 the United States. 

14 ‘‘(IV) SOURCE OF FUNDS.— 

15 There is established in the general 

16 fund of the Treasury, a separate ac17 count which shall be known as the 

18 ‘Electronic Verification Compensation 

19 Account’. Fees collected under sub20 sections (f) and (g) shall be deposited 

21 in the Electronic Verification Com22 pensation Account and shall remain 

23 available for purposes of providing 

24 compensation for lost wages under 

25 this subclause. 


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1 ‘‘(iii) JUDICIAL REVIEW.—Not later 

2 than 30 days after the dismissal of an ap3 peal under this subparagraph, an indi4 vidual may seek judicial review of such dis5 missal in the United States District Court 

6 in the jurisdiction in which the employer 

7 resides or conducts business. 

8 ‘‘(5) RETENTION OF VERIFICATION RECORDS.— 

9 ‘‘(A) IN GENERAL.—After completing the 

10 form designated by the Secretary in accordance 

11 with paragraphs (1) and (2), the person or enti12 ty shall retain the form in paper, microfiche, 

13 microfilm, electronic, or other format deemed 

14 acceptable by the Secretary, and make it avail15 able for inspection by officers of the Depart16 ment of Homeland Security, the Department of 

17 Justice, or the Department of Labor during the 

18 period beginning on the date the verification is 

19 completed and ending on the later of— 

20 ‘‘(i) the date that is 3 years after the 

21 date of hire; or 

22 ‘‘(ii) the date that is 1 year after the 

23 date on which the individual’s employment 

24 is terminated. 


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1 ‘‘(B) COPYING OF DOCUMENTATION PER2 MITTED.—Notwithstanding any other provision 

3 of law, a person or entity may copy a document 

4 presented by an individual pursuant to this sec5 tion and may retain the copy, but only for the 

6 purpose of complying with the requirements of 

7 this section. 

8 ‘‘(c) REVERIFICATION OF PREVIOUSLY HIRED INDI9 VIDUALS.— 

10 ‘‘(1) MANDATORY REVERIFICATION.—In the 

11 case of a person or entity that uses the System for 

12 the hiring, recruiting, or referring for a fee an indi13 vidual for employment in the United States, the per14 son or entity shall submit an inquiry using the Sys15 tem to verify the identity and employment authoriza16 tion of— 

17 ‘‘(A) an individual with a limited period of 

18 employment authorization, within 3 business 

19 days before the date on which such employment 

20 authorization expires; and 

21 ‘‘(B) an individual, not later than 10 days 

22 after receiving a notification from the Secretary 

23 requiring the verification of such individual pur24 suant to subsection (a)(4)(C). 


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1 ‘‘(2) REVERIFICATION PROCEDURES.—The 

2 verification procedures under subsection (b) shall 

3 apply to reverifications under this subsection, except 

4 that employers shall— 

5 ‘‘(A) use a form designated by the Sec6 retary for purposes of this paragraph; and 

7 ‘‘(B) retain the form in paper, microfiche, 

8 microfilm, electronic, or other format deemed 

9 acceptable by the Secretary, and make it avail10 able for inspection by officers of the Depart11 ment of Homeland Security, the Department of 

12 Justice, or the Department of Labor during the 

13 period beginning on the date the reverification 

14 commences and ending on the later of— 

15 ‘‘(i) the date that is 3 years after the 

16 date of reverification; or 

17 ‘‘(ii) the date that is 1 year after the 

18 date on which the individual’s employment 

19 is terminated. 

20 ‘‘(3) LIMITATION ON REVERIFICATION.—Except 

21 as provided in paragraph (1), a person or entity may 

22 not otherwise reverify the identity and employment 

23 authorization of a current employee, including an 

24 employee continuing in employment. 

25 ‘‘(d) GOOD FAITH COMPLIANCE.— 


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1 ‘‘(1) IN GENERAL.—Except as otherwise pro2 vided in this subsection, a person or entity that uses 

3 the System is considered to have complied with the 

4 requirements of this section notwithstanding a tech5 nical failure of the System, or other technical or pro6 cedural failure to meet such requirement if there 

7 was a good faith attempt to comply with the require8 ment. 

9 ‘‘(2) EXCEPTION FOR FAILURE TO CORRECT

10 AFTER NOTICE.—Paragraph (1) shall not apply if— 

11 ‘‘(A) the failure is not de minimis; 

12 ‘‘(B) the Secretary has provided notice to 

13 the person or entity of the failure, including an 

14 explanation as to why it is not de minimis; 

15 ‘‘(C) the person or entity has been pro16 vided a period of not less than 30 days (begin17 ning after the date of the notice) to correct the 

18 failure; and 

19 ‘‘(D) the person or entity has not corrected 

20 the failure voluntarily within such period. 

21 ‘‘(3) EXCEPTION FOR PATTERN OR PRACTICE

22 VIOLATORS.—Paragraph (1) shall not apply to a 

23 person or entity that has engaged or is engaging in 

24 a pattern or practice of violations of paragraph 

25 (1)(A) or (2) of section 274A(a). 


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1 ‘‘(4) DEFENSE.—In the case of a person or en2 tity that uses the System for the hiring, recruiting, 

3 or referring for a fee an individual for employment 

4 in the United States, the person or entity shall not 

5 be liable to a job applicant, an employee, the Federal 

6 Government, or a State or local government, under 

7 Federal, State, or local criminal or civil law, for any 

8 employment-related action taken with respect to an 

9 employee in good-faith reliance on information pro10 vided by the System. Such person or entity shall be 

11 deemed to have established compliance with its obli12 gations under this section, absent a showing by the 

13 Secretary, by clear and convincing evidence, that the 

14 employer had knowledge that an employee is an un15 authorized alien. 

16 ‘‘(e) LIMITATIONS.— 

17 ‘‘(1) NO NATIONAL IDENTIFICATION CARD.— 

18 Nothing in this section shall be construed to author19 ize, directly or indirectly, the issuance or use of na20 tional identification cards or the establishment of a 

21 national identification card. 

22 ‘‘(2) USE OF RECORDS.—Notwithstanding any 

23 other provision of law, nothing in this section shall 

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1 ment to utilize any information, database, or other 

2 records assembled under this section for any purpose 

3 other than the verification of identity and employ4 ment authorization of an individual or to ensure the 

5 secure, appropriate, and non-discriminatory use of 

6 the System. 

7 ‘‘(f) PENALTIES.— 

8 ‘‘(1) IN GENERAL.—Except as provided in this 

9 subsection, the provisions of subsections (e) through 

10 (g) of section 274A shall apply with respect to com11 pliance with the provisions of this section and pen12 alties for non-compliance for persons or entitles that 

13 use the System. 

14 ‘‘(2) CEASE AND DESIST ORDER WITH CIVIL

15 MONEY PENALTIES FOR HIRING, RECRUITING, AND

16 REFERRAL VIOLATIONS.—Notwithstanding the civil 

17 money penalties set forth in section 274A(e)(4), with 

18 respect to a violation of paragraph (1)(A) or (2) of 

19 section 274A(a) by a person or entity that has hired, 

20 recruited, or referred for a fee, an individual for em21 ployment in the United States, a cease and desist 

22 order— 

23 ‘‘(A) shall require the person or entity to 

24 pay a civil penalty in an amount, subject to 

25 subsection (d), of— 


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1 ‘‘(i) not less than $2,500 and not 

2 more than $5,000 for each unauthorized 

3 alien with respect to whom a violation of 

4 either such subsection occurred; 

5 ‘‘(ii) not less than $5,000 and not 

6 more than $10,000 for each such alien in 

7 the case of a person or entity previously 

8 subject to one order under this paragraph; 

9 or 

10 ‘‘(iii) not less than $10,000 and not 

11 more than $25,000 for each such alien in 

12 the case of a person or entity previously 

13 subject to more than one order under this 

14 paragraph; and 

15 ‘‘(B) may require the person or entity to 

16 take such other remedial action as appropriate. 

17 ‘‘(3) ORDER FOR CIVIL MONEY PENALTY FOR

18 VIOLATIONS.—With respect to a violation of section 

19 274A(a)(1)(B), the order under this paragraph shall 

20 require the person or entity to pay a civil penalty in 

21 an amount, subject to paragraphs (4), (5), and (6), 

22 of not less than $1,000 and not more than $25,000 

23 for each individual with respect to whom such viola24 tion occurred. Failure by a person or entity to utilize 

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1 tion to the System that the person or entity knows 

2 or reasonably believes to be false, shall be treated as 

3 a violation of section 274A(a)(1)(A). 

4 ‘‘(4) EXEMPTION FROM PENALTY FOR GOOD

5 FAITH VIOLATION.— 

6 ‘‘(A) IN GENERAL.—A person or entity 

7 that uses the System is presumed to have acted 

8 with knowledge for purposes of paragraphs 

9 (1)(A) and (2) of section 274A(a) if the person 

10 or entity fails to make an inquiry to verify the 

11 identity and employment authorization of the 

12 individual through the System. 

13 ‘‘(B) GOOD FAITH EXEMPTION.—In the 

14 case of imposition of a civil penalty under para15 graph (2)(A) with respect to a violation of para16 graph (1)(A) or (2) of section 274A(a) for hir17 ing or continuation of employment or recruit18 ment or referral by a person or entity, and in 

19 the case of imposition of a civil penalty under 

20 paragraph (3) for a violation of section 

21 274A(a)(1)(B) for hiring or recruitment or re22 ferral by a person or entity, the penalty other23 wise imposed may be waived or reduced if the 

24 person or entity establishes that the person or 

25 entity acted in good faith. 


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1 ‘‘(5) MITIGATION ELEMENTS.—For purposes of 

2 paragraphs (2)(A) and (3), when assessing the level 

3 of civil money penalties, in addition to the good faith 

4 of the person or entity being charged, due consider5 ation shall be given to the size of the business, the 

6 seriousness of the violation, whether or not the indi7 vidual was an unauthorized alien, and the history of 

8 previous violations. 

9 ‘‘(6) CRIMINAL PENALTY.—Notwithstanding 

10 section 274A(f)(1) and the provisions of any other 

11 Federal law relating to fine levels, any person or en12 tity that is required to comply with the provisions of 

13 this section and that engages in a pattern or prac14 tice of violations of paragraph (1) or (2) of section 

15 274A(a), shall be fined not more than $5,000 for 

16 each unauthorized alien with respect to whom such 

17 a violation occurs, imprisoned for not more than 18 

18 months, or both. 

19 ‘‘(7) ELECTRONIC VERIFICATION COMPENSA20 TION ACCOUNT.—Civil money penalties collected 

21 under this subsection shall be deposited in the Elec22 tronic Verification Compensation Account for the 

23 purpose of compensating individuals for lost wages 

24 as a result of a final nonconfirmation issued by the 

25 System that was based on government or employer 


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1 error or omission, as set forth in subsection 

2 (b)(4)(F)(ii)(IV). 

3 ‘‘(8) DEBARMENT.— 

4 ‘‘(A) IN GENERAL.—If a person or entity 

5 is determined by the Secretary to be a repeat 

6 violator of paragraph (1)(A) or (2) of section 

7 274A(a) or is convicted of a crime under sec8 tion 274A, such person or entity may be consid9 ered for debarment from the receipt of Federal 

10 contracts, grants, or cooperative agreements in 

11 accordance with the debarment standards and 

12 pursuant to the debarment procedures set forth 

13 in the Federal Acquisition Regulation. 

14 ‘‘(B) NO CONTRACT, GRANT, AGREE15 MENT.—If the Secretary or the Attorney Gen16 eral wishes to have a person or entity consid17 ered for debarment in accordance with this 

18 paragraph, and such a person or entity does not 

19 hold a Federal contract, grant or cooperative 

20 agreement, the Secretary or Attorney General 

21 shall refer the matter to the Administrator of 

22 General Services to determine whether to list 

23 the person or entity on the List of Parties Ex24 cluded from Federal Procurement, and if so, for 

25 what duration and under what scope. 


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1 ‘‘(C) CONTRACT, GRANT, AGREEMENT.—If 

2 the Secretary or the Attorney General wishes to 

3 have a person or entity considered for debar4 ment in accordance with this paragraph, and 

5 such person or entity holds a Federal contract, 

6 grant, or cooperative agreement, the Secretary 

7 or Attorney General shall advise all agencies or 

8 departments holding a contract, grant, or coop9 erative agreement with the person or entity of 

10 the Government’s interest in having the person 

11 or entity considered for debarment, and after 

12 soliciting and considering the views of all such 

13 agencies and departments, the Secretary or At14 torney General may refer the matter to the ap15 propriate lead agency to determine whether to 

16 list the person or entity on the List of Parties 

17 Excluded from Federal Procurement, and if so, 

18 for what duration and under what scope. 

19 ‘‘(D) REVIEW.—Any decision to debar a 

20 person or entity in accordance with this sub21 section shall be reviewable pursuant to part 9.4 

22 of the Federal Acquisition Regulation. 

23 ‘‘(9) PREEMPTION.—The provisions of this sec24 tion preempt any State or local law, ordinance, pol25 icy, or rule, including any criminal or civil fine or 


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1 penalty structure, relating to the hiring, continued 

2 employment, or status verification for employment 

3 eligibility purposes, of unauthorized aliens, except 

4 that a State, locality, municipality, or political sub5 division may exercise its authority over business li6 censing and similar laws as a penalty for failure to 

7 use the System as required under this section. 

8 ‘‘(g) UNFAIR IMMIGRATION-RELATED EMPLOYMENT

9 PRACTICES AND THE SYSTEM.— 

10 ‘‘(1) IN GENERAL.—In addition to the prohibi11 tions on discrimination set forth in section 274B, it 

12 is an unfair immigration-related employment prac13 tice for a person or entity, in the course of utilizing 

14 the System— 

15 ‘‘(A) to use the System for screening an 

16 applicant prior to the date of hire; 

17 ‘‘(B) to terminate the employment of an 

18 individual or take any adverse employment ac19 tion with respect to that individual due to a 

20 tentative nonconfirmation issued by the System; 

21 ‘‘(C) to use the System to screen any indi22 vidual for any purpose other than confirmation 

23 of identity and employment authorization as 

24 provided in this section; 


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1 ‘‘(D) to use the System to verify the iden2 tity and employment authorization of a current 

3 employee, including an employee continuing in 

4 employment, other than reverification author5 ized under subsection (c); 

6 ‘‘(E) to use the System to discriminate 

7 based on national origin or citizenship status; 

8 ‘‘(F) to willfully fail to provide an indi9 vidual with any notice required under this title; 

10 ‘‘(G) to require an individual to make an 

11 inquiry under the self-verification procedures 

12 described in subsection (a)(4)(B) or to provide 

13 the results of such an inquiry as a condition of 

14 employment, or hiring, recruiting, or referring; 

15 or 

16 ‘‘(H) to terminate the employment of an 

17 individual or take any adverse employment ac18 tion with respect to that individual based upon 

19 the need to verify the identity and employment 

20 authorization of the individual as required by 

21 subsection (b). 

22 ‘‘(2) PREEMPLOYMENT SCREENING AND BACK23 GROUND CHECK.—Nothing in paragraph (1)(A) 

24 shall be construed to preclude a preemployment 


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1 screening or background check that is required or 

2 permitted under any other provision of law. 

3 ‘‘(3) CIVIL MONEY PENALTIES FOR DISCRIMINA4 TORY CONDUCT.—Notwithstanding section 

5 274B(g)(2)(B)(iv), the penalties that may be im6 posed by an administrative law judge with respect to 

7 a finding that a person or entity has engaged in an 

8 unfair immigration-related employment practice de9 scribed in paragraph (1) are— 

10 ‘‘(A) not less than $1,000 and not more 

11 than $4,000 for each individual discriminated 

12 against; 

13 ‘‘(B) in the case of a person or entity pre14 viously subject to a single order under this 

15 paragraph, not less than $4,000 and not more 

16 than $10,000 for each individual discriminated 

17 against; and 

18 ‘‘(C) in the case of a person or entity pre19 viously subject to more than one order under 

20 this paragraph, not less than $6,000 and not 

21 more than $20,000 for each individual discrimi22 nated against. 

23 ‘‘(4) ELECTRONIC VERIFICATION COMPENSA24 TION ACCOUNT.—Civil money penalties collected 

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1 tronic Verification Compensation Account for the 

2 purpose of compensating individuals for lost wages 

3 as a result of a final nonconfirmation issued by the 

4 System that was based on government error or omis5 sion, as set forth in subsection (b)(4)(F)(ii)(IV). 

6 ‘‘(h) CLARIFICATION.—All rights and remedies pro7 vided under any Federal, State, or local law relating to 

8 workplace rights, including but not limited to back pay, 

9 are available to an employee despite— 

10 ‘‘(1) the employee’s status as an unauthorized 

11 alien during or after the period of employment; or 

12 ‘‘(2) the employer’s or employee’s failure to 

13 comply with the requirements of this section. 

14 ‘‘(i) DEFINITION.—In this section, the term ‘date of 

15 hire’ means the date on which employment for pay or 

16 other remuneration commences.’’. 

17 (b) CONFORMING AMENDMENT.—The table of con18 tents for the Immigration and Nationality Act is amended 

19 by inserting after the item relating to section 274D the 

20 following: 

‘‘Sec. 274E. Requirements for the electronic verification of employment eligibility.’’. 

21 SEC. 302. MANDATORY ELECTRONIC VERIFICATION FOR 

22 THE AGRICULTURAL INDUSTRY. 

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1 tion described in section 274E of the Immigration and Na2 tionality Act, as inserted by section 301 of this Act, shall 

3 apply to a person or entity hiring, recruiting, or referring 

4 for a fee an individual for agricultural employment in the 

5 United States in accordance with the effective dates set 

6 forth in subsection (b). 

7 (b) EFFECTIVE DATES.— 

8 (1) HIRING.—Subsection (a) shall apply to a 

9 person or entity hiring an individual for agricultural 

10 employment in the United States as follows: 

11 (A) With respect to employers having 500 

12 or more employees in the United States on the 

13 date of the enactment of this Act, on the date 

14 that is 6 months after completion of the appli15 cation period described in section 101(c). 

16 (B) With respect to employers having 100 

17 or more employees in the United States (but 

18 less than 500 such employees) on the date of 

19 the enactment of this Act, on the date that is 

20 9 months after completion of the application pe21 riod described in section 101(c). 

22 (C) With respect to employers having 20 

23 or more employees in the United States (but 

24 less than 100 such employees) on the date of 

25 the enactment of this Act, on the date that is 


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1 12 months after completion of the application 

2 period described in section 101(c). 

3 (D) With respect to employers having one 

4 or more employees in the United States (but 

5 less than 20 such employees), on the date of the 

6 enactment of this Act, on the date that is 15 

7 months after completion of the application pe8 riod described in section 101(c). 

9 (2) RECRUITING AND REFERRING.—Subsection 

10 (a) shall apply to a person or entity recruiting or re11 ferring an individual for agricultural employment in 

12 the United States on the date that is 12 months 

13 after completion of the application period described 

14 in section 101(c). 

15 (3) TRANSITION RULE.—Except as required 

16 under subtitle A of title IV of the Illegal Immigra17 tion Reform and Immigrant Responsibility Act of 

18 1996 (8 U.S.C. 1324a note) (as in effect on the day 

19 before the effective date described in section 

20 303(a)(4)), Executive Order 13465 (8 U.S.C. 1324a 

21 note; relating to Government procurement), or any 

22 State law requiring persons or entities to use the E23 Verify Program described in section 403(a) of the Il24 legal Immigration Reform and Immigrant Responsi25 bility Act of 1996 (8 U.S.C. 1324a note) (as in efVerDate Sep 11 2014 00:13 Nov 08, 2019 Jkt 099200 PO 00000 Frm 00210 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H4916.IH H4916

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1 fect on the day before the effective date described in 

2 section 303(a)(4)), sections 274A and 274B of the 

3 Immigration and Nationality Act (8 U.S.C. 1324a 

4 and 1324b) shall apply to a person or entity hiring, 

5 recruiting, or referring an individual for employment 

6 in the United States until the applicable effective 

7 date under this subsection. 

8 (4) E-VERIFY VOLUNTARY USERS AND OTHERS

9 DESIRING EARLY COMPLIANCE.—Nothing in this 

10 subsection shall be construed to prohibit persons or 

11 entities, including persons or entities that have vol12 untarily elected to participate in the E-Verify Pro13 gram described in section 403(a) of the Illegal Im14 migration Reform and Immigrant Responsibility Act 

15 of 1996 (8 U.S.C. 1324a note) (as in effect on the 

16 day before the effective date described in section 

17 303(a)(4)), from seeking early compliance on a vol18 untary basis. 

19 (c) RURAL ACCESS TO SECONDARY REVIEW PROC20 ESS.— 

21 (1) IN GENERAL.—The Secretary of Homeland 

22 Security and the Commissioner of Social Security 

23 shall coordinate with the Secretary of Agriculture to 

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1 tion 274E(b)(4)(D) of the Immigration and Nation2 ality Act, as inserted by section 301 of this Act, by 

3 appearing in-person at a local office or service center 

4 of the U.S. Department of Agriculture or at a local 

5 office of the U.S. Social Security Administration. 

6 (2) STAFFING AND RESOURCES.—The Sec7 retary of Agriculture and Commissioner of Social 

8 Security shall ensure that local offices and service 

9 centers of the U.S. Department of Agriculture and 

10 local offices of the U.S. Social Security Administra11 tion are staffed appropriately and have the resources 

12 necessary to receive in-person requests for secondary 

13 review of a tentative nonconfirmation under para14 graph (1) from individuals and to facilitate the sec15 ondary review process by serving as a single point of 

16 contact between the individual and the Department 

17 of Homeland Security and the Social Security Ad18 ministration. 

19 (d) DOCUMENT ESTABLISHING EMPLOYMENT AU20 THORIZATION AND IDENTITY.—In accordance with section 

21 274E(b)(3)(A)(vii) of the Immigration and Nationality 

22 Act, as inserted by section 301 of this Act, and not later 

23 than 12 months after the completion of the application 

24 period described in section 101(c) of this Act, the Sec25 retary of Homeland Security shall recognize documentary 


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1 evidence of certified agricultural worker status described 

2 in section 102(a)(2) of this Act as valid proof of employ3 ment authorization and identity for purposes of section 

4 274E(b)(3)(A) of the Immigration and Nationality Act, 

5 as inserted by section 301 of this Act. 

6 (e) AGRICULTURAL EMPLOYMENT.—For purposes of 

7 this section, the term ‘‘agricultural employment’’ means 

8 agricultural labor or services, as defined by section 

9 101(a)(15)(H)(ii) of the Immigration and Nationality Act 

10 (8 U.S.C. 1101(a)(15)(H)(ii)), as amended by this Act. 

11 SEC. 303. COORDINATION WITH E-VERIFY PROGRAM. 

12 (a) REPEAL.— 

13 (1) IN GENERAL.—Subtitle A of title IV of the 

14 Illegal Immigration Reform and Immigrant Respon15 sibility Act of 1996 (8 U.S.C. 1324a note) is re16 pealed. 

17 (2) CLERICAL AMENDMENT.—The table of sec18 tions, in section 1(d) of the Illegal Immigration Re19 form and Immigrant Responsibility Act of 1996, is 

20 amended by striking the items relating to subtitle A 

21 of title IV. 

22 (3) REFERENCES.—Any reference in any Fed23 eral, State, or local law, Executive order, rule, regu24 lation, or delegation of authority, or any document 

25 of, or pertaining to, the Department of Homeland 


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1 Security, Department of Justice, or the Social Secu2 rity Administration, to the E-Verify Program de3 scribed in section 403(a) of the Illegal Immigration 

4 Reform and Immigrant Responsibility Act of 1996 

5 (8 U.S.C. 1324a note), or to the employment eligi6 bility confirmation system established under section 

7 404 of the Illegal Immigration Reform and Immi8 grant Responsibility Act of 1996 (8 U.S.C. 1324a 

9 note), is deemed to refer to the employment eligi10 bility confirmation system established under section 

11 274E of the Immigration and Nationality Act, as in12 serted by section 301 of this Act. 

13 (4) EFFECTIVE DATE.—This subsection, and 

14 the amendments made by this subsection, shall take 

15 effect on the date that is 30 days after the date on 

16 which final rules are published under section 309(a). 

17 (b) FORMER E-VERIFY MANDATORY USERS, IN18 CLUDING FEDERAL CONTRACTORS.—Beginning on the ef19 fective date in subsection (a)(4), the Secretary of Home20 land Security shall require employers required to partici21 pate in the E-Verify Program described in section 403(a) 

22 of the Illegal Immigration Reform and Immigrant Respon23 sibility Act of 1996 (8 U.S.C. 1324a note) by reason of 

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1 quired to participate in such program by reason of Federal 

2 acquisition laws (and regulations promulgated under those 

3 laws, including the Federal Acquisition Regulation), to 

4 comply with the requirements of section 274E of the Im5 migration and Nationality Act, as inserted by section 301 

6 of this Act (and any additional requirements of such Fed7 eral acquisition laws and regulation) in lieu of any require8 ment to participate in the E-Verify Program. 

9 (c) FORMER E-VERIFY VOLUNTARY USERS.—Begin10 ning on the effective date in subsection (a)(4), the Sec11 retary of Homeland Security shall provide for the vol12 untary compliance with the requirements of section 274E 

13 of the Immigration and Nationality Act, as inserted by 

14 section 301 of this Act, by employers voluntarily electing 

15 to participate in the E-Verify Program described in sec16 tion 403(a) of the Illegal Immigration Reform and Immi17 grant Responsibility Act of 1996 (8 U.S.C. 1324a note) 

18 before such date. 

19 SEC. 304. FRAUD AND MISUSE OF DOCUMENTS. 

20 Section 1546(b) of title 18, United States Code, is 

21 amended— 

22 (1) in paragraph (1), by striking ‘‘identification 

23 document,’’ and inserting ‘‘identification document 

24 or document meant to establish employment author25 ization,’’; 


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1 (2) in paragraph (2), by striking ‘‘identification 

2 document’’ and inserting ‘‘identification document or 

3 document meant to establish employment authoriza4 tion,’’; and 

5 (3) in the matter following paragraph (3) by in6 serting ‘‘or section 274E(b)’’ after ‘‘section 

7 274A(b)’’. 

8 SEC. 305. TECHNICAL AND CONFORMING AMENDMENTS. 

9 (a) UNLAWFUL EMPLOYMENT OF ALIENS.—Section 

10 274A of the Immigration and Nationality Act (8 U.S.C. 

11 1324a) is amended— 

12 (1) in paragraph (1)(B)(ii) of subsection (a), by 

13 striking ‘‘subsection (b).’’ and inserting ‘‘section 

14 274B’’; and 

15 (2) in the matter preceding paragraph (1) of 

16 subsection (b), by striking ‘‘The requirements re17 ferred’’ and inserting ‘‘Except as provided in section 

18 274E, the requirements referred’’. 

19 (b) UNFAIR IMMIGRATION-RELATED EMPLOYMENT

20 PRACTICES.—Section 274B(a)(1) of the Immigration and 

21 Nationality Act (8 U.S.C. 1324b(a)(1)) is amended in the 

22 matter preceding subparagraph (A), by inserting ‘‘includ23 ing misuse of the verification system as described in sec24 tion 274E(g)’’ after ‘‘referral for a fee,’’. 


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1 SEC. 306. PROTECTION OF SOCIAL SECURITY ADMINISTRA2 TION PROGRAMS. 

3 (a) FUNDING UNDER AGREEMENT.—Effective for 

4 fiscal years beginning on or after October 1, 2020, the 

5 Commissioner and the Secretary shall enter into and 

6 maintain an agreement which shall— 

7 (1) provide funds to the Commissioner for the 

8 full costs of the responsibilities of the Commissioner 

9 under section 274E(a)(5) of the Immigration and 

10 Nationality Act, as inserted by section 301 of this 

11 Act, including— 

12 (A) acquiring, installing, and maintaining 

13 technological equipment and systems necessary 

14 for the fulfillment of the responsibilities of the 

15 Commissioner under such section, but only that 

16 portion of such costs that are attributable ex17 clusively to such responsibilities; and 

18 (B) responding to individuals who contest 

19 a tentative nonconfirmation or administratively 

20 appeal a final nonconfirmation provided by the 

21 electronic employment eligibility verification 

22 system established under such section; 

23 (2) provide such funds annually in advance of 

24 the applicable quarter based on an estimating meth25 odology agreed to by the Commissioner and the Sec26 retary (except in such instances where the delayed 


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1 enactment of an annual appropriation may preclude 

2 such quarterly payments); and 

3 (3) require an annual accounting and reconcili4 ation of the actual costs incurred and the funds pro5 vided under the agreement, which shall be reviewed 

6 by the Inspectors General of the Social Security Ad7 ministration and the Department of Homeland Secu8 rity. 

9 (b) CONTINUATION OF EMPLOYMENT VERIFICATION

10 IN ABSENCE OF TIMELY AGREEMENT.—In any case in 

11 which the agreement required under subsection (a) for any 

12 fiscal year beginning on or after October 1, 2020, has not 

13 been reached as of October 1 of such fiscal year, the latest 

14 agreement between the Commissioner and the Secretary 

15 providing for funding to cover the costs of the responsibil16 ities of the Commissioner under section 274E(a)(5) of the 

17 Immigration and Nationality Act, as inserted by section 

18 301 of this Act, shall be deemed in effect on an interim 

19 basis for such fiscal year until such time as an agreement 

20 required under subsection (a) is subsequently reached, ex21 cept that the terms of such interim agreement shall be 

22 modified by the Director of the Office of Management and 

23 Budget to adjust for inflation and any increase or decrease 

24 in the volume of requests under the employment eligibility 

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1 ment applies for any fiscal year under this subsection, the 

2 Commissioner and the Secretary shall, not later than Oc3 tober 1 of such fiscal year, notify the Committee on Ways 

4 and Means, the Committee on the Judiciary, and the Com5 mittee on Appropriations of the House of Representatives 

6 and the Committee on Finance, the Committee on the Ju7 diciary, and the Committee on Appropriations of the Sen8 ate of the failure to reach the agreement required under 

9 subsection (a) for such fiscal year. Until such time as the 

10 agreement required under subsection (a) has been reached 

11 for such fiscal year, the Commissioner and the Secretary 

12 shall, not later than the end of each 90-day period after 

13 October 1 of such fiscal year, notify such Committees of 

14 the status of negotiations between the Commissioner and 

15 the Secretary in order to reach such an agreement. 

16 SEC. 307. REPORT ON THE IMPLEMENTATION OF THE 

17 ELECTRONIC EMPLOYMENT VERIFICATION 

18 SYSTEM. 

19 Not later than 24 months after the date on which 

20 final rules are published under section 309(a), and annu21 ally thereafter, the Secretary shall submit to Congress a 

22 report that includes: 

23 (1) An assessment of the accuracy rates of the 

24 responses of the electronic employment verification 

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1 gration and Nationality Act, as inserted by section 

2 301 of this Act (referred to in this section as the 

3 ‘‘System’’), including tentative and final noncon4 firmation notices issued to employment-authorized 

5 individuals and confirmation notices issued to indi6 viduals who are not employment-authorized. 

7 (2) An assessment of any challenges faced by 

8 persons or entities (including small employers) in 

9 utilizing the System. 

10 (3) An assessment of any challenges faced by 

11 employment-authorized individuals who are issued 

12 tentative or final nonconfirmation notices. 

13 (4) An assessment of the incidence of unfair 

14 immigration-related employment practices, as de15 scribed in section 274E(g) of the Immigration and 

16 Nationality Act, as inserted by section 301 of this 

17 Act, related to the use of the System. 

18 (5) An assessment of the photo matching and 

19 other identity authentication tools, as described in 

20 section 274E(a)(4) of the Immigration and Nation21 ality Act, as inserted by section 301 of this Act, in22 cluding— 

23 (A) an assessment of the accuracy rates of 

24 such tools; 


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1 (B) an assessment of the effectiveness of 

2 such tools at preventing identity fraud and 

3 other misuse of identifying information; 

4 (C) an assessment of any challenges faced 

5 by persons, entities, or individuals utilizing such 

6 tools; and 

7 (D) an assessment of operation and main8 tenance costs associated with such tools. 

9 (6) A summary of the activities and findings of 

10 the U.S. Citizenship and Immigrations Services E11 Verify Monitoring and Compliance Branch, or any 

12 successor office, including— 

13 (A) the number, types and outcomes of au14 dits, investigations, and other compliance activi15 ties initiated by the Branch in the previous 

16 year; 

17 (B) the capacity of the Branch to detect 

18 and prevent violations of section 274E(g) of the 

19 Immigration and Nationality Act, as inserted by 

20 this Act; and 

21 (C) an assessment of the degree to which 

22 persons and entities misuse the System, includ23 ing— 

24 (i) use of the System before an indi25 vidual’s date of hire; 


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1 (ii) failure to provide required notifi2 cations to individuals; 

3 (iii) use of the System to interfere 

4 with or otherwise impede individuals’ as5 sertions of their rights under other laws; 

6 and 

7 (iv) use of the System for unauthor8 ized purposes. 

9 (7) An assessment of the impact of implementa10 tion of the System in the agricultural industry and 

11 the use of the verification system in agricultural in12 dustry hiring and business practices. 

13 SEC. 308. MODERNIZING AND STREAMLINING THE EMPLOY14 MENT ELIGIBILITY VERIFICATION PROCESS. 

15 Not later than 12 months after the date of the enact16 ment of this Act, the Secretary, in consultation with the 

17 Commissioner, shall submit to Congress a plan to mod18 ernize and streamline the employment eligibility verifica19 tion process that shall include— 

20 (1) procedures to allow persons and entities to 

21 verify the identity and employment authorization of 

22 newly hired individuals where the in-person, physical 

23 examination of identity and employment authoriza24 tion documents is not practicable; 


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1 (2) a proposal to create a simplified employ2 ment verification process that allows employers that 

3 utilize the employment eligibility verification system 

4 established under section 274E of the Immigration 

5 and Nationality Act, as inserted by section 301 of 

6 this Act, to verify the identity and employment au7 thorization of individuals without also having to 

8 complete and retain Form I–9, Employment Eligi9 bility Verification, or any subsequent replacement 

10 form; and 

11 (3) any other proposal that the Secretary deter12 mines would simplify the employment eligibility 

13 verification process without compromising the integ14 rity or security of the system. 

15 SEC. 309. RULEMAKING AND PAPERWORK REDUCTION ACT. 

16 (a) IN GENERAL.—Not later than 180 days prior to 

17 the end of the application period defined in section 101(c) 

18 of this Act, the Secretary shall publish in the Federal Reg19 ister proposed rules implementing this title and the 

20 amendments made by this title. The Secretary shall final21 ize such rules not later than 180 days after the date of 

22 publication. 

23 (b) PAPERWORK REDUCTION ACT.— 

24 (1) IN GENERAL.—The requirements under 

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1 monly known as the ‘‘Paperwork Reduction Act’’), 

2 shall apply to any action to implement this title or 

3 the amendments made by this title. 

4 (2) ELECTRONIC FORMS.—All forms designated 

5 or established by the Secretary that are necessary to 

6 implement this title and the amendments made by 

7 this title shall be made available in paper and elec8 tronic formats, and shall be designed in such a man9 ner to facilitate electronic completion, storage, and 

10 transmittal. 

11 (3) LIMITATION ON USE OF FORMS.—All forms 

12 designated or established by the Secretary that are 

13 necessary to implement this title, and the amend14 ments made by this title, and any information con15 tained in or appended to such forms, may not be 

16 used for purposes other than for enforcement of this 

17 Act and any other provision of Federal criminal law. 

Æ 


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