I 

116TH CONGRESS 

1ST SESSION H. R. 2801 

To provide temporary resident status and employment authorization for 

certain non-seasonal agricultural workers, and for other purposes. 

IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES 

MAY 16, 2019 

Mr. COLLINS of New York introduced the following bill; which was referred 

to the Committee on the Judiciary 

A BILL 

To provide temporary resident status and employment authorization for certain non-seasonal agricultural workers, 

and for other purposes. 

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. 

4 This Act may be cited as the ‘‘Helping Labor Per5 sonnel on Farms Act’’ or the ‘‘HELP Farms Act’’. 

6 SEC. 2. TEMPORARY RESIDENT STATUS AND EMPLOYMENT 

7 AUTHORIZATION FOR CERTAIN NON-SEA8 SONAL AGRICULTURAL WORKERS. 

9 (a) IN GENERAL.— 


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1 (1) TREATMENT OF PRINCIPAL ALIENS.—In the 

2 case of an alien described in subsection (b) who sat3 isfies the requirements of subsection (c) and is not 

4 ineligible under subsection (e), the Secretary of 

5 Homeland Security, in consultation with the Sec6 retary of Labor and the Secretary of State, shall— 

7 (A) adjust the status of the alien to that 

8 of an alien lawfully admitted for temporary res9 idence for a two-year period not subject to re10 newal, and issue documentary evidence of such 

11 temporary resident status; 

12 (B) grant the alien authorization to engage 

13 in employment in the United States during 

14 such two-year period in an agricultural labor or 

15 services occupation not of a seasonal nature; 

16 and 

17 (C) provide the alien an ‘‘employment au18 thorized’’ endorsement or other appropriate 

19 work permit valid during such two-year period. 

20 (2) TREATMENT OF SPOUSES AND CHIL21 DREN.—A spouse or unmarried child under 21 years 

22 of age of a principal alien who is included in an ap23 plication under subsection (c)(1) and is not ineligible 

24 under subsection (e) shall be eligible for the same 


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1 temporary resident status (and documentation of 

2 such status) as is granted to the principal alien. 

3 (b) ALIENS DESCRIBED.— 

4 (1) IN GENERAL.—An alien is described in this 

5 subsection if the alien— 

6 (A) during the preceding calendar year, 

7 was considered a United States resident for 

8 purposes of the Internal Revenue Code of 1986; 

9 (B) does not qualify for status under sec10 tion 101(a)(15)(H)(ii)(a) of the Immigration 

11 and Nationality Act (8 U.S.C. 1101(a)(15)(a)); 

12 and 

13 (C) is, and during the 2-year period pre14 ceding the date of the filing of the application 

15 under subsection (c) has been, employed by the 

16 sponsoring employer described in sub17 section(c)(2) in an agricultural labor or services 

18 occupation not of a seasonal nature. 

19 (2) DEFINITION.—For purposes of this section, 

20 the term ‘‘agricultural labor or services’’ includes— 

21 (A) agricultural labor as defined in section 

22 3121(g) of the Internal Revenue Code of 1986; 

23 (B) agriculture as defined in section 3(f) 

24 of the Fair Labor Standards Act of 1938 (29 

25 U.S.C. 203(f)); 


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1 (C) all activities required for the prepara2 tion, processing or manufacturing of a product 

3 of agriculture (as such term is defined in such 

4 section 3(f)), or fish or shellfish, for further dis5 tribution; 

6 (D) the handling, planting, drying, pack7 ing, packaging, processing, freezing, or grading 

8 prior to delivery for storage of any agricultural 

9 or horticultural commodity in its unmanufac10 tured state; 

11 (E) dairy cattle and milk production; 

12 (F) range production of livestock; 

13 (G) sheep herding or goat herding; 

14 (H) commercial beekeeping and polli15 nation; 

16 (I) animal shearing; 

17 (J) the killing of animals for meat or poul18 try processing and the breakdown of their car19 casses; and 

20 (K) activities related to the management 

21 and training of equines. 

22 (c) APPLICATION REQUIREMENTS.— 

23 (1) IN GENERAL.—An alien shall apply for ad24 justment of status and work authorization under 

25 this section during the 6-month period beginning on 


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1 the date of the enactment of this Act. The applica2 tion shall collect such information as the Secretary 

3 of Homeland Security determines necessary and ap4 propriate. The Secretary shall establish a process 

5 through which an alien may submit a single applica6 tion under this section on behalf of the alien and the 

7 alien’s eligible spouse and children. 

8 (2) SPONSORING EMPLOYER.— 

9 (A) IN GENERAL.—An application under 

10 paragraph (1) shall be accompanied by an at11 testation from the alien’s employer that the 

12 alien continuously has been employed by the 

13 employer in an agricultural labor or services oc14 cupation not of a seasonal nature during the 2- 

15 year period preceding the date of the filing of 

16 the application. 

17 (B) EMPLOYER PROTECTIONS.— 

18 (i) USE OF EMPLOYMENT RECORDS.— 

19 Copies of employment records or other evi20 dence of employment provided by an alien 

21 or by an alien’s employer in support of an 

22 alien’s application under paragraph (1) 

23 may not be used in a civil or criminal pros24 ecution or investigation of that employer 

25 under section 274A of the Immigration 


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1 and Nationality Act (8 U.S.C. 1324a) or 

2 under the Internal Revenue Code of 1986 

3 for the prior unlawful employment of that 

4 alien regardless of the adjudication of such 

5 application or reconsideration by the Sec6 retary of Homeland Security of such 

7 alien’s prima facie eligibility determination. 

8 Employers that provide unauthorized 

9 aliens with copies of employment records 

10 or other evidence of employment pursuant 

11 to an application under paragraph (1) shall 

12 not be subject to civil and criminal liability 

13 pursuant to such section 274A for employ14 ing such unauthorized aliens. 

15 (ii) LIMIT ON APPLICABILITY.—The 

16 protections for employers and aliens under 

17 clause (i) shall not apply if the aliens or 

18 employers submit employment records that 

19 are determined to be fraudulent. 

20 (d) SPECIAL RULES FOR APPLICANTS.— 

21 (1) DOCUMENTATION.—Upon the filing of an 

22 application under subsection (c)(1), the Secretary of 

23 Homeland Security shall furnish the applicant or ap24 plicants with documentation of status as an appli25 cant under this section. 


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1 (2) ALIENS APPREHENDED BEFORE OR DURING

2 THE APPLICATION PERIOD.—If an alien who is ap3 prehended during the period beginning on the date 

4 of the enactment of this Act and ending on the last 

5 day of the application period described in subsection 

6 (c)(1) appears prima facie eligible for temporary 

7 resident status under this section, the Secretary of 

8 Homeland Security— 

9 (A) shall provide the alien with a reason10 able opportunity to submit an application for 

11 such status under this section during such pe12 riod; and 

13 (B) if such an application is submitted, 

14 may not remove the individual until a final ad15 ministrative determination is made on such ap16 plication. 

17 (3) ALIENS IN REMOVAL PROCEEDINGS.—Not18 withstanding any other provision of the Immigration 

19 and Nationality Act (8 U.S.C. 1101 et seq.) if an 

20 alien is in removal, deportation, or exclusion pro21 ceedings during the period beginning on the date of 

22 the enactment of this Act and ending on the last day 

23 of the application period described in subsection 

24 (c)(1) and is prima facie eligible for temporary resi25 dent status under this section, upon motion by the 


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1 Secretary of Homeland Security and with the con2 sent of the alien or upon motion by the alien, the 

3 Executive Office for Immigration Review shall— 

4 (A) terminate such proceedings without 

5 prejudice to future proceedings; and 

6 (B) permit the alien a reasonable oppor7 tunity to apply for such status. 

8 (4) PERIOD PENDING ADJUDICATION OF APPLI9 CATION.—During the period beginning on the date 

10 on which an alien applies for temporary resident sta11 tus under this section and ending on the date on 

12 which the Secretary of Homeland Security makes a 

13 final decision regarding such application, the alien— 

14 (A) is eligible to apply for advance parole; 

15 (B) may not be detained by the Secretary 

16 or Homeland Security or removed from the 

17 United States unless the Secretary makes a 

18 prima facie determination that such alien is, or 

19 has become, ineligible for temporary resident 

20 status; 

21 (C) shall not be considered unlawfully 

22 present under section 212(a)(9)(B) of the Im23 migration and Nationality Act (8 U.S.C. 

24 1182(a)(9)(B)); and 


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1 (D) shall not be considered an unauthor2 ized alien (as defined in section 274A(h)(3) of 

3 such Act (8 U.S.C. 1324a(h)(3))). 

4 (e) INELIGIBLE ALIENS.— 

5 (1) IN GENERAL.—An alien shall be ineligible 

6 for adjustment of status and work authorization 

7 under this section if the Secretary of Homeland Se8 curity determines that— 

9 (A) the alien ordered, incited, assisted, or 

10 otherwise participated in the persecution of any 

11 person on account of race, religion, nationality, 

12 membership in a particular social group, or po13 litical opinion; 

14 (B) the alien has been convicted in the 

15 United States by a final judgment of a particu16 larly serious crime (as defined in paragraph 

17 (2)); 

18 (C) there are serious reasons for believing 

19 that the alien has committed a serious non20 political crime outside the United States prior 

21 to the arrival of the alien in the United States; 

22 (D) there are reasonable grounds for re23 garding the alien as a danger to the security of 

24 the United States; 


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1 (E) the alien is described in subclause (I), 

2 (II), (III), (IV), or (VI) of section 

3 212(a)(3)(B)(i) or section 237(a)(4)(B) of the 

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

5 1101 et seq.) (relating to terrorist activity), un6 less, in the case only of an alien inadmissible 

7 under subclause (IV) of section 212(a)(3)(B)(i) 

8 of such Act, the Secretary of Homeland Secu9 rity determines, in the Secretary’s discretion, 

10 that there are not reasonable grounds for re11 garding the alien as a danger to the security of 

12 the United States; or 

13 (F) the alien has not satisfied all Federal, 

14 State, and local tax liabilities. 

15 (2) DEFINITION.—For purposes of paragraph 

16 (1)(B), an alien who has been convicted of the fol17 lowing shall be considered to have been convicted of 

18 a particularly serious crime: 

19 (A) A felony for which the alien was sen20 tenced to a term of imprisonment of not less 

21 than 60 months. 

22 (B) Murder, rape, kidnapping, or a felony 

23 offense described in chapter 77 (relating to pe24 onage and slavery) or 113B (relating to ter25 rorism) of title 18, United States Code. 


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1 (C) Three or more felonies of any kind. 

2 (3) TERMINATION OF BENEFITS.—Temporary 

3 resident status and work authorization granted 

4 under this section shall be terminated if the Sec5 retary of Homeland Security determines that the 

6 alien— 

7 (A) meets a condition described in para8 graph (1); or 

9 (B) is not employed in an agricultural 

10 labor or services occupation not of a seasonal 

11 nature. 

12 (f) DOCUMENTATION FEATURES.—Documentary evi13 dence of temporary resident status provided under this 

14 section shall— 

15 (1) be machine-readable and tamper-resistant; 

16 (2) contain a digitized photograph; 

17 (3) during the alien’s authorized period of ad18 mission, serve as a valid travel and entry document 

19 for the purpose of applying for admission to the 

20 United States; and 

21 (4) include such other features and information 

22 as the Secretary of Homeland Security may pre23 scribe. 

24 (g) CONFIDENTIALITY OF INFORMATION.— 


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1 (1) IN GENERAL.—Except for purposes of car2 rying out paragraph (2), and consistent with sub3 section (c)(2)(B), the Secretary of Homeland Secu4 rity, the Attorney General, or any other official or 

5 employee of the Department of Justice or the De6 partment of Homeland Security shall not— 

7 (A) use the information furnished by the 

8 applicant, or the sponsoring employer described 

9 in subsection (c)(2)(A), pursuant to an applica10 tion filed under this section for any purpose 

11 other than to make a determination on the ap12 plication; 

13 (B) make any publication whereby the in14 formation furnished by any particular applicant 

15 or sponsoring employer can be identified; or 

16 (C) permit anyone other than the sworn of17 ficers and employees of the Department of 

18 Homeland Security to examine individual appli19 cations. 

20 (2) PENALTIES FOR FALSE STATEMENTS IN AP21 PLICATIONS.—Whoever files an application under 

22 this section and knowingly and willfully falsifies, 

23 misrepresents, conceals, or covers up a material fact 

24 or makes any false, fictitious, or fraudulent state25 ments or representations, or makes or uses any false 


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1 writing or document knowing the same to contain 

2 any false, fictitious, or fraudulent statement or 

3 entry, shall be subject to section 1001 of title 18, 

4 United States Code. 

5 SEC. 3. MODIFICATION OF H-2A REGULATIONS. 

6 Not later than 2 years after the date of the enact7 ment of this Act, the Secretary of Labor shall modify the 

8 Secretary’s regulations governing the program under sec9 tion 101(a)(15)(H)(ii)(a) of the Immigration and Nation10 ality Act (8 U.S.C. 1101(a)(15)(H)(ii)(a)) so as to ensure 

11 that aliens desiring to come temporarily to the United 

12 States to work in an agricultural labor or services occupa13 tion not of a seasonal nature are eligible to be granted 

14 authorization for employment in the United States on an 

15 annual, rather than a seasonal, basis under such program. 

Æ 


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