I 

113TH CONGRESS 

1ST SESSION H. R. 707 

To amend the Immigration and Nationality Act to simplify and rename 

the H–2C worker program, and for other purposes. 

IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES 

FEBRUARY 14, 2013 

Mr. CRAWFORD (for himself and Mr. AUSTIN SCOTT of Georgia) introduced 

the following bill; which was referred to the Committee on the Judiciary, 

and in addition to the Committees on Education and the Workforce and 

Energy and Commerce, 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 simplify 

and rename the H–2C worker program, 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 ‘‘Short Term Retention 

5 for Agricultural Workers Act of 2013’’. 

6 SEC. 2. IN GENERAL. 

7 (a) INCLUSION OF DAIRY OR RANCH WORKERS.— 

8 Section 101(a)(15)(H) of the Immigration and Nationality 


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1 Act (8 U.S.C. 1101(a)(15)(H)) is amended by inserting 

2 ‘‘labor on a dairy or ranch and’’ before ‘‘agricultural labor 

3 defined in’’. 

4 (b) ELIMINATION OF 50 PERCENT RULE.—Section 

5 218(c)(3) of such Act (8 U.S.C. 1188(c)(3)) is amended— 

6 (1) in subparagraph (A), by striking ‘‘(A)’’; and 

7 (2) by striking subparagraph (B). 

8 (c) WAGE RATE.—Section 218(a)(1)(B) of such Act 

9 (8 U.S.C. 1188(a)(1)(B)) is amended by striking the pe10 riod at the end and inserting ‘‘, except that no employer 

11 shall be required to pay a wage rate greater than the 

12 greatest of the Federal, State, and local minimum wage 

13 rates.’’. 

14 (d) LEGAL ASSISTANCE FROM THE LEGAL SERVICES

15 CORPORATION.—Section 218(h) of such Act (8 U.S.C. 

16 1188(h)), as amended by subsection (g), is further amend17 ed by adding at the end the following: 

18 ‘‘(4)(A) The Legal Services Corporation may not pro19 vide legal assistance for, or on behalf of, any alien, and 

20 may not provide financial assistance to any person or enti21 ty that provides legal assistance for, or on behalf of, any 

22 alien, unless— 

23 ‘‘(i) the alien is present in the United States at 

24 the time the legal assistance is provided; and 


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1 ‘‘(ii) the parties to the dispute have attempted, 

2 in good faith, mediation or other non-binding dis3 pute resolution of all issues involving all such par4 ties. 

5 ‘‘(B) If an employer and a nonimmigrant having sta6 tus under section 101(a)(15)(H)(ii)(a) have an arbitration 

7 arrangement, the Legal Services Corporation shall respect 

8 the arbitration process and outcome. 

9 ‘‘(C) No employer of a nonimmigrant having status 

10 under section 101(a)(15)(H)(ii)(a) shall be required to 

11 permit any recipient of a grant or contract under section 

12 1007 of the Legal Services Corporation Act (42 U.S.C. 

13 2996f), or any employee of such a recipient, to enter upon 

14 the employer’s property, unless such recipient or employee 

15 has a pre-arranged appointment with a specific non16 immigrant having such status.’’. 

17 (e) LENGTH OF STAY.—Section 218 of such Act (8 

18 U.S.C. 1188) is amended by adding at the end the fol19 lowing: 

20 ‘‘(j) LENGTH OF STAY.—A STRAW worker who en21 ters the United States may remain in the United States 

22 for a period of not more than 11 months. The STRAW 

23 worker may not enter the United States on an additional 

24 visa under section 101(a)(15)(H)(ii)(c) unless the 

25 STRAW worker first returns to that worker’s country of 


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1 origin for a period of not less than 1 month. A STRAW 

2 worker may enter and remain in the United States for 

3 a total of not more than 3 years.’’. 

4 (f) HOUSING.—Section 218(c)(4) of such Act (8 

5 U.S.C. 1188(c)(4)) is amended to read as follows: 

6 ‘‘(4) HOUSING.—Except for STRAW workers 

7 who are reasonably able to return to their perma8 nent residence (either within or outside the United 

9 States) within the same day, the employer will pro10 vide housing to STRAW workers through one of the 

11 following means: 

12 ‘‘(A) Employer-owned housing in accord13 ance with regulations promulgated by the Sec14 retary of Agriculture. 

15 ‘‘(B) Rental or public accommodations or 

16 other substantially similar class of habitation in 

17 accordance with regulations promulgated by the 

18 Secretary of Agriculture. 

19 ‘‘(C) Except where the Governor of the 

20 State has certified that there is inadequate 

21 housing available in the area of intended em22 ployment for migrant farm workers and 

23 STRAW workers seeking temporary housing 

24 while employed in agricultural work, the emVerDate Mar 15 2010 07:29 Feb 26, 2013 Jkt 029200 PO 00000 Frm 00004 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H707.IH H707

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1 ployer may furnish the worker with a housing 

2 voucher in accordance with regulations, if— 

3 ‘‘(i) the employer has verified that 

4 housing is available for the period during 

5 which the work is to be performed, within 

6 a reasonable commuting distance of the 

7 place of employment, for the amount of the 

8 voucher provided, and that the voucher is 

9 useable for that housing; 

10 ‘‘(ii) upon the request of a worker 

11 seeking assistance in locating housing for 

12 which the voucher will be accepted, the em13 ployer makes a good faith effort to assist 

14 the worker in identifying, locating and se15 curing housing in the area of intended em16 ployment; and 

17 ‘‘(iii) payment for the housing is made 

18 with a housing voucher that is only re19 deemable by the housing owner or their 

20 agent. 

21 An employer who provides housing through one of 

22 the foregoing means shall not be deemed a housing 

23 provider under section 203 of the Migrant and Sea24 sonal Agricultural Worker Protection Act (29 U.S.C. 

25 1823) by virtue of providing such housing.’’. 


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1 (g) BIOMETRIC IDENTIFICATION CARD.—The Sec2 retary of Homeland Security shall provide each non3 immigrant agricultural worker with an identification card 

4 that contains— 

5 (1) an encrypted, machine-readable, electronic 

6 identification strip that is unique to the alien to 

7 whom the card is issued; 

8 (2) biometric identifiers, including fingerprints 

9 and a digital photograph; and 

10 (3) physical security features designed to pre11 vent tampering, counterfeiting, or duplication of the 

12 card for fraudulent purposes. 

13 (h) TRUST FUND.— 

14 (1) ESTABLISHMENT.—The Secretary of Agri15 culture shall establish by regulation a trust fund the 

16 purpose of which is to provide, without further ap17 propriation, funds for the administration and the en18 forcement of the program under this section, for the 

19 cost of the cards issued under subsection (k), for a 

20 monetary incentive for nonimmigrant agricultural 

21 workers to return to their country of origin upon ex22 piration of their visas under the program, and for 

23 payment with respect to emergency medical services 

24 furnished to nonimmigrant agricultural workers. The 

25 Secretary of Agriculture in consultation with the 


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1 Secretary of the Treasury shall promulgate such 

2 other regulations as may be necessary to carry out 

3 this subsection. 

4 (2) PAYMENT OF FICA AND FUTA AMOUNTS

5 INTO TRUST FUND.—In the case of employment of 

6 a nonimmigrant agricultural worker— 

7 (A) the employer shall provide for payment 

8 into the trust fund established under paragraph 

9 (1) of the sum of— 

10 (i) an amount equivalent to the 

11 amount of excise taxes which the employer 

12 would pay under the chapter 21 of the In13 ternal Revenue Code of 1986 with respect 

14 to such employment if it were considered 

15 employment for the purpose of such Act; 

16 and 

17 (ii) an amount equivalent to (and in 

18 lieu of) the amount of excise taxes which 

19 the employer would otherwise pay under 

20 chapter 23 of such Code with respect to 

21 such employment; and 

22 (B) there shall be deducted from the wages 

23 of the worker and paid into such trust fund an 

24 amount equivalent to the amount of excise taxes 

25 that the employee would pay under such chapVerDate Mar 15 2010 07:29 Feb 26, 2013 Jkt 029200 PO 00000 Frm 00007 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H707.IH H707

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1 ter 21 with respect to such employment if it 

2 were considered employment for the purposes of 

3 such Act. 

4 (3) EXPENDITURES FROM TRUST FUND.— 

5 (A) USE OF EMPLOYER CONTRIBUTIONS

6 FOR ADMINISTRATION.—Amounts described in 

7 paragraph (2)(A) paid into the trust fund shall 

8 be used for the purpose of administering and 

9 enforcing the program under this section and 

10 for the cost of the cards issued under sub11 section (k). 

12 (B) USE OF EMPLOYEE CONTRIBUTIONS

13 FOR REPAYMENT OF EMPLOYEE CONTRIBU14 TIONS UPON RETURN TO COUNTRY OF ORI15 GIN.—Except as provided in subparagraph (C), 

16 amounts described in paragraph (2)(B) paid 

17 into the trust fund with respect to a non18 immigrant agricultural worker shall, upon ap19 plication by the worker at the United States 

20 consulate nearest the worker’s residence in the 

21 country of origin, be paid to the worker if the 

22 worker demonstrates the compliance of the 

23 worker with the terms and conditions of the 

24 program. 


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1 (C) USE OF EMPLOYEE CONTRIBUTIONS

2 ATTRIBUTABLE TO HI TAXES FOR EMERGENCY

3 MEDICAL SERVICES FOR NONIMMIGRANT AGRI4 CULTURAL WORKERS.— 

5 (i) IN GENERAL.—Amounts described 

6 in paragraph (2)(B) paid into the trust 

7 fund which relate to excise tax in section 

8 3101(b) of the Internal Revenue Code of 

9 1986 shall be used to provide payment 

10 with respect to emergency medical services 

11 (as defined in clause (iii)) for non12 immigrant agricultural workers. 

13 (ii) ADMINISTRATION.—The Secretary 

14 of Agriculture shall establish rules, in con15 sultation with the Secretary of Health and 

16 Human Services, with respect to the pay17 ments under this subparagraph, including 

18 methods for determining qualifications for 

19 payment and the amount of payment to be 

20 made with respect to emergency medical 

21 services. 

22 (iii) EMERGENCY MEDICAL SERVICES

23 DEFINED.—In this subparagraph, the term 

24 ‘‘emergency medical services’’ means those 

25 items and services required to be provided 


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1 under section 1867 of the Social Security 

2 Act (42 U.S.C. 1395dd) with respect to an 

3 individual who is a nonimmigrant agricul4 tural worker and does not include items 

5 and services for which coverage under 

6 workers’ compensation is required under 

7 subsection (f)(3) with respect to the work8 er. 

9 (i) SEMIANNUAL REPORTS TO CONGRESS.—The Sec10 retary of Agriculture shall report to Congress semiannu11 ally regarding the program under this section. Each such 

12 report shall include a statement of the number of non13 immigrant visas issued under the program, an evaluation 

14 of the effectiveness of the program, a description of any 

15 problems related to the enforcement of the program, and 

16 any recommendations for legislation relating to the pro17 gram. 

18 (j) PROGRAM NAME AND ADMINISTRATOR

19 CHANGED.—Section 218 of the Immigration and Nation20 ality Act (8 U.S.C. 1188), as amended by this Act, is fur21 ther amended— 

22 (1) by striking ‘‘H–2A worker’’ each place it 

23 appears and inserting ‘‘STRAW worker’’; and 


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1 (2) by striking ‘‘Secretary of Labor’’ each place 

2 it appears and inserting ‘‘Secretary of Agriculture’’. 

Æ 


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