I 

116TH CONGRESS 

1ST SESSION H. R. 3740 

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 

JULY 12, 2019 

Mr. CRAWFORD introduced the following bill; which was referred to the Committee on the Judiciary, and in addition to the Committees on Energy 

and Commerce, and Education and Labor, 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 ‘‘Agricultural Guest 

5 Worker Reform Initiative Act of 2019’’ or as the ‘‘AGRI 

6 Act of 2019’’. 


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1 SEC. 2. IN GENERAL. 

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

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

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

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

6 defined in’’. 

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

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

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

10 (2) by striking subparagraph (B). 

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

12 (8 U.S.C. 1188(a)(1)(B)) is amended by striking the pe13 riod at the end and inserting ‘‘, except that no employer 

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

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

16 rates.’’. 

17 (d) LEGAL ASSISTANCE FROM THE LEGAL SERVICES

18 CORPORATION; EXPEDITED PROCEDURES FOR REPLACE19 MENT OF AN ABSCONDED WORKER.—Section 218(h) of 

20 such Act (8 U.S.C. 1188(h)) is amended by adding at the 

21 end the following: 

22 ‘‘(3)(A) The Legal Services Corporation may not pro23 vide legal assistance for, or on behalf of, any alien, and 

24 may not provide financial assistance to any person or enti25 ty that provides legal assistance for, or on behalf of, any 

26 alien, unless— 


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

2 the time the legal assistance is provided; and 

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

4 in good faith, mediation or other non-binding dis5 pute resolution of all issues involving all such par6 ties. 

7 ‘‘(B) If an employer and a nonimmigrant having sta8 tus under section 101(a)(15)(H)(ii)(a) have an arbitration 

9 arrangement, the Legal Services Corporation shall respect 

10 the arbitration process and outcome. 

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

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

13 permit any recipient of a grant or contract under section 

14 1007 of the Legal Services Corporation Act (42 U.S.C. 

15 2996f), or any employee of such a recipient, to enter upon 

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

17 has a pre-arranged appointment with a specific non18 immigrant having such status. 

19 ‘‘(4) If any agricultural guest worker absconds from 

20 his or her place of employment, the Secretary of Home21 land Security, in coordination with the Secretary of State, 

22 the Secretary of Agriculture, and the Secretary of Labor, 

23 shall establish expedited procedures for permitting the em24 ployer to import a agricultural guest worker to replace the 

25 absconded worker.’’. 


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

2 U.S.C. 1188) is amended by adding at the end the fol3 lowing: 

4 ‘‘(j) LENGTH OF STAY.—An agricultural guest work5 er who enters the United States may remain in the United 

6 States for a period of not more than 11 months. The agri7 cultural guest worker may not enter the United States on 

8 an additional visa under section 101(a)(15)(H)(ii)(c) un9 less the agricultural guest worker first returns to that 

10 worker’s country of origin for a period of not less than 

11 1 month. An agricultural guest worker may enter and re12 main in the United States for a total of not more than 

13 3 years.’’. 

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

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

16 ‘‘(4) HOUSING.—Except for agricultural guest 

17 workers who are reasonably able to return to their 

18 permanent residence (either within or outside the 

19 United States) within the same day, the employer 

20 will provide housing to agricultural guest workers 

21 through one of the following means: 

22 ‘‘(A) Employer-owned housing in accord23 ance with regulations promulgated by the Sec24 retary of Agriculture. 


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1 ‘‘(B) Rental or public accommodations or 

2 other substantially similar class of habitation in 

3 accordance with regulations promulgated by the 

4 Secretary of Agriculture. 

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

6 State has certified that there is inadequate 

7 housing available in the area of intended em8 ployment for migrant farm workers and agricul9 tural guest workers seeking temporary housing 

10 while employed in agricultural work, the em11 ployer may furnish the worker with a housing 

12 voucher in accordance with regulations, if— 

13 ‘‘(i) the employer has verified that 

14 housing is available for the period during 

15 which the work is to be performed, within 

16 a reasonable commuting distance of the 

17 place of employment, for the amount of the 

18 voucher provided, and that the voucher is 

19 useable for that housing; 

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

21 seeking assistance in locating housing for 

22 which the voucher will be accepted, the em23 ployer makes a good faith effort to assist 

24 the worker in identifying, locating, and seVerDate Sep 11 2014 02:05 Jul 23, 2019 Jkt 089200 PO 00000 Frm 00005 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H3740.IH H3740

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1 curing housing in the area of intended em2 ployment; and 

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

4 with a housing voucher that is only re5 deemable by the housing owner or their 

6 agent. 

7 An employer who provides housing through one of 

8 the foregoing means shall not be deemed a housing 

9 provider under section 203 of the Migrant and Sea10 sonal Agricultural Worker Protection Act (29 U.S.C. 

11 1823) by virtue of providing such housing.’’. 

12 (g) ABSCONDING ALIENS.—Section 218(f) of such 

13 Act (8 U.S.C. 1188(f)) is amended by adding at the end 

14 the following: ‘‘If the alien absconds, the employer shall 

15 not be liable for any violation of this section. The employer 

16 may, in a civil action, recover any costs of transportation 

17 paid to the alien and any fees paid pertaining to the im18 porting of the alien.’’. 

19 (h) BIOMETRIC IDENTIFICATION CARD.—The Sec20 retary of Homeland Security shall provide each non21 immigrant agricultural worker with an identification card 

22 that contains— 

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

24 identification strip that is unique to the alien to 

25 whom the card is issued; 


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1 (2) biometric identifiers, including fingerprints 

2 and a digital photograph; and 

3 (3) physical security features designed to pre4 vent tampering, counterfeiting, or duplication of the 

5 card for fraudulent purposes. 

6 (i) TRUST FUND.— 

7 (1) ESTABLISHMENT.—The Secretary of Agri8 culture shall establish by regulation a trust fund the 

9 purpose of which is to provide, without further ap10 propriation, funds for the administration and the en11 forcement of the program under this section, for the 

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

13 monetary incentive for nonimmigrant agricultural 

14 workers to return to their country of origin upon ex15 piration of their visas under the program, and for 

16 payment with respect to emergency medical services 

17 furnished to nonimmigrant agricultural workers. The 

18 Secretary of Agriculture in consultation with the 

19 Secretary of the Treasury shall promulgate such 

20 other regulations as may be necessary to carry out 

21 this subsection. 

22 (2) PAYMENT OF FICA AND FUTA AMOUNTS

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

24 a nonimmigrant agricultural worker— 


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1 (A) the employer shall provide for payment 

2 into the trust fund established under paragraph 

3 (1) of the sum of— 

4 (i) an amount equivalent to the 

5 amount of excise taxes which the employer 

6 would pay under chapter 21 of the Internal 

7 Revenue Code of 1986 with respect to such 

8 employment if it were considered employ9 ment for the purpose of such Act; and 

10 (ii) an amount equivalent to (and in 

11 lieu of) the amount of excise taxes which 

12 the employer would otherwise pay under 

13 chapter 23 of such Code with respect to 

14 such employment; and 

15 (B) there shall be deducted from the wages 

16 of the worker and paid into such trust fund an 

17 amount equivalent to the amount of excise taxes 

18 that the employee would pay under such chap19 ter 21 with respect to such employment if it 

20 were considered employment for the purposes of 

21 such Act. 

22 (3) EXPENDITURES FROM TRUST FUND.— 

23 (A) USE OF EMPLOYER CONTRIBUTIONS

24 FOR ADMINISTRATION.—Amounts described in 

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


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1 be used for the purpose of administering and 

2 enforcing the program under this section and 

3 for the cost of the cards issued under sub4 section (k). 

5 (B) USE OF EMPLOYEE CONTRIBUTIONS

6 FOR REPAYMENT OF EMPLOYEE CONTRIBU7 TIONS UPON RETURN TO COUNTRY OF ORI8 GIN.—Except as provided in subparagraph (C), 

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

10 into the trust fund with respect to a non11 immigrant agricultural worker shall, upon ap12 plication by the worker at the United States 

13 consulate nearest the worker’s residence in the 

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

15 worker demonstrates the compliance of the 

16 worker with the terms and conditions of the 

17 program. 

18 (C) USE OF EMPLOYEE CONTRIBUTIONS

19 ATTRIBUTABLE TO HI TAXES FOR EMERGENCY

20 MEDICAL SERVICES FOR NONIMMIGRANT AGRI21 CULTURAL WORKERS.— 

22 (i) IN GENERAL.—Amounts described 

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

24 fund which relate to excise tax in section 

25 3101(b) of the Internal Revenue Code of 


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1 1986 shall be used to provide payment 

2 with respect to emergency medical services 

3 (as defined in clause (iii)) for non4 immigrant agricultural workers. 

5 (ii) ADMINISTRATION.—The Secretary 

6 of Agriculture shall establish rules, in con7 sultation with the Secretary of Health and 

8 Human Services, with respect to the pay9 ments under this subparagraph, including 

10 methods for determining qualifications for 

11 payment and the amount of payment to be 

12 made with respect to emergency medical 

13 services. 

14 (iii) EMERGENCY MEDICAL SERVICES

15 DEFINED.—In this subparagraph, the term 

16 ‘‘emergency medical services’’ means those 

17 items and services required to be provided 

18 under section 1867 of the Social Security 

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

20 individual who is a nonimmigrant agricul21 tural worker and does not include items 

22 and services for which coverage under 

23 workers’ compensation is required under 

24 subsection (f)(3) with respect to the work25 er. 


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1 (j) SEMIANNUAL REPORTS TO CONGRESS.—The Sec2 retary of Agriculture shall report to Congress semiannu3 ally regarding the program under this section. Each such 

4 report shall include a statement of the number of non5 immigrant visas issued under the program, an evaluation 

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

7 problems related to the enforcement of the program, and 

8 any recommendations for legislation relating to the pro9 gram. 

10 (k) PROGRAM NAME AND ADMINISTRATOR

11 CHANGED.—Section 218 of the Immigration and Nation12 ality Act (8 U.S.C. 1188), as amended by this Act, is fur13 ther amended— 

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

15 appears and inserting ‘‘agricultural guest worker’’; 

16 and 

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

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

Æ 


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