H.R. 6122: BARN Act

BARN Act

This bill makes dramatic changes to the H-2A agricultural guestworker program:

• Moves oversight of the program from the Department of Labor (focused on labor protections) to the Department of Agriculture (focused on agricultural interests);
• Caps the Adverse Effect Wage Rate (AEWR) at 115% of the greater of the Federal or State minimum wage (which would significantly reduce wages in some States); 
• Ends the 50% rule, which is where agricultural employers would be required to hire American workers who applied until 50% of the work was done;
• Allow employers to require experience in job offers (illegal labor doesn't count);
• Allows employers to provide a "reasonable housing allowance" instead of physical housing as required under current law;
• Requires the Secretary of Agriculture to approve applications within 15 days, and if a deadline is missed, applications are automatically approved;
• Expands the H-2A program to include packing, processing, freezing, grading, etc., of commodities in their unmanufactured state (this expands H-2A into meat packing and processing, which would be a massive expansion of the program);
• Places new restrictions on Legal Services Corporation (LSC) activities-
  • Limits legal assistance to aliens who are physically present in the U.S., and after attempted mediation;
  • Must respect arbitration agreements; and
  • LSC recipients and employees can't enter employer property without any appointment; and
• Alters the visa duration from 1 year with possible extensions to 3 years to 1 year with a single extension, after which the H-2A must return home for at least 2 months.