H.R. 6122: BARN Act


Quick Facts:

Bill Sponsor: Rep. Rick Allen (R-GA-12)

Congress: 119

Date Introduced: Nov. 19, 2025

Last Action: Referred to the House Committee on the Judiciary. (Nov. 19, 2025)

View on Congress.gov

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.

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