A new agriculture bill just dropped in the House of Representatives. It features: Granting amnesty to illegal aliens present in the United States....

X ^ | 7/19/26 | Steve Ferguson

[blueyon]

A new agriculture bill just dropped in the House of Representatives. It features:

Granting amnesty to illegal aliens present in the United States as of May 31, 2026, who meet minimal agricultural work history requirements.

How many illegal aliens will claim to be agriculture workers?

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TOPICS: Miscellaneous; News/Current Events; Politics/Elections
KEYWORDS: amnesty; cheaplabor; democrats; gop; illegals; jobs; labor; pickers

[blueyon]

Rep. Thompson, Glenn [R-PA-15] (Introduced bill on 06/30/2026). H.R.9535 - Securing Agriculture's Workforce Act of 2026 I am reading it and do not understand much about it. Can freepers help - what is this bill about?

[Paladin2]

Dropped?

Like a turd?

[blackdog]

And to think the establishment in this country celebrates the abolition of slavery???!!!

Different times call for different plantation structures.

I'm sick and nauseated by our body politic.

[blackdog]

Great. Farm Fraud.

[Libloather]

BUT WHO WILL PICK THE CROPS?

[E. Pluribus Unum]

H.R.9535 - Securing Agriculture's Workforce Act of 2026

Summary of Bill

H.R. 9535, the Securing Agriculture’s Workforce Act of 2026, is a bipartisan bill introduced on June 30, 2026, by Rep. Glenn Thompson (R-PA) and over 50 cosponsors (mostly Republicans with a few Democrats). It was referred to the House Judiciary Committee and remains in the introduced stage.

PurposeThe bill aims to modernize and streamline the H-2A temporary agricultural worker visa program under Section 218 of the Immigration and Nationality Act. It seeks to make the program more accessible, efficient, and reliable for U.S. agricultural employers facing labor shortages while maintaining protections for workers and U.S. labor.

Key Provisions

• Streamlined Certification and Processing:
  • Shifts primary authority references from the Attorney General to the Secretary of Homeland Security.
  • Requires the Department of Labor (DOL) to issue labor certifications no later than 30 days before the needed start date if recruitment and other criteria are met.
  • Allows multi-year (up to 3 years) labor certifications.
  • Simplifies and expedites processes for modifications, subsequent employment petitions, and staggered worker entry/exit dates (within limits).
• Housing Reforms:
  • Updates housing standards to focus on essential health and safety (local, then state, then federal standards).
  • Allows certifications/inspections valid for up to 3 years (with possible state delegation).
  • Sets a maximum daily housing charge deductible from wages based on HUD fair market rent data for 4-bedroom units.
• Recruitment and Job Registry:
  • Enhances the electronic job registry and recruitment rules.
  • Employers must continue accepting U.S. worker referrals until the last H-2A worker arrives.
• Joint Employers and Associations:
  • Expands who can file petitions (associations, joint employers, and other entities).
  • Clarifies liability (generally limited to the filer or knowing participants).
  • Provides flexibility on hours for joint setups (minimum 1 hour per 30-day period per employer).
• Additional Flexibilities:
  • Special procedures for unique agricultural work (e.g., livestock herding, beekeeping, custom harvesting).
  • Required heat illness prevention plans with training, water/shade access, and emergency protocols.
  • Force majeure provisions allowing contract termination due to natural disasters or uncontrollable events (with transfer efforts and notification).
  • Allows H-2A worker transfers between certified employers.
  • Certain inadmissibility/deportability waivers for prior conduct related to agricultural work (with eligibility criteria and limitations).
• Agency Roles and Efficiency:
  • Clarifies responsibilities across DHS, DOL, State, and USDA.
  • Prioritizes H-2A visa processing, including possible interview waivers for returning workers.
  • Creates a streamlined online platform.
  • Deems H-2A processing functions essential during government funding lapses.
• Effective Date: Amendments generally take effect one year after enactment; interim final rules are permitted.

Overall ImpactThe bill focuses on reducing bureaucratic delays, increasing program flexibility for seasonal and varying labor needs, controlling costs (e.g., housing), and improving predictability for farmers while including worker safeguards (e.g., heat safety, recruitment of U.S. workers) and protections against employer abuse. It has a low estimated chance of enactment in its current form based on typical legislative prognosis.

For the full text, see the official version: https://www.congress.gov/bill/119th-congress/house-bill/9535/text.

[Veto!]

No clue re that bill. but many years ago there was a good system in place. Mexican workers climbed on special trains, worked the fields, made some money, got housed and fed, and returned to Mexico on a certain date.

I remember very clearly seeing black and while videos of them on tv. and also, seeing little houses set up for them in the fields when I drove past them goning from LA to sf and back again. workers were known to field owners and everyone else who needed to know who they were. an excellent system but would it work today with drugs the big business in that area now?

[Jim Noble]

The GOP is going to keep grinding ahead to get amnesty for illégal aliens until they get it.

Vance/Gabbard 2028 Restore America.

Until D+R in the House is <218 we will never make progress.

[Freedom4US]

Have they re-defined what “Amnesty” means?

Isn’t it sort of implied by the way they use that word? In any case, we’ve seen this movie before many times.

They are rewarding illegal actions, thus ensuring a continuation of same. They have created an “Attractive Nuisance” by offering incentives to migrate illegally to the U.S.A., this is not the proper role or function of our government and never has.

[Jim Noble]

“But who will pick the crops?”

McCormick, International Harvester, and John Deere.

[meyer]

These idiots won’t learn. All illegals should be run out of the country. Violently if necessary. Enough of this BS already!

[E. Pluribus Unum]

Does H.R.9535 - Securing Agriculture's Workforce Act of 2026 grant amnesty to illegal aliens present in the unites states?

https://x.com/i/grok/share/0bc36508c3114cd9869781b4890e55d9

Yes, the bill provides a form of targeted amnesty (legalization with waivers) for certain illegal aliens who worked in U.S. agriculture.

Key Provisions from the Bill Text (H.R. 9535)The bill amends Section 218 of the Immigration and Nationality Act (H-2A program) and adds a new waiver subsection (roughly (h)(7) in the amended text):

• It waives key grounds of inadmissibility (INA §212(a)) and deportability (INA §237(a)), including:
  • Unlawful presence (3- and 10-year bars).
  • Illegal entry.
  • Certain document fraud.
  • Other related violations for conduct before the alien first receives H-2A status.
• Eligibility (for aliens who were unlawfully present on May 31, 2026, or who voluntarily departed):
  • Performed agricultural labor/services in the U.S. for at least 180 days (minimum 5.75 hours/day) during the 2-year period ending on the date of enactment.
• These individuals can then obtain H-2A nonimmigrant status (temporary agricultural worker visa), which is renewable/extendable under the bill’s reforms (e.g., up to 350 days/year contracts, multi-year certifications, year-round sectors like dairy).
• Employer protections (amnesty for hirers):
  • Employers can continue employing these aliens while applications are pending without violating illegal hiring rules (INA §274A).
  • Records of prior unlawful employment cannot be used for prosecuting the employer (civil or criminal), with limited exceptions for fraud.

Context and Scope

• Not a broad amnesty or pathway to citizenship: It is limited to agricultural workers meeting the work-history test, converts them to legal H-2A guest worker status (nonimmigrant, no automatic green card/citizenship path in the bill), and includes background checks. Supporters (e.g., farm groups) describe it as a practical transition for the existing workforce.
• Critics (e.g., NumbersUSA, Immigration Accountability Project) call it amnesty because it rewards past illegal presence/entry and illegal hiring by granting legal status and protections.
  iaproject.org
• The bill also broadly expands the H-2A program (year-round access, streamlined processing, wage controls, etc.), which is its main focus.
  usarice.com

The bill was introduced on June 30, 2026, and referred to the House Judiciary Committee (as of available info). It has bipartisan cosponsors but faces opposition from some Republicans prioritizing border enforcement first.

For the full text, see the official link you provided. This is a narrow but real legalization mechanism for a specific group of unauthorized agricultural workers.

[Rockingham]

Train American citizens, pay them well and treat them well, and use advanced machinery, and they can pick our crops.

[BenLurkin]

Sheesh, these are sneaky bassturds.

[ridesthemiles]

LOTS OF REASONS WHY ILLEGALS DO OT BELONG IN THE USA:

MANY YEARS AGO, IN CALIF: THERE WERE PEOPLE DYING FROM EATING WATERMELONS. THEY FINALLY TRACED THE MELONS TO A ROADSIDE FRUIT STAND ALONG I-5.

TOOK WEEKS TO FIGURE IT OUT.

TURNS OUT AN ILLEGAL FROM MEXICO WAS TOLD TO SPREAD SOME FERTILIZING ITEMS ONTO A FIELD. HE TOOK BAGS THAT NOT ONLY WERE MARKED “POISON” BUT ACTUALLY HAD LARKING OF “SKULL & CROSSBONES” ON BOTH SIDES OF THE BAGS.

HE NOT ONLY COULD NOT READ/SPEAK ENGLISH-—HE WAS IGNORANT OF THE SKULL & CROSSBONES MARKINGS.

HE POISONED MULTIPLE FIELDS.

ALMOST BANKRUPTED THE FARMER.

[Harmless Teddy Bear]

From the 1920-50 we had a moratorium on mass migration for two reasons. One was we had enough people, the second was that our prior migrants needed time to settle in and become Americanize.

In the 1960s JFK and the Dims decided that importing the world was a swell idea to prevent wages going up and general American prosperity and unity. They wanted to import a slave class. Although they did not put it that way that is what they wanted.

It is no different now.

Certain people in power still want a slave class.

Once you look at it that way it quickly becomes obvious.

[ridesthemiles]

CEASAR CHAVEZ GOT LEGISLATION PASSED IN CALIF THAT PROHIBITED MECHANICAL HARVESTING...

NOT KIDDING

ALL THE FIELDS OF TOMATOES FOR HUNT’S ARE GONE ALONG HWY I-5.

[Socon-Econ]

The rest of us need reparations for the costs that the bottom dwellers impose from crime, fatherless kids, disdain for education, incompetent DEI hiring, unhealthy habits, failure to save, etc.

[escapefromboston]

Congress is always on the look out to make America as bad as possible

[ridesthemiles]

THEY GET LET IN-—THEY NEVER GET REMOVED