De La Cruz Leads Fair Wages for Farm Workers Act, Codifies Reforms to H-2A Program

WASHINGTON – Congresswoman Monica De La Cruz (TX-15) introduced the Fair Wages for Farm Workers Act (FWFA) to streamline and reform the H-2A program by codifying two recent Department of Labor and Department of Homeland Security rulemakings. The Fair Wages for Farm Workers is supported by the Texas Farm Bureau, and Congresswoman Maria Salazar (FL-27) is an original co-sponsor. "Not only does the Fair Wages for Farm Workers provide wage certainty for farm workers, but it also streamlines the application process to ease agriculture worker shortages facing Texas farmers. I am proud to lead this critical legislation to codify the Administration's reforms to improve and sustain the critical H-2A visa program." - Congresswoman Monica De La Cruz Background: The FWFA (Fair Wages for Farm Workers Act) codifies two recent Trump Administration rulemakings from the Department of Labor (DOL) and Department of Homeland Security (DHS) to streamline and reform our H-2A program. Specifically, the FWFA codifies rulings to: Revise the methodology for determining the Adverse Effect Wage Rates (AEWRs) to use wage data reported for each U.S. state by the Department's Bureau of Labor Statistics (BLS) Occupational Employment and Wage Statistics (OEWS) survey. Streamline the filing process for H-2A applicants by allowing U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Service (USCIS) to begin processing petitions for H-2A temporary agricultural workers while the Department of Labor reviews the request. ###