Devastating farm worker legislation introduced by Republicans with four Dems in support
Devastating farm worker legislation introduced by Republicans.
- Tue, Jul 21 2026 at 1:59 PM
ACT NOW: Devastating farm worker legislation introduced by Republicans.
Can you believe it?! Four Democrats just joined Republican Representative GT Thompson (R-PA) and 45 other Republicans in co-sponsoring legislation to make Trump's farm worker wage cuts into federal law. We need to stop this.
The Securing Agriculture's Workforce Act (SAWA) would massively expand the exploitative H-2A guest worker program to year-round positions, all while expanding the definition of agriculture to include non-agricultural employers and slashing US farm workers' jobs and wages.
This bill enables employers to bring in more guest workers whose legal status and permission to work in the US is at the whim of agricultural employers. This means local worker jobs will be put at risk. Between 2018 and 2023, the US Department of Labor conducted 2,857 investigations of employers that hired H-2A workers and found at least one violation in 84% of cases. More than 40 percent of those violations involved wage-related issues, including worker underpayment and illegal payroll deductions.
Why should we give agricultural employers even more unchecked power to hire workers who cannot change jobs, negotiate higher wages, or demand fairer working conditions without risking the loss or nonrenewal of their visas? Why would an agricultural employer ever hire local farm workers when Congress has made it easier and cheaper to exploit a more vulnerable workforce?
Some of the proposed changes in this bill would:
- Allow year-round industries to access the program by striking “seasonal” and defining “temporary” as up to 350 days.
- Make the Trump Administration's huge wage cuts for farm workers legally permanent.
- Allow ag employers to deduct housing costs from the already-lowered worker pay.
- Dramatically ease the requirements to recruit American farm workers first before recruiting out of country H-2A workers.
That any elected official – especially a Democrat – can back this is disturbing. Do everything they can to block this vile legislation.
- Allow year-round industries to access the program by striking “seasonal” and defining “temporary” as up to 350 days.
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