A federal judge in Kentucky has rejected expanded protections put in place by the Biden-Harris administration for foreign agricultural workers who come to the United States on H-2A visas.
On Monday, U.S. District Judge Danny Reeves ruled that Kentucky farmers and Republican judiciaries in Kentucky, Ohio, West Virginia and Alabama argued that the new rules give foreign farm workers the right to negotiate collections. He sided with the Commissioner and issued an injunction. Reeves said Congress, not the Biden-Harris administration, should decide whether to grant H-2A visa holders the right to form unions.
These new rules, which the U.S. Department of Labor took effect in April, include requiring employers not to intimidate, intimidate, or otherwise discriminate against foreign agricultural workers for “activities related to self-organization,” including H-2A Expanded protections for visa holders. “Joint activities aimed at mutual assistance or protection of wages in terms of working conditions.”
“In perhaps the most blatant act of power, the final rule seeks to extend to H-2A workers numerous rights previously unavailable to them through worker voice and empowerment provisions,” Judge Reeves wrote. Ta. “The DOL justifies this attempt to expand regulations in an effort to protect similarly situated American workers and prevent allegations of “unfair treatment'' of H-2A workers by employers. .”
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Temporary agricultural workers with H-2A work visas wait in line to pass through the San Ysidro Port of Entry on their way to seasonal employment in the United States, March 22, 2022 in Tijuana, Mexico. . (Tama Mario/Getty Images)
“The final rule does not so subtly create substantive collective bargaining rights for H-2A agricultural workers through a 'ban' imposed on employers,” Reeves wrote. “By framing these provisions as a mere extension of anti-retaliation policy, the DOL is attempting to confer substantive rights on H-2A workers without Congressional approval.”
The new rules had already been blocked in 17 states based on a preliminary injunction issued by a federal judge in Georgia. Reeves' decision does not apply nationally.
Kentucky Attorney General Russell Coleman speaks during the Fancy Farm Picnic on August 5, 2023 at Fancy Farm, Kentucky. (Ryan C. Harmens/Lexington Herald-Leader/Tribune News Service via Getty Images)
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Congress created the H-2A temporary agricultural visa program through the Immigration Reform and Control Act in 1986 to allow employers to hire. foreign farm worker This is done on a temporary, seasonal basis when there is a shortage of U.S. workers to fill the needed positions. This includes protections for American workers, such as establishing a minimum wage for foreign nationals who come to work under the program.
Barn and masonry outside of the Horse District of Lexington, Kentucky. (Joe Soum/Visions of America/Universal Images Group via Getty Images)
Kentucky Attorney General Russell Coleman said the Biden-Harris administration's rules could have caused “serious and irreparable harm to farmers who are simply trying to survive to put food on Kentucky's tables.” he claimed.
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“We should be working to support Kentucky farmers, not put them out of business. This illegal and unnecessary rule by the Biden-Harris administration will keep farmers' products off grocery store shelves. It would have made it more difficult for farmers to line up their families, further increasing already high farm prices,” Coleman said in a statement. “We will continue to do the right thing for Kentucky farmers.”
