On Wednesday, Ted Yoho officially introduced his Labor Certainty for Food Security Act. What makes this guest worker bill different than the Farm Workforce Modernization Act?

The Florida Republican noted his legislation, separates the politically “toxic” Ag guest worker and immigration issues.

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“It doesn’t prevent them from becoming a citizen—it’s not a pathway to citizenship—but it allows them to become legal in this country, and from that point, they can apply for citizenship, just like anybody else.”

Yoho would transfer Ag visa authority away from the Labor Department to USDA, which he said is more sensitive to the needs of agriculture. And his Labor Certainty for Food Security Act would drop worker caps and wage requirements, the American Farm Bureau objected to in the earlier bill.

Meantime, Yoho calls for guest workers to be thoroughly screened before they can enter the country for three-year renewable visas.

“People are automatically enrolled into E-verify system before they come into the country; and we deal also with that group of people that are in this country illegally. We allow them to get into this program.” 

Yoho’s bill calls for biometric Guest Worker ID cards that designate an ag-only job for each worker, while the earlier Farm Workforce Modernization Act risked guest workers with green cards leaving farms for other work.

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