House introduces a bipartisan bill seeking to make it easier for farmers and ranchers to hire immigrants

The U.S. House this week introduced a bipartisan bill seeking to make it easier for farmers and ranchers to hire immigrants, as trade and other issues affecting the meat industry come to the fore on Capitol Hill.The debut of the Agricultural Guestworker Act and Legal Workforce Act arose as Congress also prepares to move on the farm bill and mulls the crafting of legislation that would shelter livestock producers from the effects of retaliation against President Trump’s tariffs on foreign trading partners.Championed by House Judiciary Chairman Bob Goodlatte (R-Va.) and supported by the meat industry, the proposed H-2C program would be available to both seasonal and year-round agricultural employers and expand visa allocations over what current law provides. The proposed legislation also would repeal the I-9 system and instead require employers to use E-Verify to confirm the eligibility of their employees to work in the United States.In other legislative action this week, the House sent the farm bill to conference committee. The Senate reportedly will hold its own motion to go to conference sometime next week. Meanwhile, both sides will select conferees to negotiate differences."Today, we move one step closer to delivering a strong, new farm bill to the president's desk on time as he has called on Congress to do,” House Agriculture Committee Chairman K. Michael Conaway said in a statement. “America's farmers and ranchers and rural America are struggling right now and they deserve the certainty of a strong farm bill to see them through to better times.”Tough times may lie ahead for U.S. livestock producers who already are feeling the effectsof retaliation against Trump’s tariffs on aluminum and steel imports as the means to win trade disputes.And U.S. lawmakers, according to media reports, are now threatening to enact legislation that would curb the president’s trade authority.The Senate has held a test vote on a measure giving Congress more influence over the president’s use of Section 232 tariffs, and the House has introduced an identical bill.