ATLANTA, Georgia (WALB) – A new rule designed to benefit foreign seasonal agricultural workers is being challenged in federal court in the state of Georgia.
According to the Atlanta Journal-Constitution (AJC), Georgia has joined with a coalition of Republican-led states – and a group of Georgia farmers – to block a new federal regulation that would provide expanded protections for migrant workers on temporary visas.
The new rule, which is due to come into force this summer, reiterates that farmers are prohibited from retaining or confiscating their workers' passports and requires that vehicles transporting workers be equipped with seat belts.
It also allows workers to invite guests to stay in employer-provided housing – under the H-2A migrant agricultural worker program, employers are required to provide free housing to their seasonal workers, most of whom are from Latin America, the press release said.
Those behind the lawsuit say the new organizational rights amount to state overreach and carry the risk that growers will have to give up their business.
Attorney Braden Boucek of the Southeastern Legal Foundation says, “This rule imposes costs on food producers at a time when Americans are already suffering from high food prices. Before these costs are implemented, the American people should be given the opportunity to debate them and hold their elected politicians accountable for their decisions. That is not possible with the unelected bureaucrats responsible for this rule.”
The lawsuit against the Biden administration's Department of Labor, the federal agency responsible for overseeing the H-2A program, was filed in Brunswick.
The only two nongovernmental entities involved in the lawsuit are the Georgia Fruit and Vegetable Growers Association, a trade group, and Miles Berry Farm, a 400-acre blueberry producer in Appling County.
Further information on the regulation and the lawsuit can be found here.
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