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California lawmakers will consider a bill aimed at expanding protections for migrant workers coming to California through a temporary work visa program for work in agriculture, nursing, national care and other industries.
This bill, Congressional Bill 1362, requires that all contracted foreign workers recruiters register with the state and follow rules aimed at preventing the exploitation of migrant workers. For example, it prohibits workers from charging recruitment fees and creating legal remedies for labor violations.
Also known as the “Temporary Migrant Workers’ Trafficking Act,” the bill was recently introduced by Rep. Ash Kala (D-San José).
“For too long, the majority of temporary foreign workers have not been protected and are subject to documented abuse of non-crude foreign workers employers. Companies also risk prey to exploitation [recruiters] Kara said in a statement on the bill on Monday.
Anti-trafficking advocates say temporary visa programs are frequently exploited due to lack of federal oversight, and workers are subject to human trafficking due to false promises and illegal schemes by third-party workers recruiters.
To remedy these issues, California passed the law in 2014, Senate Bill 477, which required foreign workers recruiters to register with the state and adhere to the protections of certain workers. It also requires workers to receive fair and clear terms of contracts and requires recruiters to pay bonds to cover funds for potential violations, and prohibits retaliation against workers who exercise their rights of work.
However, only slivers of recruiters for foreign workers who bring in those migrant workers will be subject to these rules, said Stephanie Richard, director of the Anti-Trafficking Initiative at Sunita Jaina, an organization of Loyola Law Schools that supports the newly introduced law.
During the regulatory process that hashed how SB 477 is enforced, the law was narrowly interpreted as only applicable to H-2B visas, she said.
Of the approximately 350,000 migrant workers employed in California through a temporary work visa program, only about 5,000 have been brought through H-2B visas, according to Kalra’s Office.
AB 1362 extends existing protections to foreign labor contractors recruiting all other temporary work visa programs, with two exceptions: recruiters for J-1 exchange visitor visas (usually used by researchers and students) and recruiters for talent agency.
Richard said he believes it is important for lawmakers to pass these protections given the looming threat of Trump’s immigration enforcement measures.
“We know that if a portion of our workforce is deported, businesses will demand more temporary workers and there will be less federal surveillance that will lead to more exploitation,” she said.
Previous efforts to modify languages to extend protection to other workers with temporary work visas have been opposed by Western growers ASSN. Business groups representing farmers growing produce in California, Arizona, Colorado and New Mexico are generally opposed to changes that say they could delay the process of bringing immigrant farm workers to California through the H-2A visa program or increase costs.
Western growers president Dave Puglia has said in recent weeks that a key aspect of American food production has become increasingly tense due to the shortage of workers.
In a recent opinion article in the Trade Publications, he writes that foreign visa programs that help guide workers here need to be expanded to better meet the needs of farmers, and should be removed as much as possible, whether it is a threat to workplace immigration enforcement raids or bureaucratic bottlenecks.
Western grower’s assn. We did not respond immediately to requests for comment on the new bill.
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