Congress caps temporary farm workers to protect U.S. farmworkers' wages
H.R. 7541 — U.S. Farmworker Protection Act · Filed by Pramila Jayapal (D-WA) · 9 cosponsors · Introduced Feb 12, 2026 · Referred to committee
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What it does
This bill caps the H-2A temporary agricultural worker program at 400,000 certified positions per fiscal year, down from the current 384,865 in 2024. Positions filled by workers represented by a labor union with a collective bargaining agreement are exempt from the cap. The bill's stated purpose is to protect U.S. farmworkers from wage depression and displacement as the H-2A program has grown 5-fold since 2008.
Why we flagged it
The bill's operative mechanism is a numerical cap on temporary worker certifications, framed as domestic labor protection. It is substantively a labor-supply restriction designed to improve conditions for U.S. farmworkers by reducing competition from temporary foreign workers.
What the text implies
- The exemption for unionized positions creates a strong incentive for agricultural employers to either accept unionization or reduce their reliance on H-2A workers, potentially accelerating labor organizing in agriculture.
- A 400,000 cap is only ~4% below the 2024 level (384,865), suggesting the bill may have limited immediate impact on hiring but could constrain future growth and signal a policy shift.
The full analysis lists 4 implications of this text.
Who stands to gain
U.S. farmworkers (wage and employment protection); labor unions (incentive to organize agricultural workers)