House Agriculture Committee Chairman Glenn “GT” Thompson, while on the road to discuss the Securing Agriculture’s Workforce Act, or SAWA, joined AgriTalk with an update on the overhaul of the H-2A program.
If passed, SAWA would mark the first major statutory reform to the H-2A guest worker visa program since its inception in 1986.
Thompson says SAWA has been assigned to the House Judiciary Committee, but so far has had no movement.
“It is desperately needed,” Thompson says, noting that more than 600 organizations have shown support for the bill, which has 60 cosponsors.
Thompson, who will be on the road this week, says he’s working to build momentum and enthusiasm among farmers to help get the bill across the finish line.
“When you look at the status of the nation, the status of agriculture, the implications of not having workforce, people were surprised when I described to them what we’re talking about with SAWA,” he says.
Thompson says that, unfortunately, there has been some misinformation about H-2A that has impacted the bill’s progress for now.
“They were just not informed. … They spoke out in ignorance,” he says.
Thompson reiterates that the H-2A guest worker visa program is a “non-amnesty, non-immigration, temporary ag worker visa created under Ronald Reagan.”
“The truth matters, facts matter,” he says. “This is non-amnesty, non-immigration. There’s no pathway to stay here.”
Thompson says the current state of the H-2A guest worker program has been corrupted in recent years to the point where “it led a lot of farmers to bankruptcy with what they did with raising fees and costs.” But the program was originally created as a supplement to the domestic workforce, starting with roughly 11,000 positions.
“Fast forward to 2025, over 400,000 positions [are] advertised,” he says.
And that, Thompson says, highlights the severe need for updates to the program to bolster the nation’s food security.
Previously noting action wouldn’t happen until after the midterm election, Thompson says SAWA is part of a slate of legislation targeting an end-of-year push alongside the farm bill.
“There are vehicles at the end of the year where there’s a lot of bills that need to be moved,” he says.
Thompson says the farm bill is in negotiations.
“I think we’re in a position to preconference 90% of the farm bill,” he says, “There’s no excuse not to get it done by the end of the year.”
This includes measures to address the E15 fuel blend, which he calls “important because it lowers emissions; it brings down the cost of gasoline.”
