Agriculture and Rural Life

Visas for farmworkers

34 public statements from 2026 candidates

§1The range of views

Why this matters: These rules affect whether farms can find enough workers, what food costs, and farmworkers' pay and working conditions.

Drafted by AI, then checked for neutral wording in a separate AI review. It describes the question and the main positions, not any candidate's view. Facts link to their sources.

The H-2A program, which lets farms that expect a shortage of US workers hire foreign workers for seasonal jobs, if they pay at least a set wage and provide free housing.1,2

  1. Make the program easier and cheaper for farms, including for year-round work like dairy
  2. Keep the program as it is
  3. Raise required wages and worker protections

These options describe policies, not people. The order is not a ranking.

§2What candidates have said

Why this matters: Statements candidates made publicly, summarized in plain words with a link to where they said it. Candidates who haven't spoken publicly on this issue aren't listed.

Drafted by AI from the public sources cited. Each sentence links to its source.

Make the program easier and cheaper for farms, including for year-round work like dairy (9)

  • Joe Courtney CT-2
    His campaign website says he supports the Farm Workforce Modernization Act to help farms, including year-round operations like dairies, hire the workers they need while making sure farmworkers are paid fairly.3
  • Matt Day GA-2
    His campaign website’s Joseph Farm Plan says it would modernize the H-2A visa program to create an affordable, reliable and legal agricultural workforce and make H-2A labor accessible to agricultural processing facilities.4
  • Todd Achilles ID Senate
    His campaign website says he would support efforts to modernize agricultural worker programs so producers have a legal workforce for both seasonal and year-round work.5
  • Ellie Gilbreath ID-2
    Her policies page says she will expand work visas to allow an efficient and legal pathway for seasonal and year-round workers for farms and dairies.6
  • Lauren Underwood IL-14
    Her campaign website says she voted for the Farm Workforce Modernization Act, which it says modernizes and streamlines the temporary agricultural workers program so local businesses have the workers they need without the red tape and extreme financial burden of the current system.7
  • Adam Hamilton KS Senate
    His campaign website says he would change the H-2A farmworker program to allow year-round visas, lower compliance costs and give existing workers a path to legal status.8
  • Greg Murphy NC-3
    His campaign farmers page says he advocates for fair H-2A labor rates and for cutting red tape to cut down on the labor costs that raise farm expenses.9
  • David Rouzer NC-7
    His campaign website's issues page says farms should be able to get the workers they need through simple, affordable guest worker programs, and that the current programs are too bureaucratic and costly.10
  • Gregory G Cunningham NM-2
    His New Mexico Farmers First plan says he will modernize the legal guest worker programs for agriculture, so farms can count on a legal workforce, and reduce the paperwork and costs of hiring legal farm labor.11

Statements that don't match one option (25)

  • Eric Jones CA-4
    His campaign website says the H-2A farmworker visa program should not be expanded until worker housing and wage concerns are resolved, and should then be extended to year-round farm work and made faster for growers.12,13
  • Mike Thompson CA-4
    His campaign website says he supports creating workable guest worker programs for agricultural workers.14
  • Michael Masuda CA-5
    His campaign website says he would create workable legal pathways for farm labor and protect workers from exploitation.15
  • Sam Liccardo CA-16
    His campaign website says he supports a path for migrant farmworkers in the United States to earn legal status through reform of the H-2A visa program.16
  • Ro Khanna CA-17
    His campaign website says he cosponsors the Farm Workforce Modernization Act, which would expand the H-2A farmworker visa program and create a path to residency for longtime farmworkers.17
  • Zoe Lofgren CA-18
    Her official biography says she led the bipartisan negotiations that produced the Farm Workforce Modernization Act, which it says would give an estimated 1.5 million farmworkers a path to legal status and improve the H-2A farm visa program, and which passed the House twice.18
  • Shane Lewis CA-18
    His campaign website says he would expand and reform the H-2A visa program for seasonal farm labor, with background checks and health screenings, English and civics instruction, strict compliance with visa terms and incentives for employers who hire American workers first.19
  • Jim Costa CA-21
    His campaign website says he championed the Farm Workforce Modernization Act to reform the farm labor system.20
  • David G. Valadao CA-22
    His campaign website says developing a guest worker program that gives farms access to a reliable workforce is crucial to the local farm economy.21
  • Bob Smith CA-24
    His campaign website says agricultural and seasonal visa programs should be modernized.22
  • Darren Soto FL-9
    His campaign website says he voted for Homeland Security budgets that made the farmworker visa process more efficient.23
  • Kaylee Peterson ID-1
    Her campaign website says Congress should have passed the Farm Workforce Modernization Act, and calls for streamlining legal application processes and expanding the number of immigration judges.24
  • Mike Simpson ID-2
    His campaign website's immigration page (dated April 2024) says he has worked with farmers and ranchers who depend on guestworker labor to explore options for reforming that program.25
  • Brad A. Meyer IN-9
    His campaign website says he would reform the H-2A program and align immigration policy with agricultural labor needs.26
  • Roger Marshall KS Senate
    His campaign website says Kansas farms depend on the H-2A program, that he has worked on H-2A changes in committee and with Kansas farm groups, and that cutting off legal farm labor is not the answer.27
  • John "Drew" Williams KY-1
    His campaign website proposes creating visa options for year-round agricultural jobs with fair wage requirements and protections allowing workers to change employers, along with clear application timelines for agricultural hiring programs.28
  • John Moolenaar MI-2
    His campaign website says he has supported changes to the Adverse Effect Wage Rate and other steps to give farmers a reliable agricultural workforce and help them manage rising labor costs.29
  • Christian Vukasovich MI-5
    His campaign website says he supports expanding agricultural and seasonal worker programs and ensuring farm and seasonal workers have safe working conditions, fair pay and basic workplace protections.30
  • Trina Swanson MN-8
    It also says she supports a legal, reliable, year-round agricultural workforce and seasonal visas for the workers farmers rely on.31
  • Jordan Herrera MO-4
    His campaign website lists expansion and reform of H-2A agricultural visas.32
  • Deborah K. Ross NC-2
    Her campaign immigration page says she voted for the Farm Workforce Modernization Act, which it says would let farmworkers earn legal status by continuing to work in agriculture and would promote fair wages and working conditions for guest workers.33
  • Mahesh (Max) Ganorkar NC-4
    His campaign website says farming, construction and hospitality businesses need access to seasonal workers, and proposes a labor exchange system in which workers are vetted through U.S. embassies and return home when the work is finished.34
  • Chris Backemeyer NE-1
    His campaign website says he would reform the agricultural workforce system so it works better for farmworkers and for family farmers, ranchers and producers.35
  • Mark Cohen NE-3
    His campaign website says he will push for an agricultural visa system that works for Nebraska's economy, and says tighter visa programs have left farms and other industries short of workers.36
  • James Talarico TX Senate
    His campaign website says he would simplify the application for H-2A farmworker visas while keeping strong labor standards on them.37