Kansas Attorney General Kris Kobach is leading a coalition of 17 states in filing a lawsuit against the Department of Labor under the Biden administration.
The lawsuit challenges a federal regulation that grants collective bargaining rights to foreign farm workers while excluding American farm workers.
In September 2023, the Labor Department introduced a regulation that significantly altered the H-2A visa program, allowing U.S. farms to hire foreign workers for agricultural jobs traditionally held by Americans.
This new rule, which was finalized in April 2024, extended collective bargaining rights to foreign H-2A visa workers while denying such rights to American farm workers.
In response, Kobach and 16 other state attorneys general filed a lawsuit arguing that the Biden administration does not have the authority to amend sections of the National Labor Relations Act (NLRA).
“Once again, Joe Biden is putting America last,” Kobach declared in a statement. “He’s giving political benefits to foreign workers while American workers struggle in Biden’s horrible economy. I stand with American workers.”
The lawsuit highlights:
The Final Rule is not in accordance with federal law. Congress has already clearly spoken on whether agricultural workers have collective bargaining rights and has concluded that they do not. Only Congress can rewrite the NLRA. The Defendants cannot do it through the rulemaking process.
The Final Rule effectively provides NLRA rights to H-2A workers. These are rights that American farmworkers explicitly do not have under federal law. Yet the Final Rule claims that providing these rights for H-2A workers — which similarly situated Americans lack — will somehow prevent adverse effects of American wages.
The lawsuit is asking a federal court to prevent the Labor Department from enforcing the rule, arguing that it violates federal law.
Joining the lawsuit are Arkansas, Florida, Georgia, Idaho, Indiana, Iowa, Louisiana, Missouri, Montana, Nebraska, North Dakota, Oklahoma, South Carolina, Tennessee, Texas, and Virginia.
The H-2A visa program is typically used to replace American workers with cheaper and more flexible sources.
In 1997, over 16,000 foreign H-2A visa workers were brought in to replace American agricultural workers. In Fiscal Year 2022 alone, US farms brought in nearly 300,000 foreign H-2A visa workers to take American jobs.
The lawsuit at hand is Kansas v. US Department of Labor in the US District Court for the Southern District of Georgia.
Kris Kobach has been a leading advocate for immigration restrictions in US politics for the past three decades.
As Kansas Secretary of State from 2011 to 2019, he worked to combat voter fraud and prevent illegal aliens from voting in elections.
In his current role as Attorney General since 2023, he continues to oppose mass migration.
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