The U.S. Senate is working to a close a deal on an immigration bill called the Farm Workforce Modernization Act, which famers say could help them hire more workers, thus reducing food costs, NPR reported. The bill is focused mostly on "updating the food production workforce, a system some call outdated and that has led to higher food prices especially for dairy, meat and vegetables," the article reads.
It would allow farmers and food producers to hire temporary workers—who use the H-2A visa program—all year instead of just seasonally. "Consumers are seeing high costs of milk, produce, fruits, meat, and eggs in the supermarket because the Senate has not acted," said Rebecca Shi, executive director of the American Immigration Business Coalition, in a press conference last week. "Fix our broken immigration system and combat the rising cost of food in our country."
"The bill would establish a program for foreign agricultural workers 'to earn legal status through continued agricultural employment.' That status would be contingent upon an individual working 'at least 180 days in agriculture over the last 2 years' and would then be renewable if he or she performs farm work at least 100 days per year," reads an article from Reason.