President Obama believes that our broken immigration system can only be fixed by putting politics aside and offering a complete solution that secures our border, enforces our laws, and reaffirms our heritage as a nation of immigrants. He believes our immigration policy should be driven by our best judgment of what is in the economic interest of the United States and what is in the best interest of the American worker. President Obama recognizes that an orderly, controlled border and an immigration system designed to meet our economic needs are important pillars of a healthy and robust economy.

This bill was most recently introduced in the Senate of the United States on May 14, 2009. It provides for the adjustment of status of certain foreign agricultural workers, amends the Immigration and Nationality Act to reform the H2A worker program under that Act, provides a stable, legal agricultural workforce, to extend basic legal protections and better working conditions to more workers, and for other purposes. Federal legislative information is available via the Internet through the THOMAS system by searching on the bill number (S.1038).

This bill was introduced in the House of Representatives of the United States on September 15, 2009. It makes changes in the Fair Labor Standards Act of 1938 pertaining to child labor on farms. Significant changes to the FSLA are ending an exemption agricultural employers have on oppressive child labor, repeals a waiver that allows 10-12 year old children to hand harvest crops under certain conditions, e stablishes minimum and maximum monetary penalties and imprisonment terms for child labor violations and violations resulting in death or serious injury of child workers, and p rohibits children under the age of 18 from handling pesticides. The changes in these rules do not apply to children working on a farm owned or operated by the child’s parents.