A federal judge has blocked the measures implemented by U.S. President Joe Biden to protect agricultural workers with temporary H-2A visas. This immigration program has been in operation since 1986 and allows farmers to temporarily hire workers, primarily from Mexico, when they are unable to find labor within the country.
According to a report by the EFE agency, the U.S. Department of Labor aimed to provide special protection to these employees against retaliation from their supervisors, unsafe working conditions, and illegal recruitment. However, Judge Danny Reeves believes that a measure allowing these immigrants to unionize must be approved by Congress, which is why he has suspended its implementation in the states of Kentucky, Alabama, Ohio, and West Virginia.
It responds in this way to a lawsuit filed by farmers from Kentucky and Republican attorneys general from the other three states.
In this regard, Kentucky Attorney General Russell Coleman stated that the regulation was "illegal and unnecessary" and would have harmed farmers who are simply trying to put food on the table for their families.
In fact, this regulation would have allowed workers with temporary visas to participate in collective bargaining.
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