WASHINGTON (AP) — The Labor Department is taking another crack at rolling back a Bush administration regulation that made it easier for farmers to hire temporary foreign farm workers.
The agency is proposing a new rule that would boost wages and increase safeguards for thousands of seasonal workers brought in each year to help farmers pick their crops.
If the proposed rule is adopted, it would largely reverse a regulation finalized shortly before President George W. Bush left office.
The Labor Department tried to suspend the Bush rule earlier this year, but farm groups successfully challenged the decision in federal court.
Farm growers say the changes to the H-2A guest worker program will make it more cumbersome and expensive for them to hire foreign workers for tough field jobs that most Americans don't want.
