,i  #aaeth ,,congress  #ast ,session    
,h4 ,r4 #bha  ,,in ,,the ,,house ,,of   
,,representatives  ,january #d1         
#bjag,ms4 ,stefanik introduced the      
following bill2 which was referred to   
the ,committee on the ,judiciary  ,a    
,,bill  ,to amend the ,immigration and  
,nationality ,act to simplify the       
petitioning procedure for ,h-#b;,a      
workers1 to expand the scope of the     
,h-#b;,a program1 and for other         
purposes4  #a4 ,short title ,this ,act  
may be cited as the ,family ,farm       
,relief ,act of #bjag4  #b4 ,secretary  
of ,agriculture to administer ,h-#b;,a  
program  7a7 ,in general ,section #bah  
of the ,immigration and ,nationality    
,act 7#h ,u4,s4,c4 #aahh7 is amended by 
striking the term ,secretary of ,labor  
each place it appears and inserting     
,secretary of ,agriculture4  7b7        
,effective date ,the amendment made by  
subsection 7a7 shall take effect on the 
date that is #a year after the date of  
enactment of this ,act4  #c4 ,electronic

 filing system for ,h-#b;,a petitions   
,not later than #a year after the date  
of enactment of this ,act1 the          
,secretary of ,agriculture shall        
establish a process for receiving       
petitions for nonimmigrant visas under  
section #aja7;a77#ae77;,h77ii77a7 of the
 ,immigration and ,nationality ,act 7#h 
,u4,s4,c4 #aaja7;a77#ae77;,h77ii77a774  
,in establishing such process1 the      
,secretary shall ensure--  7#a7 that    
petitioners may file such petitions over
 the ,internet on an ,internet ,web page
 of the ,secretary2  7#b7 that any      
software developed to process such      
petitions on such ,internet ,web page   
shall indicate to the petitioner any    
technical deficiency in the application 
prior to submission2 and  7#c7 that each
 petitioner shall be able to file such  
petition in a paper format4  #d4 ,repeal
 of #ej-percent domestic workforce      
requirement ,subparagraph 7,b7 of       
section #bah7;c77#c7 of the ,immigration
 and ,nationality ,act 7#h ,u4,s4,c4    

#aahh7;c77#c77 is repealed1 and any rule
 made by the ,secretary of ,labor or the
 ,secretary of ,homeland ,security to   
carry out such subparagraph may not     
continue in effect4  #e4 ,prevailing    
,practices ,survey ,in the case of an   
employer petitioning under section #bah 
of the ,immigration and ,nationality    
,act 7#h ,u4,s4,c4 #aahh71 the          
submission of a prevailing practice     
survey regarding employment practices   
shall not be required4  #f4 ,alteration 
of region of reference ,section         
#bah7;b77#c7 of the ,immigration and    
,nationality ,act 7#h ,u4,s4,c4         
#aahh7;b77#c77 is amended by striking   
within a multi-state region of          
traditional or expected labor supply and
 inserting within an area of #aej square
 miles in the ,united ,states centered  
around the place of employment4  #g4    
,prohibition and repeal of certain rules
  7a7 ,rules regarding recruitment and  
referral requirement ,the ,secretary of 
,agriculture may not make any rule for  

purposes of carrying out section        
#bah7;b77#c7 of the ,immigration and    
,nationality ,act that--  7#a7 requires 
that an employer advertise an offer of  
employment-- 7,a7 on a particular date2 
or  7,b7 in a particular publication2   
7#b7 requires that an employer contact  
workers who the employer employed in the
 prior year or growing season2 or  7#c7 
requires that an employer submit a      
recruitment report4  7b7 ,prohibition on
 requirement of certification by        
employers  7#a7 ,in general ,the        
,secretary of ,agriculture or the       
,secretary of ,homeland ,security may   
not make any rule pertaining to a       
petition under section                  
#aja7;a77#ae77;,h77ii77a7 of the        
,immigration and ,nationality ,act1 that
 requires an employer to provide a      
certification of--  7,a7 recruitment    
advertisements2 or  7,b7 recruitment    
reports4  7#b7 ,rule of construction    
,nothing in this section shall be       
construed as limiting the authority of  

the ,secretary to require an attestation
 regarding such matters from any such   
employer4  7c7 ,repeal of existing rules
 ,any rule that is described in         
subsection 7a7 that is currently in     
effect may not continue in effect       
beginning on the date that is #fj days  
after the date of enactment of this     
,act4  #h4 ,inclusion of certain        
year-round livestock workers  7a7 ,in   
general ,section                        
#aja7;a77#ae77;,h77ii77a7 of the        
,immigration and ,nationality ,act 7#h  
,u4,s4,c4 #aaja7;a77#ae77;,h77ii77a77 is
 amended by inserting 1 labor as a      
year-round livestock worker 7including  
as a dairy worker7 before 1 and the     
pressing of apples for cider4  7b7      
,length of stay for year-,round         
livestock workers ,section #bah of the  
,immigration and ,nationality ,act 7#h  
,u4,s4,c4 #aahh71 as amended by this    
,act1 is further amended by adding at   
the end the following3  7j7 ,special    
rule for year-,round livestock workers  

,notwithstanding any other provision of 
this section1 an ,h-#b;,a worker who is 
admitted for purposes of performing     
labor as a year-round livestock worker  
7including as a dairy worker7 may be    
admitted for a period of not more than  
#c years4 ,at the end of that period1   
the ,secretary of ,homeland ,security   
may not approve a petition to import    
that alien as an ,h-#b;,a worker for a  
period of #c months4 ,such a petition   
may be filed pertaining to that alien   
any number of times4 ,such petition may 
not be filed by any person who1 at the  
time of filing1 is an alien who is      
unlawfully present in the ,united       
,states4  4  #i4 ,replacement of workers
 and ,expedited ,administrative appeals 
,section #bah of the ,immigration and   
,nationality ,act 7#h ,u4,s4,c4 #aahh71 
as amended by this ,act1 is further     
amended by adding at the end the        
following3  7k7 replacement of workers  
,on receiving notice that an ,h-#b;,a   
worker recruited or hired by an employer

 has prematurely abandoned employment or
 has failed to appear for employment1   
the ,secretary of ,state shall promptly 
issue a visa under section              
#aja7;a77#ae77;,h77ii77a7 to an eligible
 alien designated by the employer to    
replace that worker and the ,secretary  
of ,homeland ,security shall            
expeditiously admit such alien into the 
,united ,states4  4  #aj4 ,agricultural 
,associations and pooling of workers    
,section #bah7;d7 of the ,immigration   
and ,nationality ,act 7#h ,u4,s4,c4     
#aahh7;d77 is amended to read as        
follows3  7d7 ,role of agricultural     
associations  7#a7 ,filing by           
agricultural association permitted ,an  
application to hire an ,h-#b;,a worker  
may be filed by an association of       
agricultural employers which use        
agricultural labor4  7#b7 ,treatment of 
associations acting as employers ,if an 
association is a joint or sole employer 
of ,h-#b;,a workers1 such ,h-#b;,a      
workers may be transferred among its    

members to perform agricultural labor of
 the same nature for which the          
application was approved4  7#c7         
,treatment of violations  7,a7          
,individual members ,if an individual   
member of a joint employer association  
violates any condition for approval with
 respect to the member's application1   
the ,secretary of ,agriculture shall    
deny such application only with respect 
to that member of the association unless
 the ,secretary determines that the     
association or other member participated
 in1 had knowledge of1 or had reason to 
know of the violation4  7,b7            
,association of agricultural employers  
7i7 ,joint employer ,if an association  
representing agricultural employers as a
 joint employer violates any condition  
for approval with respect to the        
association's application1 the          
,secretary of ,agriculture shall deny   
such application only with respect to   
the association and may not apply the   
denial to any individual member of the  

association1 unless the ,secretary      
determines that the member participated 
in1 had knowledge of1 or had reason to  
know of the violation4  7ii7 ,sole      
employer ,if an association of          
agricultural employers approved as a    
sole employer violates any condition for
 approval with respect to the           
association's application1 no individual
 member of the association may be the   
beneficiary of the services of ,h-#b;,a 
workers admitted under this section in  
the occupation in which such ,h-#b;,a   
workers were employed by the association
 which was denied approval during the   
period such denial is in force4  4  #aa4
 ,agency report required when delays    
occur ,section #bah7;c7 of the          
,immigration and ,nationality ,act 7#h  
,u4,s4,c4 #aahh7;c77 is amended by      
adding at the end the following3  7#e7  
,agency report required when delays     
occur ,a report shall be submitted to   
the ,committee on ,agriculture1         
,nutrition1 and ,forestry of the ,senate

 and the ,committee on ,agriculture of  
the ,house of ,representatives for any  
month in which the average response time
 under paragraph 7#b7 to a filing is    
greater than #g days4 ,the report shall 
be submitted not later than the last day
 of the month that immediately follows  
the month in which such average response
 time limit was exceeded4  4  #ab4 ,,gao
 ,report ,not later than #ij days after 
the date of enactment of this ,act1 the 
,comptroller ,general shall submit to   
,congress a report on a study--  7#a7   
evaluating the effects of introducing   
biometric identification cards to       
,h-#b;,a workers2  7#b7 whether the     
usage of such identification cards would
 promote efforts to efficiently enforce 
the immigration laws and streamline the 
visa application and admission process  
for ,h-#b;,a workers2 and  7#c7         
examining any delay in the processing of
 applications and petitions under the   
,h-#b;,a program and in the             
administration of the program4