The United States Labor Department announced this morning that it plans to reverse a Bush-administration policy that made it easier for farmers to hire seasonal or temporary farmworkers. The new policy seeks to both increase protections for foreign farmworkers as well as create more farming positions for American workers. It is scheduled to take effect on March 15 of this year, and will increase average farmworker wage by almost a dollar, create greater safety protections (including inspections of worker housing), and require farmers to post job-openings on a new online forum for interested American workers to see. Certain standards of living, etc. will have to be met before farmers are allowed to hire foreign workers, reversing the Bush-era policy of non-interference once the farmer had shown that he/she had failed to find American farmworkers to fill their needs.
See "Battle brewing on the farm: Labor Department gives the green light for new rules for temporary farmworkers", P.J. Huffstutter, Los Angeles Times, February 10, 2010