Federal Judge Blocks New Labor Rule for Migrant Farmworkers in 17 States

The judge found that the Department of Labor had exceeded its authority.

Mexican migrant workers harvest organic parsley at Grant Family Farms in Wellington, Colo., on Oct. 11, 2011. John Moore/Getty Images

A federal judge in Georgia on Aug. 26 blocked a new labor rule that would give foreign farm workers on temporary U.S. visas certain rights and protections.

A coalition of 17 states led by Kansas, Georgia, and South Carolina, alongside the Georgia Fruit and Vegetable Growers Association and a Georgia farm, argued that a recent Department of Labor (DOL) regulation violates the National Labor Relations Act (NLRA), a 1935 federal law that allows certain employees to unionize.