SOURCE: POLITICO'S MORNING AGRICULTURE, 1/16/18

A House immigration bill could tie an overhaul of the current agricultural guest-worker program to the future of DACA, if House Judiciary Chairman Bob Goodlatte gets his way. The House Republican immigration bill includes Goodlatte's controversial H-2A bill that would revamp the agricultural guest-worker program.

Refresher on what's in it for ag: The 414-page immigration bill - which include the same text from Goodlatte's H-2A bill this fall - essentially scraps the current H-2A program, partially housed in the Labor Department. It would set up a new H-2C visa program that would be handled by the USDA. The program would still be partly overseen by the Department of Homeland Security. 

It would allow agricultural employers - such as meat processors, dairy farmers and loggers - in need of year-round work to apply. This is a sharp difference from the current program that offers guest-worker visas for temporary or seasonal agricultural jobs that last under 10 months.

Vocal opposition remains: United Farm Workers, AFL-CIO and more than 140 groups have been vocal opponents of the potential H-2A change, saying that it would "create even more unfairness and dysfunction in our immigration system."

"Instead of focusing in on providing urgently needed relief for young Dreamers, Republican Bob Goodlatte has chosen to introduce the 'Nightmare' bill, which hurts Dreamer families and includes other attacks on new Americans," Giev Kashkooli, political and legislative director for United Farm Workers told Morning Ag. Among other things Goodlatte's legislation "would undermine the wages and working conditions of all agricultural workers," Kashkooli said.

Many agricultural industry groups - particularly those in fresh produce and poultry sectors - expressed support for Goodlatte's H-2A legislation last year. Changing the H-2A program would remove restrictions and requirements that farmers have complained about for years. 

What do Ryan and Trump think of the bill? The House has not set a vote for the Republican bill that has slim chance of passing the Senate. President Donald Trump and House Speaker Paul Ryan have repeatedly said they would like to have a bipartisan legislative solution. But it remains unclear if they will find a replacement for DACA -- which offered 700,000 immigrants who entered the U.S. as minors renewable deferred action from deportation and permission to work.