A number of interested parties have recently requested background information about H-2A temporary foreign agricultural workers and the basis for their eligibility for legal services provided by programs funded through the federal Legal Services Corporation. 

This issue was examined extensively during 1999 by the Legal Services Corporation through a special commission chaired by LSC board member John Erlenborn (the "Erlenborn Commission).  The Erlenborn Commission was formed to address a controversy that had been raised as to whether H-2A workers' eligibility terminates once they are no longer "present in the U.S.", due to the fact that their temporary labor term has been completed, their visa period has expired, and they have returned to their homes abroad as required under the H-2A program.  After conducting  several hearings across the country and evaluating extensive comments submitted by interested parties, the Erlenborn Commission ultimately concluded that Congress had intended for H-2A workers to be eligible for federally funded legal services and had intended that they should continue to be eligible beyond the end of their temporary visa period, so long as the subject matter on which they are receiving legal assistance relates to the work they were performing when they were lawfully present in the U.S.

The legislative history and statutory construction which supports this interpretation was most extensively laid out in a comment which was submitted to the Commission on behalf of legal service programs.  That comment was authored by Bill Beardall, who was then Director of the Texas Rural Legal Aid Migrant Division and is now Executive Director of the Equal Justice Center.  To help foster a better public understanding of this issue, this PDF version of Mr. Beardall's analysis of H-2A workers' eligibility for legal services is being made available here.