that such other transportation facilities, when used to transport Mexican Workers, shall have sufficient and adequate fixed seats for the transportation of passengers and adequate protection against inclement weather, meet the same safety requirements that are applicable to common carriers, and are covered by adequate insurance to protect such Workers in the event of injuries resulting from accidents en route. When Mexican Workers are transported by rail, the Employer shall not be required to provide first-class railroad accommodations.

"The failure of any Employer to comply with the requirements of this Article and the Joint Operating Instructions issued by the United States and Mexico in the furnishing of transportation to the Mexican Worker shall constitute a violation of the Work Contract."

I should appreciate receiving your confirmation of the foregoing amendments. I avail myself of this opportunity to renew to Your Excellency the assurances of my highest and most distinguished consideration.

No. 817.

(Signed) FRANCIS WHITE.

MÉXICO, D. F., March 10, 1954.

EXCELLENCY: With reference to the exchange of notes entered into by us today (my note No. 815 and your note No. 20015-1), I desire to set forth our concurrence in the fact that the Migrant Labor Agreement of 1951, As Amended, is basically satisfactory but that further operating experience may well demonstrate areas in which the Agreement may be improved. To this end the Governments of the United States and Mexico hereby establish a Joint Migratory Labor Commission composed of representatives of interested Departments of the two Governments and created for the period beginning with the renewal of that Agreement today and terminating October 31, 1954. This termination date is without prejudice to the extension of the life of the Joint Migratory Labor Commission beyond that date should the two Governments agree that such extension is desirable. The Joint Migratory Labor Commission shall:

(A) Observe the migrant labor movement between Mexico and the United States in both its legal and illegal aspects, making recommendations to the two Governments for possible improvement in the operation of the Agreement and for methods of deterring the illegal traffic;

(B) Study the advisability of reducing the minimum contracting period for Mexican Workers from six to four weeks and make appropriate recommendations thereon not later than 30 days after the establishment of the Commission;

(C) Study and make recommendations to the two Governments with respect to any other problems that may be referred to the Commission by agreement between both Governments. The two Governments hereby agree to submit to the Commission at the outset the study of (I) the interpretations agreed upon in April 1953 but with respect of which no final action was taken; (II) extension of contracts in excess of 18 months under Article 26 of the Agreement; (III) the enforcement procedure under Article 30 of the Agreement; (IV) the formula proposed by the Embassy of the United States for computing subsistence allowance for Workers; and (V) proposed changes in the maintenance of records under Article 19 of the Work Contract. The Commission shall also make recommendations for the corresponding amendment of the Work Contract necessitated by any recommendations they may make.

It is understood by both Governments that the function of the Commission will be purely to study problems within its jurisdiction, as conferred upon it jointly by the two Governments, and to make recommendations thereon and that it will not be vested with any administrative responsibilities or negotiating powers. I avail myself of this opportunity to renew to Your Excellency the assurances of my highest and most distinguished consideration.

His Excellency,

Señor José GOROSTIZA,

No. 818

(Signed) FRANCIS WHITE.

Acting Secretary of Foreign Relations, México, D. F.

MÉXICO, D. F., March 10, 1954. EXCELLENCY: Referring to the exchange of notes which we made today (my note No. 815 and your reply, note No. 20015-1), I suggest that we agree that the reference in Article 9 of the Agreement of 1951 to Article 16 of the Work

Contract is obviously a typographical error and should properly refer to Article 16 of the Agreement.

I also suggest that we record our understanding that Mexican Migratory Workers contracted in the United States during the interim period between the expiration of the Migrant Labor Agreement of 1951, As Amended, and February 8, 1954, all of whose contracts expire not later than March 26, may, if they so desire, be covered at the expiration of their contracts by new contracts under the renewed Agreement.

Will you please by good enough to confirm these two points to me.

I avail myself of this opportunity to renew to Your Excellency the assurances of my highest and most distinguished consideration.

(Signed) FRANCIS WHITE.

Acting Secretary of Foreign Relations, México, D. F.

INFORMATION CONCERNING ENTRY OF MEXICAN
AGRICULTURAL WORKERS INTO THE UNITED STATES

Public Law 78, 82d Congress, agreement between Governments of United States and Mexico concerning migrant labor approved August 1951 and amended June 1952, and standard work contract, as amended

PUBLIC LAW 78-82D CONGRESS

CHAPTER 223-1ST SESSION

S. 984

AN ACT To amend the Agricultural Act of 1949

Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representatives of the United States of America in Congress assembled, That the Agricultural Act of 1949 is amended by adding at the end thereof a new title to read as follows:

"TITLE V-AGRICULTURAL WORKERS

"SEC. 501. For the purpose of assisting in such production of agricultural commodities and products as the Secretary of Agriculture deems necessary, by supplying agricultural workers from the Republic of Mexico (pursuant to arrangements between the United States and the Republic of Mexico), the Secretary of Labor is authorized

"(1) to recruit such workers (including any such workers who have resided in the United States for the preceding five years, or who are temporarily in the United States under legal entry);

"(2) to establish and operate reception centers at or near the places of actual entry of such workers into the continental United States for the purpose of receiving and housing such workers while arrangements are being made for their employment in (or departure from, the continental United States;

"(3) to provide transportation for such workers from recruitment centers outside the continental United States to such reception centers and transportation from such reception centers to such recruitment centers after termination of employment;

"(4) to provide such workers with such subsistence, emergency medical care, and burial expenses (not exceeding $150 burial expenses in any one case) as may be or become necessary during transportation authorized by paragraph (3) and while such workers are at reception centers;

(5) to assist such workers and employers in negotiating contracts for agricultural employment (such workers being free to accept or decline agricultural employment with any eligible employer and to choose the type of agricultural employment they desire, and eligible employers being free to offer agricultural employment to any workers of their choice not under contract to other employers);

"(6) to guarantee the performance by employers of provisions of such contracts relating to the payment of wages or the furnishing of transportation.

"SEC. 502. No workers shall be made available under this title to any employer unless such employer enters into an agreement with the United States"(1) to indemnify the United States against loss by reason of its guaranty of such employer's contracts;

"(2) to reimburse the United States for essential expenses, not including salaries or expenses of regular department or agency personnel, incurred by it for the transportation and subsistence of workers under this title in amounts not to exceed $15 per worker; and

"(3) to pay to the United States, in any case in which a worker is not returned to the reception center in accordance with the contract entered into under section 501 (5), an amount determined by the Secretary of Labor to be equivalent to the normal cost to the employer of returning other workers from the place of employment to such reception center, less any portion thereof required to be paid by other employers.

"SEC. 503. No workers recruited under this title shall be available for employment in any area unless the Secretary of Labor has determined and certified that (1) sufficient domestic workers who are able, willing, and qualified are not available at the time and place needed to perform the work for which such workers are to be employed, (2) the employment of such workers will not adversely affect the wages and working conditions of domestic agricultural workers similar y employed, and (3) reasonable efforts have been made to attract domestic workers for such employment at wages and standard hours of work comparable to those offered to foreign workers.

"SEC. 504. Workers recruited under this title who are not citizens of the United States shall be admitted to the United States subject to the immigration laws (or if already in, for not less than the preceding five years or by virtue of legal entry, and otherwise eligible for admission to, the United States may, pursuant to arrangements between the United States and the Republic of Mexico, be permitted to remain therein) for such time and under such conditions as may be specified by the Attorney General but, notwithstanding any other provision of law or regulation, no penalty bond shall be required which imposes liability upon any person for the failure of any such worker to depart from the United States upon termination of employment: Provided, That no workers shall be made available under this title to, nor shall any workers made available under this title be permitted to remain in the employ of, any employer who has in his employ any Mexican alien when such employer knows or has reasonable grounds to believe or suspect or by reasonable inquiry could have ascertained that such Mexican alien is not lawfully within the United States.

"SEC. 505. (a) Section 210 (a) (1) of the Social Security Act, as amended, is amended by adding at the end thereof a new subparagraph as follows:

(C) Service performed by foreign agricultural workers under contracts entered into in accordance with title V of the Agricultural Act of 1949, as amended.' "(b) Section 1426 (b) (1) of the Internal Revenue Code, as amended, is amended by adding at the end thereof a new subparagraph as follows:

(C) Service performed by foreign agricultural workers under contracts entered into in accordance with title V of the Agricultural Act of 1949, as amended.' "(c) Workers recruited under the provisions of this title shall not be subject to the head tax levied under section 2 of the Immigration Act of 1917 (8 U. S. C., sec. 132).

"SEC. 506. For the purposes of this title, the Secretary of Labor is authorized

"(1) to enter into agreements with Federal and State agencies; to utilize (pursuant to such agreements) the facilities and services of such agencies; and to allocate or transfer funds or otherwise to pay or reimburse such agencies for expenses in connection therewith;

"(2) to accept and utilize voluntary and uncompensated services, and "(3) when necessary to supplement the domestic agricultural labor force, to cooperate with the Secretary of State in negotiating and carrying out agreements or arrangements relating to the employment in the United States, subject to the immigration laws, of agricultural workers from the Republic of Mexico.

"SEC. 507. For the purposes of this title

"(1) The term 'agricultural employment' includes services or activities included within the provisions of section 3 (f) of the Fair Labor Standards Act of 1938, as amended, or section 1426 (h) of the Internal Revenue Code, as amended, horticultural employment, cotton giving, compressing and stor

ing, crushing of oil seeds, and the packing, canning, freezing, drying, or other processing of perishable or seasonable agricultural products.

"(2) The term 'employer' shall include an association, or other group, of employers, but only if (A) those of its members for whom workers are being obtained are bound, in the event of its default, to carry out the obligations undertaken by it pursuant to section 502, or (B) the Secretary determines that such individual liability is not necessary to assure performance of such obligations.

"SEC. 508. Nothing in this Act shall be construed as limiting the authority of the Attorney General, pursuant to the general immigration laws, to permit the importation of aliens of any nationality for agricultural employment as defined in section 507, or to permit any such alien who entered the United States legally to remain for the purpose of engaging in such agricultural employment under such conditions and for such time as he, the Attorney General, shall specify. "SEC. 509. No workers will be made available under this title for employment after December 31, 1953."

Approved July 12, 1951.

MIGRANT LABOR AGREEMENT OF 1951, AS AMENDED

INTRODUCTION

The Government of the United States of America and the Government of Mexico, desiring that employment of Mexican agricultural workers who may be needed in the United States shall be carried out under conditions consistent with the interests of both countries, and seeking to establish an orderly program for the employment of such workers that will be in harmony with the spirit of understanding and cooperation that characterizes the relations between them, hereby agree as follows:

ARTICLE 1. DEFINITIONS

As used in this Agreement, the terms:

a) "Mexican Worker" means a Mexican National at least 18 years of age, not a resident of the United States of America, who is legally admitted to that country for temporary employment in Agriculture in accordance with the terms of this Agreement.

b) "Employer" means:

(1) The operator of agricultural property who is engaged in agriculture, as defined in this Article;

(2) An association or other group of employers but only if those of its members for whom Mexican Workers are being obtained are bound, in the event of its default, to carry out the obligations undertaken by it pursuant to the provisions of this Agreement and Work Contract, unless the Secretary of Labor of the United States determines that such individual liability is not necessary to assure performance of such obligations; or

(3) A processor, shipper, or marketer of agricultural products when the Mexican Workers whom he obtains are employed by him in Agriculture on crops purchased by him;

c) "Wages" means all forms of remuneration to a Mexican Worker by an Employer for personal services including, but not limited to, subsistence, incentive payments, Employer contributions to or payments of insurance benefits, Employer contributions to a pension fund or annuity, and payments in kind.

d) "Agriculture" means:

(1) Cultivation and tillage of the soil, planting, production, cultivation, growing, and harvesting of any agricultural or horticultural commodities and any practices (including any forestry or lumbering operations) performed by a farmer or on a farm as an incident to or in conjunction with such farming operations, including preparations for market, delivery to storage, or to market, or to a carrier for transportation to market;

(2) The maintenance of a farm and its tools and equipment, or salvaging of timber or clearing land of brush and other debris left by a hurricane, if the major part of such service is performed on a farm;

(3) The maintenance of ditches, canals, reservoirs, or waterways, not owned or operated for profit and used exclusively for supplying or storing water for farming purposes, and cotton ginning.

(4) Handling, drying, packing, packaging, processing, freezing, grading, or storing, in its unmanufactured state any agricultural or horticultural commodity for the operator of a farm; but only if such operator produced more than one-half of the commodity with respect to which the service is performed;

(5) All of the activities described in (4) for a group of operators of farms, but only if such operators produced the commodities with respect to which such activities are performed;

(6) The provisions of (4) and (5) shall not be applicable with respect to services performed in connection with commercial canning or commercial freezing, or in connection with any agricultural or horticultural commodities, after their delivery to a terminal market for distribution for consumption.

e) "Migratory Station" means an office established by the Government of Mexico within its territory where the selection of Mexican Workers is made and to which they will return when their contracts have terminated.

f) "Reception Center" means an office established by the Government of the United States of America within its territory to which a Mexican Worker selected at a Migratory Station is brought to be contracted for by an Employer and to which he will return from his place of employment upon termination of his contract in order that he may be returned to the Migratory Station from which he came.

g) "Secretary of Labor" means the Secretary of Labor of the United States or his duly authorized representative.

h) "Personal Injury" means Personal Injury arising out of and in the course of the employment of a Mexican Worker.

i) "Disease" means any Disease which is contracted in the course of a Mexican Worker's employment and is directly attributable to the work in which he is engaged.

j) "Workday" means 8 hours in each calendar day, except Sundays, New Years, July 4, Labor Day, Thanksgiving, and Christmas;

k) "Certification" means the determination and certification by the Secretary of Labor made pursuant to Section 503 of Public Law 78, Eightysecond Congress, approved July 12, 1951.

ARTICLE 2. NEGOTIATIONS BY GOVERNMENTS

All negotiations relating to any aspects of the program which is the subject of this Agreement shall be carried out exclusively between the two Governments.

ARTICLE 3. PRESENTING REQUESTS FOR WORKERS

At least thirty days prior to the date on which it is desired to have Mexican Workers recruited, the Secretary of Labor will advise the Mexican Government of the estimated number required. The estimates may be revised to conform to changes in agricultural needs and such revisions shall be communicated promptly to the Mexican Government.

The Mexican Government will consider these estimates in the light of Mexico's current needs for agricultural labor and its requirements for the development of its agricultural economy and with a view toward harmonizing the agricultural cycles of the two countries. Within fifteen days after receiving the estimate, the Mexican Government will notify the Secretary of Labor of the approximate number of Mexican Workers it will make available at each Migratory Station. The Secretary of Labor will notify the Mexican Government two weeks in advance of the date on which he desires that recruiting operations shall begin at each Migratory Station. Such notice will contain information with respect to the number of Mexican Workers that are desired from each Migratory Station and the dates within which they will be required.

The Secretary of Labor will determine which Employers are to be scheduled for contracting at specific Reception Centers. Both Governments will take all necessary action to assure that recruiting will begin on the dates agreed upon as the opening date for each Migratory Station.

ARTICLE 4. LOCATION OF MIGRATORY STATIONS AND RECEPTION CENTERS

The Government of Mexico will establish the Migratory Stations in the Republic of Mexico at Monterrey, Nuevo Leon; Chihuahua, Chihuahua; Irapuato, Guanajuato; Guadalajara, Jalisco; Durango, Durango; or at places adjacent to such