Real bill currently in Congress  c/o  HR/119/9312

To amend the Immigration and Nationality Act to include the processing of crawfish as agricultural labor or services, and for other purposes.

Policy area: Immigration ▲ 36 days since action Sponsor: Troy A. Carter, LA-02, D → Congress.gov

Latest action (2026-06-15): Referred to the House Committee on the Judiciary.

The Framers

“Founders’ Verdict”

CONSTITUTIONAL

Confidence 0.75

Synthesis

Three of the four Founders affirm that the bill is a valid exercise of Congress's enumerated powers, specifically the Naturalization Clause and the Commerce Clause. They emphasize that defining labor classifications for immigration purposes is a necessary and proper incident of federal authority over naturalization and does not intrude on state powers reservated by the Tenth Amendment.

Hamilton YES

This bill is a constitutional exercise of Congress's enumerated powers. The Immigration and Nationality Act falls squarely under Congress's plenary authority to establish a uniform rule of naturalization and to regulate immigration, as granted by Article I, Section 8, Clause 4. Defining 'agricultural labor or services' for immigration purposes is a necessary incident of that power. Moreover, the processing of crawfish, as an economic activity affecting interstate commerce, may also be regulated under the Commerce Clause (Article I, Section 8, Clause 3). The bill does not encroach upon any stat…

Article I, Section 8, Clause 4 Article I, Section 8, Clause 3
Jefferson YES

The regulation of immigration and the definition of agricultural labor are powers that fall within the enumerated powers of Congress under Article I, Section 8, particularly the power to establish a uniform rule of naturalization and to regulate commerce. However, the Constitution does not grant the federal government a general police power over local occupations and definitions of labor. This bill simply refines an existing classification within the Immigration and Nationality Act, which itself is a valid exercise of Congress's naturalization power. Since the amendment does not expand federal…

Article I, Section 8 (Naturalization power) Amendment X
Madison NO

The classification of specific commercial processing of a particular food item as 'agricultural labor or services' under the Immigration and Nationality Act strays from the constitutional principle that federal powers are limited to those specifically enumerated. The Constitution grants Congress authority over naturalization and immigration (Article I, Section 8, Clause 4), but the detailed regulation of internal labor classifications for particular industries—such as crawfish processing—is not among the specified powers. Such a precise intervention invites factional favoritism and economic di…

Article I, Section 8, Clause 4 Tenth Amendment Federalist No. 10
Marshall YES

The proposed amendment to the Immigration and Nationality Act falls squarely within the enumerated powers of Congress. The Constitution vests in Congress the authority to establish a uniform rule of naturalization (Article I, Section 8, Clause 4) and to regulate commerce among the several states (Article I, Section 8, Clause 3). Defining the classification of labor for immigration purposes is a necessary incident of these powers. As this Court held in McCulloch v. Maryland, where the Constitution grants a power, it also grants the means necessary and proper to execute that power. The classific…

Article I, Section 8, Clause 4 (Naturalization Clause) Article I, Section 8, Clause 3 (Commerce Clause) McCulloch v. Maryland (1819)

What should pass

“AI Consensus Solution”

No solution yet

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