SACRAMENTO – Today, Assemblymember Ash Kalra (D-San José) and the bill’s sponsors, Sunita Jain Anti-Trafficking Initiative, celebrate Governor Gavin Newsom’s signing of AB 1362 (Kalra), the Human Trafficking Prevention and Protection Act. AB 1362 extends existing safeguards enacted under SB 477 (Steinberg, 2014) for H-2B workers to the 40,000–50,000 H-2A agricultural workers who enter California each year. By regulating foreign labor recruiters—the stage where the highest risk of exploitation of immigrant guest workers occurs—the bill positions California to lead the country in protecting some of the most overlooked but essential workers in California’s economy.
“As the federal government continues to rollback worker protections and engage in rampant attacks against our immigrant communities, I am thankful California will extend commonsense safeguards to thousands of farmworkers, preventing human trafficking and exploitation,” said Assemblymember Ash Kalra (D–San José). “No worker should ever be coerced into a job by false promises and forced into debt or threatened with deportation just to do honest work. With AB 1362, California will lead the nation by holding bad actors accountable and ensuring dignity for workers.”
Under AB 1362, foreign labor recruiters (FLRs) who recruit H-2A workers will be required to register with the state, pay a bond, and follow clear standards to prevent abuse. Recruiters must provide contracts in workers’ native language, disclose all terms and conditions, and are prohibited from charging illegal recruitment fees. This regulatory framework ensures accountability and provides workers with a form of redress when violations occur during recruitment. Businesses that use registered recruiters would also be protected through a “safe harbor” that exempts them from joint liability if a recruiter breaks the law.
“As no regulatory framework exists nationally—or in any state—to address the illegal schemes of foreign labor recruiters, temporary immigrant workers are often entrapped in debt bondage and human trafficking before they even set foot in the United States,” said Aradhana Tiwari, Senior Policy Counsel at the Sunita Jain Anti-Trafficking Initiative. “These abuses are pervasive across all visa categories and particularly well-documented among H-2A agricultural workers. This legislation is a huge step forward for California and sets an example of laws that can protect immigrant workers and honest businesses.”
The Legislature passed AB 1362 with broad support and is coauthored by Assemblymembers Connolly (D-San Rafael), Harabedian (D-Pasadena), Lee (D-San José), McKinnor (D-Inglewood), Ortega (D-San Leandro), Stefani (D-San Francisco), and Senators Laird (D-Santa Cruz) and Wahab (D-Hayward).
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Assemblymember Ash Kalra represents California’s 25th Assembly District, which encompasses the majority of San José, including downtown and open space areas in southeast Santa Clara County. He was first elected in 2016, becoming the first Indian American to serve in the California Legislature in state history, and was re-elected to his fifth term in 2024. Assemblymember Kalra is the Chair of the Committee on Judiciary and also serves as a member on the Housing & Community Development, Labor & Employment, Natural Resources, and Utilities & Energy committees.
The Sunita Jain Anti-Trafficking Initiative (SJI) at Loyola Law School is a practitioner-led, survivor-informed, and evidence-based policy initiative dedicated to ending human trafficking. Using an intersectional framework, SJI fills critical gaps in the field by fostering systemic change and advancing progressive policy solutions that protect vulnerable workers and support survivor leadership. For more information visit lls.edu/sunitajain