Associated Press

A GOP-backed immigration bill in the House would offer 500,000 farmworker visas – far more than a Senate plan – and cut benefits for laborers.

The bill House Judiciary Committee Chairman Robert Goodlatte (R., Va.) is pursuing to overhaul immigration laws. He also released legislation to make E-verify, the system that checks workers’ legal status, mandatory for employers.

Mr. Goodlatte’s plan would replace the existing agricultural visa program with a new program designed to allow workers to stay in the U.S. for up to 18 months. That would allow them to work for dairy farms and food processors, two industries that have pushed for a more flexible program to allow year-round labor. It makes 500,000 visas available each year, dwarfing a Senate proposal to allow 112,000 visas a year in the early stages of the program…