Budget appropriators in the House of Representatives approved a Department of Homeland Security funding bill Thursday. In addition to $5 billion for the president’s border wall, the Appropriations Committee advanced the bill with several amendments, including three authored by Republicans, that would improve the legal immigration system. The bill would streamline immigration for families of U.S. citizens and for higher- and lower-skilled foreign workers, while protecting immigrant Dreamers and asylum seekers at the border.

In a major win for legal immigration, Rep. Dan Newhouse, R-Wash., inserted a provision expanding the H-2A guest worker program. Current law limits the H-2A program only to jobs that are “seasonal” in nature. This blocks employers in year-round industries such as dairy, livestock, and poultry from accessing legal workers. It’s a pointless restriction that incentivizes illegal employment and undermines the purpose of the program, so Newhouse is rightly seeking to undo it.