Rep. Zoe Lofgren (D-Calif.) and Sen. Dianne Feinstein (D-Calif.) have introduced legislation that would provide a permanent amnesty to certain illegal farm workers in the United States. Under the legislation, qualifying illegal-alien farm workers would receive a temporary work permit to continue farm work. They would be eligible for green cards after three years.
Agricultural Lobbyists are putting pressure on House leadership to reject Goodlatte's H.R. 4760, the Securing America's Future Act, and pushing legislation that would enable their illegal alien workforce to remain in the U.S.
Opinion journalist Reuben Navarrette, Jr. recently made the claim that the RAISE Act would prevent U.S. farmers from employing crop workers. Anyone familiar with the bill knows that it focuses solely on how the federal government issues immigrant visas, and agribusiness will continue to have access to an unlimited supply of agricultural guest workers under the H-2A program.
Media Immigration Atrocity (MIA) of the Week
Comedy Central Comedian Stephen Colbert testified before the House Immigration Subcommittee on Friday morning on behalf of illegal migrant workers. While Colbert and two other pro-Amnesty panelists presented a sympathetic case for legalization of illegal migrant workers, their testimony also exposed the major flaws with the AgJOBS Amnesty proposal.
Now that health care reform is on the books, it's time for Congress to get on with immigration reform, especially as it relates to the needs of agriculture.
The home building industry was one of the hardest hit with the onset of the current recession, and the impact sent an abundance of workers from the construction site to the farms. According to a report in the St. Petersburg Times, farmers in suburban Tampa’s Plant City saw no shortage of farm workers this spring despite the efforts of Sen. Dianne Feinstein (D-CA) and Rep. Adam Putnam (R-FL) who proposed the AgJOBS Amnesty late last week.
Sen. Dianne Feinstein (D-CA) and Reps. Adam Putnam (R-FL) and Howard Berman (D-CA) reintroduced the AgJOBS Amnesty in both the House (H.R.2414) and Senate (S.1038). The bill would offer Amnesty to illegal aliens (and their families) who can show that they've illegally worked in the country over the past five years.
Unemployment is soaring. Yet advocates and Congressional leaders want a guest worker program that would legalize tens of thousands of undocumented agriculture workers.
Proponents say they want a legal work force to pick the nation's tomatoes, peppers and lettuce. Opponents call it amnesty for illegal workers at a time Americans are losing their jobs.
Our NumbersUSA Capitol Hill Team learned late Wednesday through both Democratic and Republican sources that Sen. Feinstein (D-Calif.) was preparing to add an agricultural amnesty to the Iraq bill Thursday in the Senate Appropriations Committee.
