White House includes farm workers in immigration proposal
January 29, 2013 | 07:48 PM
President Barack Obama speaks on immigration reform today at a Las Vegas high school. (White House video)
President Barack Obama did not mention farm workers specifically in his immigration reform speech today in Las Vegas, but a fact sheet handed out by the White House said:
“Undocumented immigrants must come forward and register, submit biometric data, pass criminal background and national security checks, and pay fees and penalties before they will be eligible for a provisional legal status. Agricultural workers and those who entered the United States as children would be eligible for the same program.”
The fact sheet added:
“Individuals must wait until the existing legal immigration backlogs are cleared before getting in line to apply for lawful permanent residency (i.e. a ‘green card’), and ultimately United States citizenship. Consistent with current law, people with provisional legal status will not be eligible for welfare or other federal benefits, including subsidies or tax credits under the new health care law.”
In his remarks, Obama stressed the importance of allowing highly educated immigrants to stay in the country and the importance of securing the borders, but he also said that that was not enough.
“We need Congress to act on a comprehensive approach that finally deals with the 11 million undocumented immigrants who are in the country right now. That's what we need,” Obama said.
