More ag immigration details leak out
April 15, 2013 | 06:13 PM
As the “gang of eight” senators prepare to release their immigration proposal Tuesday and the Senate Judiciary Committee plans a hearing Wednesday, more details of the agriculture immigration proposal have begun to surface.
The four senators who developed the ag immigration provision — Dianne Feinstein, D-Calif., Marco Rubio, R-Fla., Orrin Hatch, R-Fla., and Michael Bennet, D-Colo. — have not released details of their proposal. But late Friday they did issue a joint news release that they had reached agreement on a proposal that includes provisions on three key issues: farm worker wage levels, caps on agricultural guest worker visas and protections for U.S. workers.
Feinstein noted that the four senators had worked with various farm groups through the Agriculture Workforce Coalition and the United Farm Workers, a labor union, to develop the proposal and that “all have come together to endorse this agreement, which resolves outstanding issues including wage levels, agricultural guest worker visas and protections for U.S. workers.”
The National Milk Producers Federation, which is a member of the Agriculture Workforce Coalition but whose labor needs are year-round rather than seasonal, issued a news release late Friday that it welcomed the agreement.
The American Farm Bureau Federation, the nation’s largest general farm organization, said Friday, “The framework and objectives established today are a positive step toward achieving meaningful immigration reform.
The United Farm Workers said the agriculture proposal “will be included as part of the comprehensive bill which will now include both a path to citizenship for the estimated 11 million undocumented immigrants and a separate process towards legalization and citizenship for farm workers.”
UFW President Arturo Rodriguez said the union “is very pleased.”
Arturo Rodriguez
“Under the proposed new immigration process, farm workers would be able to work in the fields without fear of getting deported immediately and will be able to reunite with their families in a relatively short period of time,” Rodriguez said.
“The bill would give professional farm workers presently in the U.S., who have been contributing to our country, temporary legal status and the right to earn a green card in the future by continuing to work in agriculture.”
“Farm workers are the backbone of our agriculture industry here in the United States and a speedier process toward proper documentation provides an incentive for those farm workers who are currently working in agriculture to continue working in agriculture,” Rodriguez said.
The UFW said in a news release that farm workers will have the option to apply for paper work to legalize their status in the U.S. either through the regular process for non-agricultural workers, or through the special process created for those working in the agriculture industry.
“Farm workers are one step closer to winning legal status and the much-earned recognition for their contributions to the United States,” Rodriguez concluded.
“We believe this compromise could be a vehicle for improving the working conditions and job opportunities for farm workers. We deeply appreciate the work of Sens. Feinstein, Rubio, Bennet, and Hatch on this proposal and we look forward to continuing to work with them, the president and our other allies in the Congress to pass immigration reform this year. In the end, with a lot of hard work, we will win. Si se puede!”
Reuters reported Friday that the agreement calls for:
The Christian Science Monitor reported over the weekend that the cap on farm worker visas would be set at 112,000 three-year visas per year, or about 336,000 people at any time. But negotiations on legislative language and details of the farm labor sections were supposed to be continuing over the weekend.
The new agricultural visas would last for three years and could be used year-round, the Wall Street Journal reported. That would help out the dairy industry and others that need year-round rather than seasonal help.
Job advertisement requirements that farm owners have said were onerous would also be relaxed, Bloomberg reported.
Rep. Nancy Pelosi, D-Calif.
House Speaker Nancy Pelosi, D-Calif., said over the weekend that she believes Congress will finish the immigration bill before Congress leaves for a summer recess in August, the Los Angeles Times reported.
“It just seems like things are being worked out,” Pelosi told reporters at the annual convention of the California Democratic Party, the Times reported. “The eloquent voice of 70 percent of Hispanics voting for Democrats in the last election explained it really clearly to Republicans.”
Immigration reform remains controversial among conservatives. Rubio told Fox News Sunday that the overall immigration reform package would not constitute “amnesty” because the path to legal status it proposes would be more onerous than the standards under current law.
“They don’t qualify for any federal benefits — no food stamps, no welfare, no Obamacare,” Rubio said. “They will have to stay in that status until at least 10 years elapses ... and then all they get is a chance to apply for a green card.”
Anyone applying to stay in the country under the proposal would also have to pay an upfront fine.
But immigration is still controversial among conservatives, particularly in the House. A Republican Study Committee on Wednesday turned into a “group gripe about the direction in which a bipartisan House group of immigration negotiators is heading,” Politico reported Friday.
Rep. Steve King, R-Iowa, spoke out against the speed with which Republicans are changing their position on immigration reform, Politico said.
Homeland Security Department Secretary Janet Napolitano is scheduled to testify Wednesday at a Senate Judiciary Committee hearing on immigration reform legislation, according to a committee news release.
The four senators who developed the ag immigration provision — Dianne Feinstein, D-Calif., Marco Rubio, R-Fla., Orrin Hatch, R-Fla., and Michael Bennet, D-Colo. — have not released details of their proposal. But late Friday they did issue a joint news release that they had reached agreement on a proposal that includes provisions on three key issues: farm worker wage levels, caps on agricultural guest worker visas and protections for U.S. workers.
Feinstein noted that the four senators had worked with various farm groups through the Agriculture Workforce Coalition and the United Farm Workers, a labor union, to develop the proposal and that “all have come together to endorse this agreement, which resolves outstanding issues including wage levels, agricultural guest worker visas and protections for U.S. workers.”
The National Milk Producers Federation, which is a member of the Agriculture Workforce Coalition but whose labor needs are year-round rather than seasonal, issued a news release late Friday that it welcomed the agreement.
The American Farm Bureau Federation, the nation’s largest general farm organization, said Friday, “The framework and objectives established today are a positive step toward achieving meaningful immigration reform.
The United Farm Workers said the agriculture proposal “will be included as part of the comprehensive bill which will now include both a path to citizenship for the estimated 11 million undocumented immigrants and a separate process towards legalization and citizenship for farm workers.”
UFW President Arturo Rodriguez said the union “is very pleased.”
“Under the proposed new immigration process, farm workers would be able to work in the fields without fear of getting deported immediately and will be able to reunite with their families in a relatively short period of time,” Rodriguez said.
“The bill would give professional farm workers presently in the U.S., who have been contributing to our country, temporary legal status and the right to earn a green card in the future by continuing to work in agriculture.”
“Farm workers are the backbone of our agriculture industry here in the United States and a speedier process toward proper documentation provides an incentive for those farm workers who are currently working in agriculture to continue working in agriculture,” Rodriguez said.
The UFW said in a news release that farm workers will have the option to apply for paper work to legalize their status in the U.S. either through the regular process for non-agricultural workers, or through the special process created for those working in the agriculture industry.
“Farm workers are one step closer to winning legal status and the much-earned recognition for their contributions to the United States,” Rodriguez concluded.
“We believe this compromise could be a vehicle for improving the working conditions and job opportunities for farm workers. We deeply appreciate the work of Sens. Feinstein, Rubio, Bennet, and Hatch on this proposal and we look forward to continuing to work with them, the president and our other allies in the Congress to pass immigration reform this year. In the end, with a lot of hard work, we will win. Si se puede!”
Reuters reported Friday that the agreement calls for:
- Creation of a new guest worker program to replace the current H-2A program
- Legal status for farm workers who entered the United States illegally.
- Farm workers in the country illegally who agree to work in agriculture for an additional five to seven years to become eligible for a “green card” allowing permanent U.S. residence, according to two officials, Reuters said. The workers would hold legal status, dubbed a “blue card” by negotiators, during the interim.
- A system for setting pay scales for guest workers and initially a high ceiling for the number of visas that could be granted. After five years, the cap could be adjusted by the Agriculture Department. There would be a mechanism for meeting emergency needs for workers.
- A wage base to be set for six occupational categories with a mechanism to adjust wages annually. The four major job categories would be crop workers, livestock workers, sorters and graders who work in packing houses, and equipment operators.
The Christian Science Monitor reported over the weekend that the cap on farm worker visas would be set at 112,000 three-year visas per year, or about 336,000 people at any time. But negotiations on legislative language and details of the farm labor sections were supposed to be continuing over the weekend.
The new agricultural visas would last for three years and could be used year-round, the Wall Street Journal reported. That would help out the dairy industry and others that need year-round rather than seasonal help.
Job advertisement requirements that farm owners have said were onerous would also be relaxed, Bloomberg reported.
House Speaker Nancy Pelosi, D-Calif., said over the weekend that she believes Congress will finish the immigration bill before Congress leaves for a summer recess in August, the Los Angeles Times reported.
“It just seems like things are being worked out,” Pelosi told reporters at the annual convention of the California Democratic Party, the Times reported. “The eloquent voice of 70 percent of Hispanics voting for Democrats in the last election explained it really clearly to Republicans.”
Immigration reform remains controversial among conservatives. Rubio told Fox News Sunday that the overall immigration reform package would not constitute “amnesty” because the path to legal status it proposes would be more onerous than the standards under current law.
“They don’t qualify for any federal benefits — no food stamps, no welfare, no Obamacare,” Rubio said. “They will have to stay in that status until at least 10 years elapses ... and then all they get is a chance to apply for a green card.”
Anyone applying to stay in the country under the proposal would also have to pay an upfront fine.
But immigration is still controversial among conservatives, particularly in the House. A Republican Study Committee on Wednesday turned into a “group gripe about the direction in which a bipartisan House group of immigration negotiators is heading,” Politico reported Friday.
Rep. Steve King, R-Iowa, spoke out against the speed with which Republicans are changing their position on immigration reform, Politico said.
Homeland Security Department Secretary Janet Napolitano is scheduled to testify Wednesday at a Senate Judiciary Committee hearing on immigration reform legislation, according to a committee news release.
