The conservative chairmen of the House Judiciary and Homeland Security committees unveiled an immigration control bill on Tuesday that “addresses the four pillars for immigration reform outlined by President Trump.” Unlike an earlier version, though, it does not create a new, year-round H-2C visa for farmworkers. Republican leaders plan to call votes later this week on the bill, which is sponsored by conservatives, and on a more moderate alternative bill. Both would resolve the status of the so-called Dreamers.
Action on immigration could open the way for revival of the Republican-written farm bill, which was defeated on May 18. Some Republicans used votes against the farm bill as leverage for consideration of immigration legislation. Friday is the most likely day for a House vote that would resurrect the farm bill and pass it.
President Trump endorsed both GOP immigration bills during a closed-door meeting with House Republicans, said White House spokesman Raj Shah. “In his remarks, he endorsed both House immigration bills that build the wall, close legal loopholes, cancel the visa lottery, curb chain migration, and solve the border crisis and family separation issue by allowing for family detention and removal,” Shah told reporters.
Earlier this year, Judiciary chairman Bob Goodlatte and Homeland Security chairman Michael McCaul proposed a broader-ranging immigration bill that included Goodlatte’s punitive H-2C visa program. It would have removed many protections for farmworkers and allowed a lower pay scale than the current H-2A seasonal visa, but would have granted H-2C visa holders the power to quit jobs and look for work on other farms. For the first time, meatpackers, dairies, and the timber industry would have been allowed to hire H-2C workers as well. Undocumented farmworkers already in the United States could have gained legal status by enrolling in the H-2C program, although they would have had to leave the United States and apply for re-entry.
Critics say the H-2C program would not appeal to workers with spouses or other U.S. roots. An estimated half of U.S. farmworkers, up to 1 million people, are believed to be undocumented. Producers want a legal and reliable workforce.
There are whispers that House leaders may seek a vote in July on an agricultural guestworker bill that would be limited to provisions to ensure program integrity and which would increase the number of visas available annually for the workers.
Text of the bill, HR 6136, is available here.