House Judiciary Chairman Bob Goodlatte tweaked his bill for a new year-round H-2C guestworker visa program but Democrats on the committee said the changes worsened a bill that greatly expands the range of jobs the foreign workers could fill. During a rancorous bill-drafting session, the Republican majority defeated on party-line votes Democratic amendments for higher pay for H-2C workers and to bar them from forestry jobs.
“Instead of encouraging more illegal immigration, successful guestworker reform can deter illegal immigration and help secure our borders,” said Goodlatte. His H2-C program would replace the “costly, time-consuming and flawed” H2-A system of seasonal farm labor visas. By some estimates, at least half of U.S. farm workers, more than one million people, are undocumented aliens. Farm groups see the Goodlatte bill as a potential way to assure a reliable and legal workforce.
The committee rejected two Democratic amendments before adjourning for the day. The committee was scheduled to resume work today at 10 a.m. ET. Democrat Luis Gutierrez of Illinois said he planned to ask a vote on “blue card” legislation to authorize the presence of undocumented farm workers and give them a chance for citizenship.
Democrats variously called the H2-C plan a “slave labor system,” “punitive,” “a share-cropping system,” and “‘The Grapes of Wrath’ on steroids” because it relieves employers of the responsibility of providing transportation and housing for guestworkers and, despite Goodlatte’s modifications, could mean a base wage of $8.34 an hour, which is lower than required by the H2-A program.
“That’s just a complete lie,” responded Republican Louie Gohmert of Texas to the slavery analogy. Fellow Republican Raul Labrador of Idaho said the guestworker bill “restores the free market” to wage-setting.
At the “mark up” session, Goodlatte announced a handful of revisions in response to criticism of his original draft. No “green cards” are earmarked for experienced agricultural workers in the new version and new H2-C visas would begin at an annual limit of 450,000. Nor would undocumented farm workers qualify for a work authorization during the period before the H2-C program took effect. Initially, there were to be 10,000 green cards a year, a ceiling of 500,000 new visas a year and work authorization of up to two years.
“Unfortunately, this current version is not an improvement over its predecessors. Indeed, it is worse than them,” said the senior Democrat on the committee, John Conyers of Michigan. He pointed to removal of the green card provision and the potential for employers to replace Americans with lower-paid guestworkers.
In roll call votes, the committee rejected, 14-17, a Conyers amendment to retain the “adverse effect wage rate” that determines hourly wages for H2-A workers and, 8-19, an amendment by Democrat Zoe Lofgren of California to delete forestry from the list of jobs open to H2-C workers.
For a two-page summary of the Goodlatte bill, click here.
To read the text of the Goodlatte bill, click here.