House Republican leaders promised a vote this month on creating a new agricultural guestworker program. But it now appears that vote may be delayed, in part due to inter-party squabbling over more comprehensive immigration reform. A farm lobbyist said on Monday that there was also a lack of agreement within the GOP about guestworker legislation.
Republicans hold a 43-seat majority in the House over Democrats but splintered over two immigration bills in June. One of them contained the Ag Jobs package sponsored by Judiciary chairman Bob Goodlatte to create a new, year-round H-2C visa that would allow foreigners to work for up to three years in agriculture, including dairy and cattle farms, meatpacking, and forestry. While the bill would allow lower hourly pay than the current, seasonal H-2A visa, it would also allow workers to change jobs if they wish. Undocumented farmworkers already in the country could obtain legal status by registering with the H-2C program, leaving the country, and then applying for a visa to return.
GOP leaders discussed guestworker legislation last week with some of the lawmakers who have been the most vocal on the subject, reported Roll Call newspaper. “If they think we can get a bill up that’s going to fly, then go for it,” said Texas Rep. Randy Weber. He said that small-bore legislation, such as guestworker visas and requiring employers to use the E-Verify database to assure that job applicants are legal to work in the country, has a better chance of passing than an omnibus bill.
Roll Call said Republican leaders may try to put Democrats on the defensive on immigration in the days leading up to the August recess by calling votes on the Immigration and Customs Enforcement agency, or ICE. Some Democrats want to abolish the agency. The tactic would delay action on a guestworker bill. Rep. Dan Newhouse of Washington State is among Republicans who say they were assured of a vote on guestworker legislation this month.