The White House says it will propose a compromise on immigration built on four pillars: “Securing the border and closing legal loopholes; ending extended-family chain migration; canceling the visa lottery; and providing a permanent solution on DACA.” The announcement by White House press secretary Sarah Sanders left open the question of undocumented farmworkers.
One of the senators involved in immigration talks with the White House early this week, Sen. Chuck Grassley, said that the discussion centered on legal immigration and that ag workers might be considered in other legislation. Undocumented workers “will be in the shadows” and continue to work without the likelihood of deportation if they don’t break the law, he said during a teleconference. The Iowa Republican said E-Verify was not expected to be part of the White House package.
The chairmen of the House Judiciary and Homeland Security committees have unveiled a broad-scale immigration reform bill that includes the year-round H-2C guestworker visa for farm, packing plant, and forestry workers. The bill also would require employers to confirm, through the E-Verify digital database, that a job applicant can legally work in the country.
An estimated half or more of farmworkers, as many as a million people, are believed to be undocumented.
The White House said its package would include construction of a wall along the border with Mexico. “In some places, we have natural barriers [so] that you don’t actually need the wall, and in other places … it is desperately needed as determined by law enforcement officials and DHS. That’s where we would put the wall,” said Sanders.