The chairmen of the House Judiciary and Homeland Security committees unveiled a broad-scale immigration reform bill that might piggyback on a legislative resolution of the issue of “dreamers” — children brought into the United States illegally. The bill includes Judiciary chairman Bob Goodlatte’s plan for a new, year-round H-2C guestworker visa for farm, packing plant, and forestry workers.
A Judiciary Committee release said the bill would create “a new, workable agricultural guestworker program for America’s farmers and ranchers.” The committee approved Goodlatte’s stand-alone H-2C bill without the support of a few hard-line conservatives and with Democrats saying it was too extreme to pass Congress. The bill would reduce pay rates for guestworkers and remove the requirement that employers provide transportation and housing for the workers. On the other hand, it would allow guestworkers to change jobs if they wish once the E-Verify system is in use.
The new bill would require employers to confirm, through the E-Verify digital database, that a job applicant can legally work in the United States. E-Verify would become mandatory in two years.
An Oregon nursery leader said the adoption of E-Verify “before a transition plan for current workers and implementation of an agricultural visa system could be harmful to much of agriculture throughout the United States,” reported Capital Press. “The only certainty will be chaos for farmers and workers,” said Jeff Stone, executive director of the Oregon Association of Nurseries. “My hope is that this is not the first and final offer, because I am not sure agriculture is better off under this proposal.”
Under the current H-2C plan, undocumented farmworkers can obtain legal status if they register with the government, return to their home countries, and obtain a visa. Half of farmworkers are believed to be undocumented, and some growers fear there will not be enough workers in the new system, which would allow an additional 450,000 H-2C visas a year.
For a Judiciary Committee news release on the bill or links to its text, a summary of the bill, and other material, click here.