APRIL 3, 2006

ISSUE 1109

SENATE JUDICIARY COMMITTEE PASSES COMPREHENSIVE IMMIGRATION REFORM BILL

The Senate Judiciary Committee passed a comprehensive immigration reform bill Monday (March 27), which now goes to the floor of the Senate for debate.
Unlike the House-passed immigration reform bill, the Senate bill includes a guest worker program and provides for the legalization of undocumented workers presently in the U.S.

The main features of the bill are border security and enforcement, a general-industry temporary worker program, a plan for the 11 million undocumented workers already in the United States to keep working and earn legal permanent residency, and a specific agricultural component.

The general temporary worker and earned legalization programs are largely patterned after the bipartisan McCain-Kennedy legislation. The agricultural component, essentially the Craig-Kennedy “AgJOBS" bill, was offered in committee as an amendment by Senator Dianne Feinstein (D-Calif.) and continues to contain a comprehensive reform of the H-2A program.

“We have an opportunity to do something which has a chance to work, which is real, which meets the needs of real people out there, and which can stop the illegal infusion through our borders in the future if we act wisely, well, and effectively,” Feinstein said.

“While this is a good first step, it still has a long way to go before it becomes law,” said Walter Kates, FFVA director, Labor Relations Division.

If this issue is of importance to you or your business, now is the time to contact your senators and representatives and express to them the importance of a reformed H-2A program for agriculture that is cost competitive, timely and free of bureaucrat red tape.