APRIL 24, 2006

ISSUE 1112

SENATE GEARS UP FOR RETURN - IMMIGRATION REFORM DOMINATES

 

As the U.S. Senate prepares to return to the Hill after its spring recess Monday (April 24), immigration reform dominates the picture. A compromise measure, by Senators Mel Martinez, R-Fla., and Chuck Hagel, R-Neb., would give agriculture workers who lack proper immigration status an opportunity to apply for legal status in the United States under certain provisions. The Senate had adjourned for recess after a procedural move blocked the bill’s progress.

 

Sen. Martinez says he has commitments from Senate Majority Leader Bill Frist and Judiciary Committee Chairman Arlen Specter that the immigration bill would come up again by May 4. Sen. Martinez hopes the committee can quickly send it back to the full Senate without further amendments. “In the meantime, please call [Senate Minority Leader Harry Reid] and tell him how important this bill is for you,” he told agricultural leaders and immigration advocates in a conference call Wednesday (April 19).

 

The Martinez-Hagel compromise reiterates much of the same language already contained in a comprehensive bill that the Judiciary Committee had approved March 27 and another measure sponsored by Senators John McCain, R-Ariz., and Edward Kennedy, D-Mass., establishing a guest-worker program and provisions to put illegal immigrants on a path toward permanent legal status.

 

While still subject to change, the current bill contains language that creates a specific program for agricultural workers that is similar to the AgJobs legislation that FFVA has supported previously.