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Migrant workers urge bill's passage
Congress may reintroduce legislation allowing temporary work permits for noncitizens.

By Vanessa Colón / The Fresno Bee
(Updated Sunday, August 7, 2005, 6:44 AM)

A coalition of farmworker groups is urging members of Congress to support and reintroduce the AgJobs bill, a bipartisan guest-worker proposal they say would protect workers and help farmers sustain their businesses.

The National Farmworker Alliance in June began a campaign in support of the bill. The bill also has strong support from the United Farm Workers of America.

The AgJobs bill, if approved, would grant temporary work permits to agricultural laborers who worked at least 100 days before Dec. 31, 2004. It could allow them to apply for permanent U.S. residency if they kept working for at least 360 days over six years.

The Senate needed 60 votes to approve the AgJobs bill but fell short in April by seven votes.

Manuel Cunha Jr., president of the Fresno-based Nisei Farmers League, and other growers say the AgJobs bill is the best solution to prevent farmworker shortages because it would allow legal migration for workers.

Rep. George Radanovich, R-Mariposa, says the AgJobs bill still has a chance. He expects the bill to be reintroduced in September in the Senate.

"With the AgJobs bill, we won't have an immigration problem again," he says.

Opponents of the bill, such as the Federation for American Immigration Reform, view the proposed legislation as an amnesty program in disguise.

"We feel any amnesty only encourages more and continued illegal immigration," said Dan Stein, president of the Federation for American Immigration Reform, in a written statement. "It is time to wean agricultural employers off of cheap foreign labor for the good of our long-term national interest."

Another bill similar to AgJobs would allow illegal immigrants currently living in the U.S. to obtain temporary visas, but would not be limited to farmworkers, says Rep. Jim Costa, D-Fresno.

That bill, co-authored by Sens. Edward Kennedy, D-Mass., and John McCain, R-Ariz., would require that undocumented immigrants pass background checks and pay back taxes to obtain permanent legal status.

Costa says Congress might take elements of the different bills and come up with an immigration reform measure.

"At this point," he says, "it's very fragmented."

The reporter can be reached at vcolon@fresnobee.com or (559) 441-6313.