I got this email from FAIR today:

Agjobs Threat Looms Over Farm Bill

Last week, amnesty advocates announced that they planned to bring another piece of the failed Bush-Kennedy amnesty bill to the floor soon. This time the goal is AgJOBS—the name given to the agricultural guest worker amnesty bill—authored by Senators Dianne Feinstein (D-CA) and Larry Craig (R-ID). Last week, Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid (D-NV) told Congressional Quarterly that the legislation (S.340) will be added to the Farm Bill (H.R.2419) currently making its way through Congress.

Strikingly similar to the 1986 amnesty bill, AgJOBS grants amnesty to at least 1.5 million illegal alien agricultural workers plus their families through the issuance of "blue cards." In general, blue card applicants must only establish 150 days of agricultural work during calendar years 2005 and 2006 and pay a fine of $100. Upon obtaining a blue card, an illegal alien will:

* be granted legal status;
* be granted work authorization;
* obtain legal status for his/her family;
* be treated as a legal permanent resident (with benefits after five years);
* be allowed to travel freely to and from the U.S.;
* be put on a path to citizenship; and
* receive amnesty for social security crimes, including buying and selling social security numbers.

In addition to providing mass amnesty, AgJOBS also relaxes the requirements of the existing (and uncapped) agricultural guest worker program, called the H-2A program, making it easier for agribusiness to import foreign labor. To see FAIR's legislative analysis of AgJOBS, click here.

The Senate is no stranger to AgJOBS. Versions of the legislation have been introduced for several years in a row. AgJOBS was part S.2611, the infamous amnesty bill that passed the Senate in 2006, but never made it to conference committee with the House of Representatives. Earlier this spring, AgJOBS was also included in the Bush-Kennedy amnesty bill (S.1639), which was subsequently voted down by the Senate. But despite these repeated rejections of AgJOBS by the Senate and the American people, amnesty advocates are still determined to push this legislation forward. They are spurred on by powerful agri-business lobbies that continue to push for an ever increasing supply of cheap foreign labor.

Capitol Hill sources indicate that the Farm Bill and the AgJOBS amendment will surface on the Senate floor the week of November 5th. Some suggest that the failure of the DREAM Act last week has dampened enthusiasm for pursuing the AgJOBS legislation. Shortly after its downfall, Senator Dick Durbin (D-IL) told Congressional Quarterly that the DREAM Act vote could kill prospects for any other immigration measure this year, including AgJOBS. Senator Dianne Feinstein, however, was more hopeful. "I think there is no way of telling," she said. "I'm going to try to do AgJOBS at some point, at some time. We are going to destroy agriculture if we don't." (Congressional Quarterly, Oct. 24, 2007).

Stay tuned to FAIR for more updates on the AgJOBS bill…