ALERT!! AgJobs Amnesty Bill Tomorrow!!

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05-13-2009, 11:05 PM
tinybobidaho

ALERT!! AgJobs Amnesty Bill Tomorrow!!

I got this in an email, so I don't have a link.

IMMIGRATION POLICY CENTER

For Immediate Release

FACTS ABOUT FARMWORKERS

May 13, 2009

Washington D.C. - Tomorrow, Senator Dianne Feinstein (D-CA) and Congressmen Adam Putnam (R-FL) and Howard Berman (D-CA) will introduce, in the Senate and House, the Agricultural Job Opportunities, Benefits, and Security (AgJOBS) Act. AgJOBS is a bipartisan, compromise bill that is the result of years of negotiations among farmworkers, growers, and Members of Congress. The legislation has two parts: 1) an earned legalization program for unauthorized farmworkers who meet certain eligibility requirements; and 2) a revision of the H-2A temporary foreign agricultural worker program. Numerous organizations from across the political spectrum believe that the bill is necessary to create a stable agricultural workforce, improve the lives of farmworkers, and give employers access to the workers they need.

AgJOBS also serves as a blueprint for comprehensive immigration reform. AgJOBS demonstrates a successful model for compromise where workers and employers have come together to resolve their differences. The dysfunctional U.S. immigration system is currently standing in the way of addressing deeper structural problems that impact U.S. workers and U.S. competitiveness in a globalized market. The Immigration Policy Center has produced a fact sheet about the current challenges found at the intersection of immigration policy and agriculture, and why addressing these issues is critical to the nation's economy.

The Most Current Data Shows:

Farmwork is critical to the U.S.'s food security. According to agricultural labor economist James Holt, less than 2% of the U.S. workforce is engaged in farm work. However, more than 550,000 U.S. farmers hire workers to fill more than 3 million agricultural jobs each year. Because many of these agricultural jobs are seasonal, the 3 million jobs are filled by 2.5 million workers.

Most farmworkers are not authorized to work legally in the U.S. According to the National Agricultural Workers Survey (NAWS), the percentage of agricultural workers who reported that they were unauthorized has increased dramatically in the last two decades, rising from 7% in Fiscal Year (FY) 1989, to 16% in FY 1990-91, to 28% in FY 1992-93. In the most recently published NAWS survey from FY 2001-02, 53% of all seasonal agricultural workers admitted they were not authorized to work in the U.S. However, many experts suggest that the number may actually be closer to 75%.

U.S. growers want a stable, legal workforce. The vast majority of U.S. employers are law-abiding and attempt to hire legal workers. However, even "good" employers can get caught up in immigration-enforcement actions. Labor disruptions due to worksite raids, immigration audits and investigations, Social Security Administration (SSA) "No-Match" letters, and other immigration-enforcement activities can result in severe financial problems for growers: crops rot in the fields, jobs further down the production line are lost, growers cannot make payments on loans, and farms go out of business.

Farmworkers suffer poor working conditions. As in other sectors of the economy, the presence of many unauthorized workers exacerbates the problems of poor wages and working conditions and results in weak bargaining power for all workers. Undocumented workers live under the constant threat of deportation and are therefore less likely to lodge complaints or join labor unions, resulting in poorer wages and conditions for all workers, including U.S. citizens.
For More Facts and Data See:

Facts About Farmworkers (IPC Fact Check) May 13, 2009

###

For press inquiries contact Wendy Sefsaf at 202-507-7524 or wsefsaf@ailf.org or
Andrea Nill at 202-507-7520 or anill@ailf.org.
05-13-2009, 11:12 PM
ELE

Why should the American people have to pay for the illegals

Perhaps the American people should allow this Ag Amnesty to take place if the farmers that hire the illegals agree to pay ALL of the expenses of the illegals and their Anchors for the entire time the illegals and Anchors stay in US.

PS
Ins't it gross that the illegals have no health checks, and could have active TB, Chagna and/or Leprosy and are working on the food we give to our families?
05-13-2009, 11:15 PM
MW

How about some collaborating evidence? I can't find anything on this, not even at NumbersUSA. NumbersUSA is normally on top of all amnesty attempts. :?
05-13-2009, 11:20 PM
tinybobidaho

Quote:

Originally Posted by MW

How about some collaborating evidence? I can't find anything on this, not even at NumbersUSA. NumbersUSA is normally on top of all amnesty attempts. :?

When I copied it, it left out the top part that says IMMIGRATION POLICY CENTER. That's who put out the report. I corrected it at the top.
05-13-2009, 11:33 PM
MW

Tinybobidaho wrote:

Quote:

When I copied it, it left out the top part that says IMMIGRATION POLICY CENTER. That's who put out the report. I corrected it at the top.

Here is their site:

http://www.immigrationpolicy.org/

It's strange that I can't find this anywhere else. :?

I guess it's no big deal since it's only being introduced. Hopefully the bill will never make it out of committee.
05-13-2009, 11:42 PM
tinybobidaho

Quote:

Originally Posted by MW

Tinybobidaho wrote:

Quote:

When I copied it, it left out the top part that says IMMIGRATION POLICY CENTER. That's who put out the report. I corrected it at the top.

Here is their site:

http://www.immigrationpolicy.org/

It's strange that I can't find this anywhere else. :?

I guess it's no big deal since it's only being introduced. Hopefully the bill will never make it out of committee.

Yeah, but you would think they would have it on their website. Well, we'll leave this for a bit and see if anything pops up about it in the papers. At least this alert will make people aware to look for articles about it, or catch it on C-SPAN.
05-14-2009, 01:13 AM
LawEnforcer

From what I've heard, the pro-amnesty movement is split between supporting the AgJobs bill by itself. Becase if it passes, then they will no longer have the farm work to use as a ploy to pass a mass amnesty. Farm workers account for a small portion of the total number of illegals.
They want the Agjobs bill to be attached to a mass amnesty bill.

Therefore, some feel that if the Agjobs bill is passed. Polititians will put the immigration issue to rest, and all the rest of the illegal aliens will have to wait more years for their legalization.
05-14-2009, 10:46 AM
tinybobidaho

MW, if you look now you'll find they have put this news on their website.

http://www.immigrationpolicy.org/
05-15-2009, 07:53 PM
tinybobidaho

Farm Labor Crisis: Sen. Feinstein Introduces Legislation to Relieve Worker Shortage in Agriculture
Congressional Desk May 15, 2009Bill would provide steady and reliable workforce for farmers

Washington, DC – U.S. Senator Dianne Feinstein (D-Calif.) re-introduced legislation to provide much-needed relief to the nation´s ongoing agriculture labor shortage.

The Agricultural Job Opportunities and Benefits Act (AgJOBS) would reform the broken H-2A seasonal worker program, provide farmers with the stable, legal workforce they deserve, and offer a pathway to citizenship for hard-working, law-abiding immigrants already employed on American farms.

"Today across the United States, there are not enough agricultural workers to pick, prune, pack or harvest our country´s crops. With an inadequate supply of workers, farmers from Maine to California, and from Washington State to Georgia, have watched their produce rot and their farms lay fallow over the years," Senator Feinstein said.

"As a result, billions of dollars are being drained out of our already struggling economy. This legislation would help to ensure a consistent, reliable agriculture work force to ensure that farmers and growers never again lose their crops because of a lack of workers."

Sixteen senators have signed on as co-sponsors: Chuck Schumer (D-N.Y.); Jeff Bingaman (D-N.M.); Sen. Barbara Boxer (D-Calif.); Maria Cantwell (D-Wash.); Robert Casey (D-Pa.); Chris Dodd (D-Conn.); Russ Feingold (D-Wis.); Ted Kauffman (D-Del.); Edward Kennedy (D-Mass.); John Kerry (D-Mass.); Herb Kohl (D-Wis.); Patrick Leahy (D-Vt.); Carl Levin (D-Mich.); Joe Lieberman (I-Conn.); Patty Murray (D-Wash.); and Bill Nelson (D-Fla.)

"In Vermont, as in many states across the country, farmers are feeling the effects of a scarce labor pool," said Senator Patrick Leahy (D-Vt.) "This problem is particularly acute for the dairy industry, where the employment needs are year-round and require a significant investment from the farmer in terms of training and development. I have long been concerned about the dairy farmers´ difficulties in trying to use the agricultural visa program. The AgJOBS bill will give dairy farmers needing workers the opportunity to lawfully hire foreign workers who can remain with their employers for a meaningful period of time."

"California´s farmers and growers are still waiting for a solution to the persistent labor shortages that each year cost our state´s agricultural economy billions of dollars," said Senator Boxer (D-Calif.) "The AgJobs bill will provide our agricultural community with a stable and reliable workforce, and I look forward to working with Senator Feinstein and my colleagues to see that this bill finally becomes law."

"During these rough economic times, our own farmers can´t find enough workers," said Senator Nelson (D-Fla.) "And the system for bringing agricultural workers here legally is broken. We need to get it fixed, which is why we´re pressing for this legislation."

The AgJOBS bill is a two-part bill. The first part would create a five-year pilot program to identify undocumented agricultural workers and legalize the immigration status for those who have been working in the United States for the past two years or more. The second part would reform the H-2A visa system to provide farmers and growers with a legal path to bring guest workers to the United States to harvest their crops.

The labor needs of the nation´s agriculture industry remain consistent. Across the country, farmers are reporting that they do not have enough labor to plant, tend and harvest their crops. There are not enough workers to milk cows. As a result, farmers have been forced to decrease the size of their farms and switch to less labor intensive and less profitable crops. Efforts have been made for years to get Americans to do the work, but they simply won´t do it.

Other farmers are simply closing up shop. Between 2007 and 2008, 1.56 million acres of farmland were shut down in the United States.

http://www.americanchronicle.com/articles/view/102558
05-15-2009, 11:56 PM
mbrown

The AgJOBS bill is a two-part bill. The first part would create a five-year pilot program to identify undocumented agricultural workers and legalize the immigration status for those who have been working in the United States for the past two years or more. The second part would reform the H-2A visa system to provide farmers and growers with a legal path to bring guest workers to the United States to harvest their crops.

This is the really troublesome part. Working in the US for two years or more???

2 years??????????

Good Grief..this will be a scam from the get go.
05-15-2009, 11:59 PM
MW

mbrown wrote:

Quote:

The second part would reform the H-2A visa system to provide farmers and growers with a legal path to bring guest workers to the United States to harvest their crops.

The H-2A visa program already provides farmers with the ability to legally bring in guest workers (for the season). Furthermore, didn't the Bush administration already revise the system to make it more farmer friendly?
05-16-2009, 12:05 AM
mbrown

MW..I didn't refine my post very well...This was my complaint about it and statements said that..so will try to repost the MOST pertinent part of it...
The AgJOBS bill is a two-part bill. The first part would create a five-year pilot program to identify undocumented agricultural workers and legalize the immigration status for those who have been working in the United States for the past two years or more.
This will end up to be one big scam from the get go....lying all over the place....TWO YEARS and try to make legaliztion out of that two year period??
05-16-2009, 12:09 AM
MW

Quote:

The Agricultural Job Opportunities and Benefits Act (AgJOBS) would reform the broken H-2A seasonal worker program, provide farmers with the stable, legal workforce they deserve, and offer a pathway to citizenship for hard-working, law-abiding immigrants already employed on American farms.

The current H-2A program is not broken. The only folks having a problem with the program is the farmers. They keep whining that the program is too paperwork intensive and costly because they must provide medical care (when needed), transportation, housing, and pay a rate based on the regions economy. In other words, anything less than 'cheap labor' is a non-starter in their minds. They want their work force subidized by the American taxpayer - just like the illegal alien work force is. :roll:

I'M SICK AND TIRED OF THE WHINING AND GREED!!!

I'm also sick and tired of the agricultural lobby and their bought and paid for members of Congress. :roll:

Quote:

Sixteen senators have signed on as co-sponsors: Chuck Schumer (D-N.Y.); Jeff Bingaman (D-N.M.); Sen. Barbara Boxer (D-Calif.); Maria Cantwell (D-Wash.); Robert Casey (D-Pa.); Chris Dodd (D-Conn.); Russ Feingold (D-Wis.); Ted Kauffman (D-Del.); Edward Kennedy (D-Mass.); John Kerry (D-Mass.); Herb Kohl (D-Wis.); Patrick Leahy (D-Vt.); Carl Levin (D-Mich.); Joe Lieberman (I-Conn.); Patty Murray (D-Wash.); and Bill Nelson (D-Fla.)

All the usual suspects. :x
05-18-2009, 10:44 AM
working4change

New day, new push to legalize farmworkers
By Matt O'Brien
Contra Costa Times
May 15, 2009

A farm workers dusts a vineyard along Byron Highway near State Route 4 near Point of Timber in Brentwood, Calif., on Thursday May 14, 2009. For the fourth time this decade, Senator Diane Feinstein and other legislators today have introduced an "AgJobs" bill that, if enacted, would legalize more that one million undocumented farm workers , many of them in California. (Susan Tripp Pollard/Staff)

Sen. Dianne Feinstein on Thursday introduced a bill that would grant amnesty to up to 1.35 million farmworkers who are working in the country illegally, many of them in California.

Nicknamed the AgJobs Bill, the measure has been proposed multiple times this decade, without success, by Feinstein and other legislators. Some supporters are hoping it might fare better under the Obama administration.

California's labor-intensive agriculture industry and worker advocates, such as the United Farm Workers of America, have long pushed for the reform measure.

"We have acknowledged for a number of years that a significant part of our labor force presents fraudulent documents in order to get work," said Bryan Little, director of labor relations for the California Farm Bureau.

While drought problems have reduced the demand for labor this year, Little said growers remain concerned about the worker shortages experienced earlier in the decade when lucrative construction jobs pulled employees away from the fields.

"A lot of people who used to do farm work were nailing up housing for construction in Elk Grove," Little said. "Farmers couldn't get people coming to do the work for any price."

The bill would allow foreign farmworkers who have already been working illegally in the United States for at least two years to earn a path toward becoming legal residents. Family members would also be eligible, potentially bringing the total number of legalized residents to about 2 million people.

Feinstein's bill, co-sponsored by 16 other senators, none of them Republicans, would also revamp a program that recruits foreign workers for seasonal jobs on American farms. Most California farmers currently avoid using guest workers because of the complications and costs involved with participating in the federal program, Little said.

In a written statement, Feinstein said the bill would help ensure a "consistent, reliable agriculture work force" amid concerns that there is not enough labor to tend and harvest American crops.

"Farmers have been forced to decrease the size of their farms and switch to less labor-intensive and less profitable crops," the statement said. "Efforts have been made for years to get Americans to do the work, but they simply won't do it."

With millions of Americans now out of work, Roy Beck, director of NumbersUSA, which favors lower immigration levels, said he believed few would buy the arguments made by Feinstein, who he described as primarily representing western farm interests.

"We've allowed western agricultural work to become a foreign job," Beck said. "California farmers have gotten lazy, and they're just addicted to this kind of illegal labor."

Feinstein's office provided a long list of supporters, including California farm networks growing everything from avocados to wine grapes and dried plums.

In the Bay Area, the number of farms has dwindled in recent decades. But in Contra Costa County, which produced $70 million worth of farm products last year, county agricultural commissioner Vince Guise said local farmers continue to have legitimate concerns about navigating through complicated federal immigration rules and finding enough workers to pick crops.

"You hear from some people who say, 'We have teenagers, we have young adults who aren't employed, but a lot of them don't want to do the work,'" said Guise, who picked cantaloupes and tomatoes as a child. "It is very hard work."

Beck said streamlining the legal guest-worker program to make it more palatable for California farmers is the only part of the bill that makes sense, but he said he was adamantly opposed to the amnesty provision.

"Why should we provide permanent residency and eventual access to all U.S. jobs by all these illegal workers?" Beck said. "The rationale seems to be we need to do that because we need so many farmworkers, but they're not going to stay farmworkers."

Maria Machuca, spokeswoman for the United Farm Workers, said more than 50 percent of California's agricultural workers are undocumented. She said legalizing them makes sense because it maintains a workforce skilled at what it does while also protecting the workers from abuse.

"You can't have farmworkers who are afraid to speak up because that also drags down the salaries of those who are here legally," Machuca said. "The agricultural industry needs these farmworkers and the workers have been here for a long time already. They know how to do this work."

Reps. Howard Berman, D-Calif., and Adam Putnam, R-Fla., have introduced companion legislation in the House of Representatives.

Reach Matt O'Brien at 925-977-8463 or mattobrien@bayareanewsgroup.com.

http://www.capsweb.org/content.php?id=652&menu_id=8