Thread: BLITZ..................NO TO AMNESTY ON FARM BILL!!!!!!!!!!!

Supporters hope to revive AgJobs bill

http://www.mcclatchydc.com/200/story/17462.html

By Michael Doyle | McClatchy Newspapers
Posted on Thu, June 28, 2007 email | print tool nameclose
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WASHINGTON — Western growers and union activists are scrambling for a fix after the comprehensive immigration bill on which they'd pinned their hopes collapsed Thursday.

Facing long odds, some Westerners nonetheless say they might try resurrecting an agriculture-only portion of the immigration package. The so-called AgJobs measure would legalize 1.5 million illegal immigrants who have a history of farm work.

"We're going to push it," vowed Manuel Cunha, the president of the Fresno, Calif.-based Nisei Farmers League.

Like the larger immigration measure, AgJobs is complicated. As first introduced by Republican Sen. Larry Craig of Idaho in 2003, the legislation spanned 103 pages. Like the larger bill, it incites controversy over claims that it offers amnesty to lawbreakers.

The AgJobs bill, though, targets a smaller population than the estimated 12 million illegal immigrants potentially affected by the comprehensive bill.

"I think AgJobs has potential," Democratic California Sen. Dianne Feinstein said Thursday. "I think we can move this because of the harvest coming up, and because of the fact that agriculture labor is way down now."

AgJobs would grant special visas to illegal immigrants who've worked in agriculture for the past several years and who continue to do so for three or more years. In time, the immigrants could convert their special visas to permanent U.S. legal residency and, eventually, citizenship.

The legalization provisions won the support of liberals, the United Farm Workers and church groups. In turn, groups such as the Nisei Farmers League, the Idaho Growers and Shippers Association and Florida's Indian River Citrus League signed on because of promised changes in an existing agricultural guest-worker program.

Last year, senators folded the AgJobs provisions into the comprehensive immigration bill. But from the start, supporters including Craig and Feinstein retained the option of moving their agriculture-only bill separately if the larger bill died.

"We're going to start the discussion about this in the next two weeks," Cunha said. "We may be putting it onto another type of legislation; we don't think it can go alone."

As currently introduced, a separate AgJobs bill has 29 Senate co-sponsors.

In particular, lawmakers might try attaching this agriculture-only immigration package onto an appropriations bill used to fund the federal government. This is a popular technique, because appropriations bills enjoy momentum on Capitol Hill and must be passed to keep the government running.

In April 2005, for instance, Craig tried attaching AgJobs legislation to an $81 billion supplemental appropriations bill funding the Iraq war. The effort attracted 53 votes, which weren't enough to overcome a potential filibuster.

That effort fell short in part because lawmakers said they didn't think that immigration revisions belonged on a war funding bill. A standard appropriations bill wouldn't face this objection.

"Americans are demanding that we control this immigration problem," Craig said at the time. "We are offering an approach, a solution to part of that."

Politically, there are some advantages in trying to move an agriculture-only immigration bill. There also are some disadvantages.

AgJobs supporters say they can sell their standalone bill as a discrete and manageable change, simpler to handle than the comprehensive bill that failed to win sufficient Senate support.

"I hope the Senate will work immediately to pass the noncontroversial portions of this bill such as . . . AgJobs," Democratic California Sen. Barbara Boxer said Thursday.

On the other hand, the larger bill's collapse took with it supporters who otherwise lack strong incentives to vote for an agricultural guest-worker plan. Some backers of comprehensive immigration restructuring also see benefit in holding on to the agricultural provision to ensure some rural votes.

An even more fundamental question, after the exhausting melodrama of the past several months, is whether lawmakers have the heart to revive any bill that contains the word "immigration."

Posted on Thu, June 28, 2007

McClatchy Newspapers 2007
| | email | print

Delta7757 wrote:

Populist, where did you find the AgJOBS amnesty story. I need a copy to send to the different stations. Thanks.

I have posted this one and the one above. I hope that it helps.

http://www.cbsnews.com/stories/2007/06/ ... cs_2997692

(AP) Hours after a massive immigration bill collapsed in the Senate, lawmakers and lobbyists began seeking ways to pass bits and pieces of the measure important to their constituents.

A priority for many farm groups is the "Ag jobs" component, one of several programs now needing a new legislative vehicle. It would legalize about 1 million undocumented agricultural workers in the U.S., a key goal of growers whose crops can rot in the fields if not harvested at key times by people willing to work hard at low wages.

The program is considered relatively popular, as is another piece of the stalled bill: the DREAM Act, or Development, Relief and Education for Alien Minors Act. It would create a path to legality for illegal immigrants planning to attend college or join the military and who came to the United States with their families before they turned 16.

Some lawmakers said they hope Congress will enact such programs as stand-alone bills fairly soon. Others, however, said it will be difficult to pass even non-controversial parts by themselves. Backers of items likely to be left out, they said, will resist losing the political leverage that a multifaceted package can provide.

In an interview earlier this week, Sen. Lindsey Graham, R-S.C. — a backer of the sidetracked bill — said the one-at-a-time approach may prove impossible, even for tougher border-enforcement measures that now seem popular.

"The only way we're going to get Ag jobs or DREAM Act" or pathways to legal status for the estimated 12 million illegal immigrants, Graham said, "is to do it together. This idea of 'Just do the enforcement,' there are no votes for that."

Other Republicans, especially in the House, disagree. All immigration-related proposals should be postponed, they said, until the Mexican border is secured.

"The American people believe that until we're able to secure our borders and enforce our laws, taking additional steps is really not in the best interests of the country," House Minority Leader John Boehner, R-Ohio, said after Thursday's crucial Senate vote that derailed the bill.

Some lawmakers immediately urged President Bush to accept defeat on the wide-ranging bill and ask Congress for an emergency spending bill for more border enforcement activities. "That would be a great next step after this vote," said Sen. David Vitter, R-La., who opposed the bill.

Some lawmakers said it hardly matters, however, because enough money and authority already are in place to do the job.

There should be "a very strong sense of urgency in this country to simply carry out the law, the mandate, for 854 miles of fence that we passed" in the 109th Congress, Rep. Duncan Hunter, R-Calif., told reporters Thursday. "They've only built 13 miles of the fence so far. Let's get it built before the next hot season."

While the security debate simmers, the farm lobby will push for Ag jobs, immigrant advocacy groups will fight for the DREAM Act, and other interest groups will seek avenues for similar pet projects. Some legislative leaders Thursday were noncommittal on how they might fare.

House Minority Whip Roy Blunt, R-Mo., was asked if his caucus would support Ag jobs by itself. Most Republicans would back a similar program, he said, but he added: "The concern that House Republicans have and have had for some time now is the order in which these things are accomplished. You have securing the border, being sure that workers who are here appropriately are here with ID that's verifiable, that's reasonably hard to duplicate."

Paul Schlegel, public policy director for the American Farm Bureau, said in an interview, "It's a little soon to handicap" the Ag jobs program's future. "The administration has said all along they want a comprehensive approach," he said, and the bureau has worked in concert with the White House thus far.

The immigration bill's collapse forces all key players to rethink their next moves. Individual components may gain support in the coming weeks, but it won't be easy, several lawmakers said.

Sen. Charles Grassley, R-Iowa, said in an interview before Thursday's vote: "I think it's pretty hard, the way things are set up here, to get anything done on immigration that's not part of a package." © MMVII The Associated Press. All Rights Reserved. This material may not be published, broa

HI guys...

Please see my post here
http://www.alipac.us/modules.php?name=F ... ht=#418853

This fellow needs special attention!!!



4th Ward
Tony Figueroa
921 Oak Tree Ln.
Waukegan, IL 60085
(847) 596-2625

In his words those of us in support of this bill are considered "you people"
...but he would never tell me who YOU PEOPLE are.
Please... give him a call!! By the way ... he has caller ID!

If these sellout Senators think we're going to grant amnesty for Ag workers, they'll need a dream act of their own. No amnesty for anyone here illegally.

Keep pounding them, guys!! They'll get sick of hearing from us, you can just bet.

Originally Posted by April

Delta7757 wrote:

Populist, where did you find the AgJOBS amnesty story. I need a copy to send to the different stations. Thanks.

I have posted this one and the one above. I hope that it helps.

Thanks April. They're great.

Here is a press release from Sen. Boxer's website wherein she and Sen. Snowe urge the Chair and Ranking Member of the Senate Agriculture Committee to include the AgJobs bill as part of the 2007 Farm Bill Reauthorization:

http://boxer.senate.gov/news/releases/r ... ?id=278467

I'll send this, and the CAPS report:
http://capwiz.com/caps/issues/alert/?alertid=10009191

to some talk radio hosts so they are aware of this amnesty scheme. Please do so as well. Thanks.

And let this quote from this NPR story motivate you to fight AgJobs, the "Dream Act" etc:

"The restrictionists feel so happy the big [[AMNESTY]] bill was defeated," Kowalski says. "I'm hoping they won't be able to muster enough support or emotional energy to counter the smaller pieces as they come up."

I put the word "amnesty" in the brackets above. Kowalski edits Bender's Immigration Bulletin, a journal and Web site for immigration specialists.

Link to story:
http://www.npr.org/templates/story/stor ... t=1&f=1003

Dream on, Kowalski. We are as strong as ever and your balloon is about to be popped, so don't celebrate yet. The American people woke up and we don't intend to sleep until we get our country back.

Just spoke with Salazars office! He is Co-sponsor of s340 Ags Jobs Bill.

Staffer: It does offer a pathway to citizenship.
Asked staffer when Salazar was up for re election? 2010
Can we do recalls in Colorado? I don't think so. You don't think so... or you don't know. I don't know. I think she got my message.

I wish we could recall this traitor!!!! These guys are just going to keep sneaking these things in somewhere....

Originally Posted by Populist

Here is a press release from Sen. Boxer's website wherein she and Sen. Snowe urge the Chair and Ranking Member of the Senate Agriculture Committee to include the AgJobs bill as part of the 2007 Farm Bill Reauthorization:

http://boxer.senate.gov/news/releases/r ... ?id=278467

I'll send this, and the CAPS report:
http://capwiz.com/caps/issues/alert/?alertid=10009191

to some talk radio hosts so they are aware of this amnesty scheme. Please do so as well. Thanks.

Thanks Populist, I am on sickened by this blatant slap in the face to the American people by these traitors!!! I have been calling, emailing and faxing all afternoon! I am SO happy that there are so many patriots out there that refuse to be walked on or backed into a corner by these greedy traitors.