Thread: Call to oppose Agjobs bill

I thought I would start a new post to give this more visibility. Anyone who wants to stop amnesty needs to call the American Farm Bureau Federation, who is pushing the AgJobs bill.

Phone: (202) 406-3600*

I called and was transferred to a Margret Scruggs. I didn't get to speak to her, I only got her voice mail. So I left a message saying we are no longer going to subsidize their cheap labor. The Agjobs bill alone will cost American taxpayers about $30 billion a year. Plus it will likely lead to a general amnesty which will cost Americans $300 billion a year or more.

Come on everyone, we need to give these Corporate traitors hell!

La Raza Supports it and this is what they say about it.

Immigrant Farmworker Legislation (AgJOBS)
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Overview: The “Agricultural Jobs, Opportunity, Benefits, and Security Act of 2005” (AgJOBS), H.R. 884/S. 359, is the result of several years of negotiations between key farmworker advocates, particularly the United Farm Workers of America (UFW), and the agriculture industry.

The legislation has two components. First, the bill would create an earned adjustment program for undocumented farmworkers who would be eligible to apply for temporary immigration status based on their past work experience, and who could adjust to permanent resident status upon satisfaction of the program's prospective agricultural work requirement. The spouse and minor children may adjust to permanent resident status once the farmworker does so. Second, the bill would reform the existing H-2A foreign agricultural guestworker program by reducing much of the “red tape” of which farm employers have long complained, while at the same time preserving and enhancing key labor protections for the guestworkers. For the first time, H-2A workers who are abused and cheated by their employers will have recourse to the federal courts and will have a remedy if they are threatened, blacklisted, or otherwise discriminated against by their employer for exercising their rights under the law. The bill has broad bipartisan support in both the House and Senate.

NCLR Position: NCLR believes that the AgJOBS bill represents the first real opportunity to improve conditions for farmworkers in many years, and supports the legislation.

We are concerned about the 2007 version. They have been trying to get this punched through for several years now.

http://www.alipac.us/modules.php?name=F ... 323#276323

Dixie

Bowman wrote:

I thought I would start a new post to give this more visibility. Anyone who wants to stop amnesty needs to call the American Farm Bureau Federation, who is pushing the AgJobs bill.

I agree, the AgJobs amnesty needs stopped, but all the calls in the world are not going to stop the American Farm Bureau Federation from pushing this bill. Of course the opportunity to vent through a phone call never hurts.

I recommend everyone contact their elected representative to voice their displeasure over this bill.

Information on the current bill and a little history on past actions:

Senate and House Re-introduce Massive Amnesty for Illegal Aliens Working in Agriculture

AgJOBS bills were re-introduced in the Senate and House that would provide amnesty to illegal alien farm workers. S. 237 and H.R. 371 (text not available), which are sponsored by Sen. Dianne Feinstein (D-CA) and Rep. Howard Berman (D-CA) respectively, would identify “vacant” agricultural jobs that could be filled by as many as 1.5 million illegal aliens and new foreigners over five years.

“AgJOBS is unpopular with voters and costly to taxpayers; it will encourage illegal immigration, invite fraud, and overwhelm adjudicators without providing a stable, legal agriculture workforce,” said Roy Beck, executive director of NumbersUSA.

Under the provisions of these bills, illegal alien farm workers would be able to obtain a "blue card" granting temporary legal status for themselves and their families if they could show they have worked in the U.S. at least 863 hours or 150 work days (5.75 hours constituting a work day) during the preceding two years. Subsequently, to apply for legal residency, they must demonstrate that they have worked in agriculture here: (1) 100 work days per year each of the five preceding years; (2) 150 work days per year each of the three preceding years; or (3) over the course of the four preceding years, 150 work days per year for three of those years and 100 work days the other.

The Senate passed AgJOBS legislation as part of its “comprehensive” immigration bill (S. 2611) last May, but the measure died when the House refused to take it up before adjournment. In addition, both the House and Senate saw stand-alone AgJOBS measures (H.R. 884 and S. 359) introduced during the 109th Congress.

Widely touted as a “guest worker” proposal, AgJOBS is an amnesty that would reward people who have violated U.S. immigration laws, and it would invite past violators to return to and encourage new illegal aliens to enter the United States. “AgJOBS is unpopular with voters and costly to taxpayers; it will encourage illegal immigration, invite fraud, and overwhelm adjudicators without providing a stable, legal agriculture workforce,” said Roy Beck, executive director of NumbersUSA.
Amnesty for estimated 3 million


Of the 1.2 million illegal aliens currently working in agriculture, an estimated 860,000 plus their spouses and children could qualify for this amnesty, so the total could reach three million or more.

Past amnesty for agricultural workers failed

The 1986 Special Agriculuture Worker (SAW) amnesty showed that when illegal aliens working in agriculture are given green cards, they leave agriculture for other higher-paying occupations. And any form of amnesty entices hundreds of thousands of new illegal aliens, some of whom will work in agriculture, to enter thus continuing to depress wages in all fields including agriculture.

Bill would doom agricultural workers to poverty

S. 359 would ensure that agricultural workers will never be paid more than minimun wage. Furthermore, it would ensure that taxpayers continue having to subsidize the workers and their families by providing public benefits of education, emergency health care, and income supplements (including tax refunds) for the workers and their families.

Agricultural workers already unemployed

The Bureau of Labor Statistics reports that 107,000 American agricultural workers were unemployed in April 2004. Furthermore, low-skilled workers, many capable of agricultural work, have been the hardest hit by the recent high unemployment. The unemployment rate is almost a third higher for those American workers without a high-school diploma. In February 2004, Alan Greenspan announced that America has an oversupply of low-skilled, low-educated workers. (“Greenspan Calls for Better-Educated Workforce,” Washington Post, 21 February 2004).

http://www.numbersusa.com/hottopic/AGJOBS.htm

I bet the rats push this to a vote before the months out.

Who cares what the Brown Supremecists at LaRaza say?

Nobody much pays attention to what White Supremecists say, so why pay any attention to the Brown Supremecists?
They are supported by the Corporate traitors anyway, so this is another reason to vent on the Corporate traitors, for supporting the Brown Supremecists.

Once you give them Amnesty, they will quit working in agriculture.

Farm labors needs to remain a temporary workers because it is a seasonal job.

I wish DC would use some common sense once in a while.

Bowman,

It just confirms that we need to oppose it.

Dixie