AgJOBS
AgJOBS: The Agricultural Job Opportunities, Benefits and Security Act
112th Congress AgJOBS update
7/21/2011
AgJOBS compromise has not yet been introduced as a stand-alone bill this Congress. AgJOBS was included in the comprehensive immigration reform bill introduced in the Senate by Senators Menendez (D-NJ), Leahy (D-VT), Durbin (D-IL), Schumer (D-NY), Kerry ( D-MA), and Gillibrand (D-NY) Farmworker Justice applauds the introduction Comprehensive Immigration Reform Act of 2011 and is pleased that the legislation includes the AgJOBS farmworker immigration bill (Agricultural Job Opportunities, Benefits, and Security Act).
To read more about AgJOBS, click here.
The E-Verify debate in Congress is heating up. House Judiciary Committee Chairman Lamar Smith (R.-Tex.) may seek a committee vote on his Legal Workforce Act before the August recess. Rep. Smith’s mandatory E-Verify bill, which contains special provisions for agriculture, would harm farmworkers and disrupt agricultural production. State legislation in Georgia regarding immigration reportedly harmed production this spring by deterring some migrant farmworkers from returning to that state, and some assert that E-Verify’s impact would be at least as harmful on the national level. Smith’s E-Verify bill contains no constructive response to the presence of hundreds of thousands of productive but undocumented workers in agriculture. A sensible approach would include E-Verify in a comprehensive revision of our broken immigration system. Learn more in the Farmworker Justice Fact Sheet, “Farmworkers and the Food System Will Suffer Under Smith’s Mandatory Employment Verification.”
Rather than respond to the threat of mandatory E-Verify by supporting comprehensive immigration reform and AgJOBS, some agricultural employers have begun lobbying for an entirely new guestworker program or for “reforms” in the H-2A program to remove many worker protections. There are indications that some members of Congress may propose such legislation. Despite employer complaints, the H-2A agricultural guestworker program already provides a solution to agricultural employers who experience a labor shortage. Most guestworker “reform” proposals would facilitate the importation of a massive, exploited, disposable foreign workforce, without addressing the needs of our current experienced farm labor force (documented and undocumented). What employers usually mean by “reform” in this context is slashing wage and other worker protections, limiting obligations to recruit U.S. workers, and reducing government oversight.
Farmworker Justice strongly opposes such guestworker proposals and continues to seek meaningful reform that protects US workers and provides undocumented farmworkers an opportunity to earn legal immigration status. Farmworker Justice is working to educate Congress and the public about the impact of mandatory E-Verify on farmworkers and about the fundamentally flawed nature of agricultural guestworker programs. Please click here to read FJ’s recent Letters to the Editor in the New York Times and the Atlanta Journal-Constitution, and FJ’s Op-Ed in the Macon Telegraph.
In other news, the House Judiciary committee next week will hold a hearing on the HALT Act (H.R. 2497, "Hinder the Administration's Legalization Temptation Act”), legislation which seeks to deny President Obama any discretion with respect to his Administration’s immigration enforcement priorities and would also limit his ability to issue a stay of deportation. The bill would also terminate the Temporary Protected Status program. Please click the links for an excellent explanation of this legislation and the impact it would have.
Finally, next week the Senate Judiciary Committee’s Subcommittee on Immigration, Refugees and Border Security will hold a hearing on the “The Economic Imperative for Enacting Immigration Reform.” The hearing will be webcast and more information is available here.
What is AgJOBS?
AgJOBS is a bipartisan bill that enjoys broad support in Congress. The AgJOBS compromise was carefully negotiated by the United Farm Workers and major agribusiness employers after years of intense conflict. AgJOBS is endorsed by major labor and management representatives, as well as a broad spectrum of organizations, including Latino community leaders, civil rights organizations, religious groups and farmworkers themselves.The Agricultural Job Opportunities, Benefits and Security Act ("AgJOBS") represents a major compromise between farmworker advocates (led by the United Farm Workers) and major agricultural employers to address the agricultural immigration crisis.
AgJOBS would provide a legal, stable labor supply and help ensure that farmworkers are treated fairly.
The proposal contains two main parts:
(1) an "earned legalization" program enabling many undocumented farmworkers and H-2A guestworkers to earn a "blue card" temporary immigration status with the possibility of becoming permanent residents of the U.S. by continuing to work in agriculture and by meeting additional requirements; and
(2) revisions to the existing H-2A temporary foreign agricultural worker program.
On May 14, 2009, Senator Dianne Feinstein (D-CA) and Representatives Berman (D-CA) and Putnam (R-FL) introduced AgJOBS in the 111th Congress. The version of AgJOBS is substantially the same as previous versions.
Download the legislative language:S. 1038 
H.R. 2414
Read our statement on the reintroduction of AgJOBS
You can find a short summary of the bills here.
New York Times Editorial in support of AgJOBS: Farms and Immigrants
--->Read our 2010 AgJOBS update and Action Alerts
Help support immigraton reform for farmworkers.
- Sign the AgJOBS pledge on the UFW website
- Contact your members of Congress and ask them to support AgJOBS. Contact information for your Senators can be found here and Representatives can be found here.
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