empowering farmworkers to improve their living and working conditions since 1981

Farmworkers and Immigration Reform: What’s Next?

Newsletters - Spring 2010 Newsletter

Immigration reform continues to be a critical need for our nation’s farmworkers, the majority of whom are undocumented. Unfortunately, because Congress was tied up with health care reform for much of 2009, it made little progress on immigration reform. The end of March brought a swell of energy for immigration reform. Over 200,000 people gathered on the National Mall inWashington, D.C. for a national rally for reform; President Obama held meetings with key immigration reform stakeholders, and Senators Schumer (D-NY) and Graham (R-SC) released a framework for comprehensive immigration reform in the Senate. Senator Schumer is the leader of the Judiciary Committee’s subcommittee on immigration.

The next couple months are a critical time for immigration reform. As the November 2010 election nears, the prospects for passage of comprehensive immigration reform become more challenging.

AgJOBS remains a critical component of comprehensive immigration reform addressing the unique needs of agriculture. AgJOBS was included in the House Comprehensive Immigration Reform bill, CIR ASAP, introduced by Rep. Luis Gutierrez (D.-Ill.) and will likely be included in any comprehensive immigration reform bill introduced in the Senate. AgJOBS was also introduced as a stand-alone bill in May 2009.

AgJOBS remains a bipartisan bill with strong support. Senator Lugar (R-Ind.) recently became a cosponsor of AgJOBS and with his leadership could bring even more cosponsors to the AgJOBS bill. In the House, Representative Putnam (R-Fl) has been a strong supporter of AgJOBS. Stay tuned to our website, www.farmworkerjustice.org, for updates and more detailed information.