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Farmworker Justice Immigration Update 6/6/2014

DACA Renewal Process Open

Yesterday, Secretary of Homeland Security Jeh Johnson announced the renewal process for DACA recipients, including a new form for renewals and new applications, new form instructions and updated FAQs. The DACA initiative began almost two years ago and so far more than half a million individuals have received DACA, freeing them from the fear of deportation and enabling them to participate in and contribute more fully to their communities. USCIS is encouraging participants to file their renewal applications approximately 120 days or four months in advance of the expiration date and no more than 150 days. The first DACA recipients should begin the renewal process promptly as their work authorization and deferred action status will expire in September. Farmworker Justice is pleased that DHS has taken steps to ensure the continuation of this important initiative and we appreciate their interest in helping farmworker communities learn about DACA and its requirements. Even as we applaud this important renewal process, we note its limitations. Farmworker Justice believes DACA recipients and other aspiring Americans deserve more than just a deferral of deportation and we will continue to call on Members of the House of Representatives to do their jobs by passing immigration reform legislation that includes a path to citizenship. We will also continue working with DHS to address the unique challenges farmworkers and their families face and to shape broad administrative relief programs.

Legislation and Administrative Action

Meanwhile, last week, President Obama announced that he would hold off on executive action related to immigration for the next couple of months in order give the House time to act. The President expressed concern that unilateral action would anger Republicans and provide an excuse for the House not to pass immigration reform. As part of this decision, the President directed Secretary of Homeland Security Jeh Johnson to delay the release of the results of his review of the deportation system, which was expected to include a revised enforcement priorities memo. The Department of Defense also delayed its plans to allow DACA participants to serve in the Military Accessions Vital to National Interest (MAVNI) program (a program for immigrants with particular skill-sets such as a medical license or certain language abilities) if they are qualified and accepted. However, DHS’s Customs and Border Patrol did not refrain from releasing a scathing report on the agency’s use of force as well as an updated use-of-force policy handbook aimed at addressing criticisms in the report.

And the question everyone is asking—what is the likelihood that the House will take up immigration reform? While there are many views and no clear answer yet, there is still a possibility that the House could act. Rep. Mario Diaz-Balart (R- FL) told CQ Roll Call that he is still working on getting Republicans to support passing immigration reform in a step-by-step manner. 

“Every day I’m getting more and more Republicans — conservatives — who are frankly approaching me saying, ‘How do we move forward?’ I feel very very confident that a majority — a strong majority — of Republicans want to finally tackle this system that everyone understands is broken — with some caveats,” he said in a phone interview. “Republicans are insisting that we take this step-by-step.”

Yet the only action in the House on immigration reform is not positive. Soon after the House refused to allow a vote on Rep. Denham’s ENLIST amendment that would allow certain young undocumented immigrants to serve in the military, Rep. King (R-IA) was allowed to offer an anti-immigrant amendment. The amendment, which would provide $5 million to fund the investigation of the Department of Justice’s use of discretion in immigration enforcement, passed the House by a vote of 218-193. This is the second time that Rep. King has been allowed a vote on his anti-immigrant measures. A year ago today, the House passed King’s amendment to defund DACA. Neither of these measures is likely to pass the Senate.

Immigration reform advocates around the country continue to pressure the House to act. This week, advocates held civil disobedience actions in 22 Republican House Members’ offices to call on them to ask Speaker Boehner to bring an immigration reform bill to a vote before the August recess. America’s Voice reported that the offices of Reps. David Valadao (R-CA), Jeff Denham (R-CA), Buck McKeon (R-CA) and Doc Hastings (R-WA) promised to call on Speaker Boehner to bring immigration reform to a vote. Other Members were not receptive to the actions, resulting in the arrests of some protesters. 

Farmworkers are facing an urgent immigration crisis that is tearing apart their families and communities and depriving them of a voice in the workplace. A recent NPR story described how not much has changed since 1960 when Edward R. Murrow documented the poor living and working conditions of farmworkers in “Harvest of Shame.” Now is the time for conditions to change. Passing comprehensive immigration reform with a roadmap to citizenship is the first step to empowering farmworkers to improve their wages and working conditions.

Abuse in and of the H-2A Program

While the H-2A program is intended to be used only when growers cannot find domestic workers, some employers use it to displace their local workforce. Employers who use the H-2A program often come to prefer H-2A workers over domestic workers due to the tendency of H-2A workers to work to the limits of human endurance to keep their employer happy (remember, they are tied to their employer by their visa so they must leave the country if they lose their job). Other factors leading to a preference for H-2A workers include tax breaks and the ability to handpick an ideal demographic for their workforce. In one recent example in which Farmworker Justice was co-counsel, the employer sought to displace a domestic workforce of 400-500 workers after the workers formed an organization last summer, “Familias Unidas Por la Justicia” (Families United for Justice), in order to bargain collectively for better wages and working conditions. The employer filed an application for over 400 H-2A workers despite letters from the workers stating that they were ready and willing to work. In a victory this week, the Washington State berry grower Sakuma Brothers Farms withdrew its application for H-2A “guest workers.”

Another settlement this week illustrates the abuses inherent in the H-2A program. The Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (EEOC) announced a settlement agreement with four Hawaii farms who agreed to pay $2.4 million to 500 former Thai H-2A agricultural workers to resolve claims of a pattern or practice of national origin and race discrimination (litigation is still ongoing with Global Horizons and one other farm). The case illustrates the rampant abuse in the H-2A program: the H-2A “guestworkers” were placed in a situation of debt bondage due to high recruitment fees and suffered denial or delay of pay, denial of adequate food and water, and monitoring of their movements and confiscation of their passports. Even with the protections in the H-2A program, many abuses occur, demonstrating the need for stronger protections for both US workers and H-2A “guestworkers.”

Farmworker Justice applauds the EEOC’s success in achieving some justice for these workers. This case serves as an important reminder that guestworker programs must include strong and meaningful protections for domestic and internationally recruited workers. The Senate and House’s comprehensive immigration reform bills, S.744 and H.R. 15, contain important protections to curb international labor recruitment abuses, which occur across visa programs. The agricultural stakeholder agreement’s new visa program represents a true compromise and includes both important new protections and difficult concessions. Included in the protections is coverage of “guest workers” under the Migrant and Seasonal Agricultural Worker Protection Act, the main law that protects farmworkers. Additionally, some workers would have portable visas, allowing them to move from one job to another. On the other hand, the compromise also includes the loss of long-standing H-2A protections such as the Adverse Effect Wage Rate and the DOL certification process. We hope that the stabilization of the farm labor force provided by the path to citizenship for undocumented farmworkers combined with new protections for agricultural guestworkers will greatly reduce some of the many abuses of “guestworkers” and domestic farmworkers alike.

DACA Renewal Process Open

Yesterday, Secretary of Homeland Security Jeh Johnson announced the renewal process for DACA recipients, including a new form for renewals and new applications, new form instructions and updated FAQs. The DACA initiative began almost two years ago and so far more than half a million individuals have received DACA, freeing them from the fear of deportation and enabling them to participate in and contribute more fully to their communities. USCIS is encouraging participants to file their renewal applications approximately 120 days or four months in advance of the expiration date and no more than 150 days. The first DACA recipients should begin the renewal process promptly as their work authorization and deferred action status will expire in September. Farmworker Justice is pleased that DHS has taken steps to ensure the continuation of this important initiative and we appreciate their interest in helping farmworker communities learn about DACA and its requirements. Even as we applaud this important renewal process, we note its limitations. Farmworker Justice believes DACA recipients and other aspiring Americans deserve more than just a deferral of deportation and we will continue to call on Members of the House of Representatives to do their jobs by passing immigration reform legislation that includes a path to citizenship. We will also continue working with DHS to address the unique challenges farmworkers and their families face and to shape broad administrative relief programs.

Legislation and Administrative Action

Meanwhile, last week, President Obama announced that he would hold off on executive action related to immigration for the next couple of months in order give the House time to act. The President expressed concern that unilateral action would anger Republicans and provide an excuse for the House not to pass immigration reform. As part of this decision, the President directed Secretary of Homeland Security Jeh Johnson to delay the release of the results of his review of the deportation system, which was expected to include a revised enforcement priorities memo. The Department of Defense also delayed its plans to allow DACA participants to serve in the Military Accessions Vital to National Interest (MAVNI) program (a program for immigrants with particular skill-sets such as a medical license or certain language abilities) if they are qualified and accepted. However, DHS’s Customs and Border Patrol did not refrain from releasing a scathing report on the agency’s use of force as well as an updated use-of-force policy handbook aimed at addressing criticisms in the report.

And the question everyone is asking—what is the likelihood that the House will take up immigration reform? While there are many views and no clear answer yet, there is still a possibility that the House could act. Rep. Mario Diaz-Balart (R- FL) told CQ Roll Call that he is still working on getting Republicans to support passing immigration reform in a step-by-step manner. 

“Every day I’m getting more and more Republicans — conservatives — who are frankly approaching me saying, ‘How do we move forward?’ I feel very very confident that a majority — a strong majority — of Republicans want to finally tackle this system that everyone understands is broken — with some caveats,” he said in a phone interview. “Republicans are insisting that we take this step-by-step.”

Yet the only action in the House on immigration reform is not positive. Soon after the House refused to allow a vote on Rep. Denham’s ENLIST amendment that would allow certain young undocumented immigrants to serve in the military, Rep. King (R-IA) was allowed to offer an anti-immigrant amendment. The amendment, which would provide $5 million to fund the investigation of the Department of Justice’s use of discretion in immigration enforcement, passed the House by a vote of 218-193. This is the second time that Rep. King has been allowed a vote on his anti-immigrant measures. A year ago today, the House passed King’s amendment to defund DACA. Neither of these measures is likely to pass the Senate.

Immigration reform advocates around the country continue to pressure the House to act. This week, advocates held civil disobedience actions in 22 Republican House Members’ offices to call on them to ask Speaker Boehner to bring an immigration reform bill to a vote before the August recess. America’s Voice reported that the offices of Reps. David Valadao (R-CA), Jeff Denham (R-CA), Buck McKeon (R-CA) and Doc Hastings (R-WA) promised to call on Speaker Boehner to bring immigration reform to a vote. Other Members were not receptive to the actions, resulting in the arrests of some protesters. 

Farmworkers are facing an urgent immigration crisis that is tearing apart their families and communities and depriving them of a voice in the workplace. A recent NPR story described how not much has changed since 1960 when Edward R. Murrow documented the poor living and working conditions of farmworkers in “Harvest of Shame.” Now is the time for conditions to change. Passing comprehensive immigration reform with a roadmap to citizenship is the first step to empowering farmworkers to improve their wages and working conditions.

Abuse in and of the H-2A Program

While the H-2A program is intended to be used only when growers cannot find domestic workers, some employers use it to displace their local workforce. Employers who use the H-2A program often come to prefer H-2A workers over domestic workers due to the tendency of H-2A workers to work to the limits of human endurance to keep their employer happy (remember, they are tied to their employer by their visa so they must leave the country if they lose their job). Other factors leading to a preference for H-2A workers include tax breaks and the ability to handpick an ideal demographic for their workforce. In one recent example in which Farmworker Justice was co-counsel, the employer sought to displace a domestic workforce of 400-500 workers after the workers formed an organization last summer, “Familias Unidas Por la Justicia” (Families United for Justice), in order to bargain collectively for better wages and working conditions. The employer filed an application for over 400 H-2A workers despite letters from the workers stating that they were ready and willing to work. In a victory this week, the Washington State berry grower Sakuma Brothers Farms withdrew its application for H-2A “guest workers.”

Another settlement this week illustrates the abuses inherent in the H-2A program. The Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (EEOC) announced a settlement agreement with four Hawaii farms who agreed to pay $2.4 million to 500 former Thai H-2A agricultural workers to resolve claims of a pattern or practice of national origin and race discrimination (litigation is still ongoing with Global Horizons and one other farm). The case illustrates the rampant abuse in the H-2A program: the H-2A “guestworkers” were placed in a situation of debt bondage due to high recruitment fees and suffered denial or delay of pay, denial of adequate food and water, and monitoring of their movements and confiscation of their passports. Even with the protections in the H-2A program, many abuses occur, demonstrating the need for stronger protections for both US workers and H-2A “guestworkers.”

Farmworker Justice applauds the EEOC’s success in achieving some justice for these workers. This case serves as an important reminder that guestworker programs must include strong and meaningful protections for domestic and internationally recruited workers. The Senate and House’s comprehensive immigration reform bills, S.744 and H.R. 15, contain important protections to curb international labor recruitment abuses, which occur across visa programs. The agricultural stakeholder agreement’s new visa program represents a true compromise and includes both important new protections and difficult concessions. Included in the protections is coverage of “guest workers” under the Migrant and Seasonal Agricultural Worker Protection Act, the main law that protects farmworkers. Additionally, some workers would have portable visas, allowing them to move from one job to another. On the other hand, the compromise also includes the loss of long-standing H-2A protections such as the Adverse Effect Wage Rate and the DOL certification process. We hope that the stabilization of the farm labor force provided by the path to citizenship for undocumented farmworkers combined with new protections for agricultural guestworkers will greatly reduce some of the many abuses of “guestworkers” and domestic farmworkers alike.