Senator introduces year’s first immigration bill
As many as 1.5 million farmworkers and their relatives could gain legal status under legislation
By Michael Doyle
MCCLATCHY WASHINGTON BUREAU
WASHINGTON – The introduction Wednesday of an ambitious agricultural guest-worker plan showcases the changed Capitol Hill circumstances that may make 2007 the year for an immigration overhaul.
Some congressional roadblocks are gone. Sympathetic new leaders are in charge. A restored Democratic majority claims new priorities.
"A year does make a difference," insisted Sen. Larry Craig, R-Idaho.
Or so he hopes.
Joined by lawmakers from Florida and California, and backed by hundreds of farm, labor and church groups, Craig is reintroducing a guest-worker plan that’s been debated for years. As many as 1.5 million farmworkers and their relatives now in this country illegally could gain legal status under the bill.
The legislation, dubbed AgJobs, would also revise an existing guest-worker program that farmers consider inefficient. It’s the first big immigration overhaul bill introduced this year, mirroring legislation passed last year by the Senate but not the House of Representatives.
"I happen to believe we have the votes," said Sen. Dianne Feinstein, D-Calif. "I believe the bill can move quickly."
The bill is bipartisan, introduced by Republicans Craig and Sen. Mel Martinez of Florida and Democrats Feinstein and Sen. Barbara Boxer of California. Rep. Howard Berman, D-Calif., helped negotiate the package and introduced an identical bill in the House.
The legislation would grant "blue cards" to illegal immigrants who could prove they had worked in agriculture for at least 150 days in the last two years. They must continue working in agriculture for several years before attaining permanent legal status.
The Republicans who controlled the House last year refused to bring the guest-worker legislation up for a vote. This year, Democrats control the House by a 233-202 margin.
"With the change in the majority party, I think we’re going to see a situation where we get something done this year," said Barry Bedwell, president of the California Grape and Tree Fruit League.
"There’s a little bit more impetus with the change of leadership on the congressional side," said Vito Chiesa, a California peach and almond grower.
The Senate will probably move first, since it took the lead last year. As before, the agricultural guest-worker package could be folded into an immigration overhaul plan that extends beyond farm workers. Congressional negotiators have quietly been redrafting such a comprehensive plan.
The broader proposal will be introduced later with its own fanfare. It will extend to millions of illegal immigrants the opportunity to become legal U.S. residents and, eventually, citizens if they can pay fines and cross other hurdles.
As before, both the broader immigration overhaul and the AgJobs proposal will incite vigorous resistance.
"The Senate has already heard a great number of euphemisms about the AgJobs bill, but let’s be clear from the start about what we are discussing," Sen. Robert Byrd, D-W.Va., warned during earlier debate. "It is amnesty for aliens employed unlawfully in the agricultural sector, and it is amnesty for the businesses that hire and exploit them as cheap labor."
If resistance to a immigration overhaul bill grows too stiff, Berman said, the agricultural guest-worker package could be moved as a separate bill.
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AP Story
Push is on to provide legal status for some immigrant workers
By Suzanne Gamboa
Associated Press
Washington | Backers of overhauling immigration rules began a congressional push Wednesday to give temporary legal status to up to 1.5 million illegal immigrant workers to provide a labor pool for U.S. agriculture.
The proposal is a recycled version of parts of a bill that stalled after passing the Senate last year. House Republicans blocked negotiations on the measure, sticking with a get-tough stand against illegal immigrants before the November elections.
Those wanting to liberalize immigration laws hope the combination of a Democratic majority in Congress, support from President Bush and a perceived backlash against anti-immigration rhetoric in the elections will help power the comprehensive immigration proposals.
"The reality is Americans have come to rely on an undocumented migrant work force to harvest our crops," Sen. Diane Feinstein, D-Calif., said in a news conference.
Under the bill, illegal immigrants who can show they have labored in agriculture for at least 150 work days for the past two years would become eligible for a "blue card" bestowing temporary legal status. Their spouses and minor children also could get a blue card if they already live in the U.S.
People with these cards who work an additional three years, at least 150 days a year, or five years, at least 100 days a year, would be eligible for legal residency. But they first would have to pay a $500 fine, be up to date on taxes, have no record of committing crimes involving bodily injury or threat of serious bodily injury or have caused property damage of more than $500.
The blue card program would end after five years, unless it is renewed. The bill would reduce the time it takes to get a visa for an immigrant who wants to come to the U.S. to work in agriculture.
Among those supporting the bill are Sen. Edward M. Kennedy, D-Mass., a chief architect of last year’s Senate immigration bill, and Sens. Larry Craig, R-Idaho, and Mel Martinez, R-Fla.
Reps. Chris Cannon, R-Utah, and Howard Berman, D-Calif., are sponsoring the House version. It has the backing of House Agriculture Committee Chairman Collin Peterson, D-Minn. and Rep. Adam Putnam of Florida, a member of the Republican leadership team.
Opponents say immigrants provide cheap, exploitable labor to the industry and deflate wages for American employers. They also contend such workers become a drain on taxpayers because those workers, once eligible, turn to welfare, Medicaid and other social programs.
But proponents are getting support from growers who saw their crops left to waste in fields because of farm worker shortages last year.
California grower Toni Scully said growers in her northern California county, Lake County, started last year’s harvest with half the approximately 900 pickers needed to bring the crop in on time. She said more than 26 million pounds of the county’s fruit crop went to waste. "After terrible sleepless nights, we had to accept that help was not on the way," she said.
The blue card proposal probably will be in broader immigration bills to be introduced in the House and Senate in late winter.
