Senators Feinstein and Craig Unveil Details of Ag-jobs; Program Included in Comprehensive Immigration Bill

News Date May 22, 2007

After senators announced an historic agreement last week on comprehensive immigration reform, Senators Dianne Feinstein (D-Calif.) and Larry Craig (R-Idaho) unveiled details of the agricultural workers program included in the package. The agricultural workers program mirrors legislation that Feinstein and Craig introduced earlier this year. 

"Immigration is one of the most difficult areas in which to legislate, because feelings run deep on both sides of the issue," Feinstein said. "It also must be remembered that we need 60 votes to move anything in the United States Senate. Therefore, compromise is the only way we are going to get a bill." 

The bill would: 
  * Strengthen U.S. borders through additional border patrol agents, building border fences, and enhancing surveillance technology. 
  *Provide a path to earn legal status for undocumented workers in this country, which is estimated to be 10 to 12 million, including two to three million in California. 
  * Enhance the ability of the government to fight against document fraud by including a provision to increase penalties for passport fraud. 
  * Create a strong employment verification system to crack down on illegal employment. 
  * Give young people an opportunity for an education through the American Dream Act. 
  * Provide a stable and consistent workforce for agriculture, through the AgJOBS program, which is included in the bill.
         The agricultural workers program in the bill is fundamentally the same program that the growers and workers negotiated over ten years and which Craig and Feinstein have been advocating. 

This legislation would create a separate agricultural workers program. It provides a consistent, stable workforce for the one industry that depends almost exclusively on undocumented labor. "The American people have rightly demanded that Congress solve the national problem of immigration, and the bill announced is a serious effort to do just that," Craig said. "The legislation contains provisions that will promote our economy, improve our national security, and deal fairly with both citizens and non-citizens alike." 

Last week, NASDA President and Washington State Agriculture Director Valoria Loveland sent letters to all members of the U.S. Senate regarding farm labor issues. In the letter Loveland said, "NASDA has carefully considered the farm labor issue, and has concluded that we need Congress to enact immigration reform legislation that provides workable and fair legal channels for farmworkers to enter the country, work, and return home when the season is over." The full text of the letter can be located on NASDA's website. 

The Senate is expected to take up the immigration reform legislation this week. (Contact: Jennifer Yezak)