This Issue: Ag amnesty bill to include weak E-Verify provision

Fri, Nov 1^th

A bipartisan group of House Members has introduced a new agricultural amnesty bill that includes a new twist from past ag amnesties -- a provision that requires farmers but nobody else to use E-Verify. The E-Verify provision isn't enough, however, to hide the fact that this will be an amnesty for millions of illegal ag workers and encourage more illegal immigration.

The Farm Workforce Modernization Act, H.R. 4916, was introduced on Wednesday. The official text has yet to be released, so we don't know all the details. But here's what lead sponsor Rep. Zoe Lofgren (D-Calif.) says the bill would do:

Establish a program for agricultural workers in the United States to earn legal status through continued agricultural employment and contribution to the U.S. agricultural economy.
Reform the H-2A program to provide more flexibility for employers, while ensuring critical protections for workers. The bill focuses on modifications to make the program more responsive and user-friendly for employers and provides access to the program for industries with year-round labor needs.
Establish mandatory, nationwide E-Verify system for all agricultural employment with a structured phase-in and guaranteed due process for authorized workers who are incorrectly rejected by the system.

NumbersUSA's Director of Government Relations, Rosemary Jenks, issued the following statement:

Congress tried amnesty as a solution to large numbers of illegal agricultural workers in 1986 with the Immigration Reform and Control Act. As predicted, it failed because the workers left agriculture for easier, better-paying jobs as soon as they got their amnesty, and illegal immigration actually increased thanks to the promise of future amnesties. The Farm Workforce Modernization Act will have the same result: amnestied aliens competing with Americans for non-farm jobs; and more illegal immigration incentivized by amnesty. Moreover, by mandating E-Verify only for agricultural employers, it will actually encourage more illegal aliens to compete with American workers and legal immigrants for non-farm jobs, where E-Verify is not required.

Last year, House lawmakers considered advancing legislation that would require all employers in the U.S. to use E-Verify in exchange for reforming the H-2A agricultural guest worker program. The legislation did allow current illegal ag workers to apply for the new guest worker program, but did not provide an opportunity for permanent amnesty like the Farm Workforce Modernization Act promises to do.

The most concerning aspect of H.R. 4916 is that 44 U.S. Representatives from both sides of the aisle have signed on as original cosponsors.

We'll continue to monitor the legislation and will post actions after Congress returns from its current recess and we have been able to read and analyze all the details.

Chris Chmielenski
NumbersUSA Deputy Director

Rosemary commented on the speculation that Pres. Trump would name Chad Wolf as Acting Director for the Department of Homeland Security:

Axios -- [i]"If Wolf's background as a lobbyist for employers of H-1B workers doesn't disqualify him, then his time as chief of staff to Kirstjen Nielsen, who utterly failed at the job, should," Rosemary Jenks, the director of government relations at NumbersUSA, an organization that advocates for stricter limits on immigration, told Axios in a statement.[/i

Report: Chad Wolf to be Named Acting DHS Secretary

Fri, Nov 1^th

The White House plans to name Homeland Security official Chad Wolf acting secretary, according to three people familiar with the situation. Wolf will replace acting DHS Secretary Kevin McAleenan, whose last day in the job was supposed to be Thursday. McAleenan will now stay until Nov. 7, according to one of the people with knowledge of the matter.

AG Barr Limits Ways Aliens can Fight Deportation

Wed, Oct 30^th

Attorney General William Barr issued a decision limiting aliens' options to fight deportation late Friday, furthering the Trump administration's immigration agenda. The little-noticed decision, made through the attorney general's unique "certification" power, removes a long-standing path to disqualify aliens with multiple drinking and driving convictions from the cancelation of deportation orders.

Gov. DeSantis Signals Another Push for E-Verify System

Wed, Oct 30^th

Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis urged lawmakers Tuesday to create legislation that would require employers to use a federally operated database to verify the immigration status of workers. About two dozen states now tap into the E-Verify data. But some of them, including Florida, only require verification for government jobs.

DHS Grants Hundreds of Thousands of Salvadorans an Extra Year to Leave U.S.

Mon, Oct 29^th

Acting Homeland Security Secretary Kevin McAleenan signed an agreement with El Salvador on Monday, giving Salvadorans covered by the Temporary Protected Status program an extra year to return to their home country. Currently, there are around 200,000 Salvadorans living in the U.S. under the special, temporary status.

Politico: Trump Eyes H-1B Lobbyist for DHS Chief Position

Mon, Oct 29^th

As reported by Politico, Chad Wolf, who sits at the top of Trump's shortlist for Acting Sec. of DHS, worked as a lobbyist pressuring members of Congress to expand the already inflated H-1B visa program. The report states that Wolf represented Indian and U.S. companies that place H-1B workers, often displacing U.S. workers in the process.