This Issue: House Judiciary Committee decides ag amnesty can't exclude illegal aliens with multiple drunk driving convictions

The next amnesty battle on the floor of the U.S. House moved closer this week after a committee cleared a bill granting lifetime work permits and a path to citizenship for most illegal aliens working in agriculture.

The House Judiciary Committee passed H.R. 5038, the Farm Workforce Modernization Act, along party-lines with all Democrats voting in favor, and all Republicans voting against.

During the committee markup, several Republican amendments were voted down. Most notably, Rep. Steve Chabot (R-Ohio) offered an amendment that would have excluded illegal farm workers from the amnesty if they:

• either had a conviction for driving under the influence where the impaired driving caused serious injury or death of another person,
• or had multiple convictions for driving under the influence.

The amendment was defeated, 7-to-16, with all Democrats voting against and all Republicans voting in favor of the amendment.

It was good to see full GOP opposition in committee against the final bill since the legislation has nearly two dozen Republican cosponsors in the full House. But we're still extremely concerned given its bipartisan support as it advances to the full House where a vote could come in December or shortly after the first of the year.

"Every U.S. Representative with significant agriculture in their District is susceptible to the lobbying of ag corporations unless they hear strong opposition from their constituents."

-- Roy Beck, NumbersUSA President

BORDER FUNDING FIGHT MOVES TO DECEMBER

Congress is on recess for next week's Thanksgiving holiday and both chambers will be in town on Dec. 3. Just before they left, Congress passed another continuing resolution to avoid a government shutdown and continue federal spending until Dec. 20.

Like in the past few years, the biggest sticking point over a yearlong spending deal is funding for Pres. Trump's border fencing. Both sides continue to negotiate, and there's a decent chance that the debate continues into the new year.

Congress has a few options before the Dec. 20 deadline:

1) Pass another CR that continues current spending levels to a future date.

2) Pass a CR-omnibus bill that funds some government agencies for the rest of FY2020 and extends current spending levels for a few agencies (DHS included) to a future date.

3) Pass a spending bill (or bills) that funds the full government for the rest of the fiscal year with or without Pres. Trump's border fence funding.

4) Repeat last year's events by agreeing to nothing and shutting down the government. This is the less likely scenario as we get closer to the next elections.

We're prepared to push for any good immigration provisions and provide resistance for any bad provisions, so be on the lookout for action alerts over the first couple weeks of December as things develop.

In the meantime, all of us at NumbersUSA wish you and your family a happy and safe Thanksgiving!

Chris Chmielenski NumbersUSA Deputy Director