This Issue: Even amidst the rancor of an impeachment proceeding, Congress finds it can come together to pass amnesty and guest worker increases to send President Trump just in time for the holidays.

"The principle economic effect of this bill will be to destroy American jobs and to undermine the wages and benefits of American workers." --Jamie Raskin (D-Md.)

"Let the free market work. I do not believe that American workers, by the way, will not work for decent wages and working conditions. Now, if we have a worker shortage in this country, fine, but let's see. Instead of producing a program designed to afford lots of laborers at sub-minimum wages, with lousy working conditions, no ability to bargain collectively, no leverage -- and we know the result of that. We've seen that result. We've seen the slave labor over the decades in this country. We don't need more of that." -- Zoe Lofgren (D-Cal.)

"[Why] create a scenario where the only possible reason why you would want to come in at these low wages would be to get into the country so you could disappear? It is absurd." -- Jared Nadler (D-N.Y.)

The three quotes above were taken from statements made in the House of Representatives in October 2017 in opposition to H.R.4092, a Republican bill that would have created an agricultural guest worker program akin to indentured servitude. This week, Reps. Raskin, Nadler, and Lofgren voted for a Democratic bill that created a similar program. In fact, it was Lofgren herself who sponsored the bill!

Apparently, protecting American workers and opposing the exploitation of foreign guest workers is no longer a priority for these members of Congress. They voted to pass H.R.5038 last week which expands the H-2A guest worker program -- an unlimited visa program used by agricultural employers to hire seasonal farm workers -- to include dairy, meat and fish processing, and canning. The bill also sets aside 20,000 year-round H-2A visas that can be used to hire guest workers for full-time jobs, and creates 40,000 additional green cards each year for longtime H-2A workers and other low-skilled foreign workers.

The kicker here is that illegal aliens who have worked in agriculture are eligible for the program, so H.R.5038 is an amnesty on top of a give-away to agribusiness.

You don't have to just take our word that the bill is designed to undermine wages for ag workers. Rep. Lofgren explicitly made this point in a press conference last month:

[W]ages are expected to increase by another seven to eight percent next year [for H-2A workers]. Under this bill, those wage increases won't happen.

And Rep. Newhouse (R-Wash.), a co-sponsor of the bill, wrote in an op-ed that his aim was to save employers in his state "at least $324 million" by "freezing 2019 wage rates and limiting increases going forward."

NumbersUSA put out alerts to our members urging them to call their Representatives and tell them to vote NO on H.R.5038. Thank you to all who did. Unfortunately, with the House Democratic leadership pushing the bill, so much so that Speaker Pelosi took to the floor to voice her support, the bill passed 260 to 165. However, it appears some Republicans backed off from voting in favor of the bill, and three Democrats opposed it, including Rep. Bobby Scott of Virginia's 3rd District.

It is unclear if the Senate will take up the bill in 2020. We will keep a close eye on it.

Passing both Chambers this week were funding bills that contain immigration provisions. The 2020 National Defense Authorization Act grants amnesty to approximately 4,000 illegal aliens from Libera who have been living in the United States since 2007 under Deferred Enforced Departure -- an administrative designation by the executive branch shielding certain foreign nationals from removal.

The Consolidated Appropriations Act (H.R. 1158 prohibits ICE from cooperating with Health and Human Services to detain or remove illegal alien sponsors of unaccompanied alien children (UACs), and the Further Consolidated Appropriations Act (H.R. 1865) authorizes DHS to nearly double the available H-2B visas for the remainder of FY 2020, though that is a decision that ultimately be left up to the DHS Secretary.

President Trump is expected to sign all of these spending bills into law.

With impeachment taking up all of the oxygen, it isn't surprising that the media has covered little else. It also isn't surprising that despite the supposed intractable partisan divide, support for amnesty and increases in foreign workers still wins bi-partisan support.

The coming holidays will give us a respite, however brief, from D.C. politics. Let us turn our attention to hearth and home. Wishing you and yours a Merry Christmas and Happy New Year!

Eric Ruark, Director of Research