Yesterday, a bipartisan group of 20 Republican and 24 Democrat lawmakers introduced an immigration bill called the Farm Workforce Modernization Act in the US House. If passed, the bill will allow undocumented immigrants who have worked in agriculture for at least two years and can pass background checks to apply for five-year renewable agricultural work visas. It will also establish an improved mandatory e-verify system for the agriculture industry and improve the efficiency of the H-2A visa.
Although this bill applies specifically to the agricultural industry, it is a great road map for other skills-based industries with significant workforce shortages like construction, manufacturing, restaurants, and hotels!
It is also a welcome change to see Republican and Democrat lawmakers working together on immigration reform by bringing a bill to the table. As Republican Rep. Will Hurd (TX-23) said recently about pressuring congressional leadership to act on immigration this session, “When there’s all kinds of other drama going on is the exact perfect time to jam people to try to push to make this happen.” Jam away!
With the Supreme Court preparing to rule on DACA, the urgency for legislative-led solutions on immigration is increasing. It is in President Trump's interest to show progress on reforming immigration law and it is in the Democrats' interest to show they can do something other than investigate President Trump!
Please contact your lawmakers today and ask them to work on passing sensible immigration policy.
God bless you, and may He continue to bless America.