In this briefing

Securing Our Borders
Immigration Reform
Frequently Asked Questions
Significant Provisions
of the AgJOBS Bill
The Need for
AgJOBS Legislation - Now

Putting our Immigration Policies to work

“The legislation introduced today is comprehensive, landmark, and bipartisan and hopes to provide long term solutions for the serious problems facing farmers and farm workers alike.”

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The Agricultural Job Opportunities, Benefits, and Security Act (AgJOBS) builds upon years of discussion and ideas from growers, farm worker advocates, and various groups and organizations, including several Latino groups, focused on the issue of immigration. The legislation intends to provide for a more stable, secure, safe, and legal American agricultural work force and food supply.

This bill is a practical and achievable approach to resolve the seriously flawed farm labor program our country currently operates under. It will head off a growing crisis that threatens American agriculture, workers, and consumers. This landmark bipartisan legislation hopes to provide long term solutions for the serious problems facing farmers and farm workers alike.

The AgJOBS bill would provide a two-step solution: For the short term, on a one-time-only basis, experienced, trusted workers with a significant work history in American agriculture would be allowed to stay here legally and earn adjustment to legal status. For the long term, the currently broken and cumbersome H-2A legal guest worker program would be overhauled and made more streamlined, practical, and secure.

As Congress debates immigration reform policies, including broad-based guest worker programs, employer sanction policies and border security enforcement, I will work to ensure that the AgJOBS bill continues to be revisited. A balanced, transparent guest worker program would work hand-in-hand with new border enforcement measures to create the basis for an effective and fair immigration system.

Securing Our Borders

“But because of a failure of government--and it is important I say this: It is not American agriculture's fault. It is a failure of government to appropriately and necessarily police our borders and devise and cause to work a reasonable, flexible, transparent guest worker program that brings us to the crisis American agriculture is beginning to experience as we speak.”

Floor Speech: AgJOBS and Secure Borders
Watch (streaming) - September 29, 2006

Press Release: Craig Praises Border Fence Signing
Read - October 26, 2006

Press Release: Craig Votes for Secure Fence Bill, Funding
Read - September 29, 2006

Committee Statement: Utilizing the National Guard for Border Patrol
Read - May 17, 2006

Press Release: Craig Praises Plan to Secure Border
Read - May 15, 2006

Floor Speech: Border Security
Listen (16:11, 9.26 MB), Watch (streaming), or Read - March 30, 2006

Press Releases: Craig Calls for Smarter Border Control
Read - March 30, 2006

Immigration Reform

Press Release: Craig Lauds Compromise Immigration Proposal
Read - May 17, 2007

Press Release: Immigration Reform Clears Senate
Read - May 25, 2006

Bill Summary: AgJOBS Provisions Included in the Comprehensive Immigration Reform Act
Read (PDF, 22KB) - March 27, 2006

Floor Speech: The Immigration Reform Bill
Watch (streaming) or Read - April 7, 2006

Floor Speech: The Benefits of Immigration
Listen (11:42, 6.71 MB), Watch (streaming), or Read - April 6, 2006

Floor Speech: Immigration Reform Bill
Watch (streaming) or Read - April 5, 2006

Floor Speech: Immigration and AgJOBS
Listen (13:59, 8.03 MB), Watch (streaming), or Read - April 4, 2006

Press Release: Feds Help Counties with Illegal Immigration Costs
Read - November 16, 2005

Press Release: AgJOBS Receives Majority Vote
Read - April 19, 2005

Editorial Column: AgJOBS - The "Ag-ceptional" Solution
Read - April 14, 2005

Testimony: The US & Mexico: Immigration Policy & The Bilateral Relationship
Read - March 23, 2004

Frequently Asked Questions about AgJOBS and Earned Adjustment

Amnesty doesn't work. Why try it again?

Amnesty doesn't work. That's why I never have supported it. The country has tried amnesty in the past and it's failed. Our current immigration law is flawed and enforcement has been a miserable failure. The government has pretended to control the borders while the country has looked the other way and ignored the problem. That's precisely why we need to try a new, innovative approach like AgJOBS.

How can you justify rewarding people who came here illegally by allowing them to become legal?

The only workers who apply for the adjustment program will be those who want to become law-abiding in every respect. They will have to register with the government and verify their continued employment. Their adjustment to legal status will be complete only after they earn it with continued, demanding labor in agriculture for the next 3-5 years. If an adjusting worker breaks other laws, he or she is out. The Adjustment Program would be there to benefit hard-working, known, trusted farm workers who did and will obey our laws in every other way. This is not a reward, but rehabilitation.

Won't the promise of status adjustment encourage more illegal immigration?

Not in our AgJOBS bill. If someone wants to enter the United States to take advantage of our bill, they are already too late. To begin applying for adjustment, the worker must have been here before December 31, 2006 with a substantial record of work in agriculture. We are talking about stabilizing the current farm work force - working with persons who already are here.

Why should agriculture get this special treatment?

That's the sector of our economy most impacted by illegal immigration. The crisis in agriculture must be addressed immediately - and it took us years just to get agreement between growers and labor, between key Republicans and Democrats, on this new approach. If AgJOBS works - and I believe it will - it will help us figure out how to solve the much bigger problem of 11 million illegal aliens in this country.

Illegal aliens have broken the law. Why not just round them up and deport them?

(1)We can't, as a practical matter. Monthly population surveys from the U.S. Census Bureau show there are more than 11 million illegal aliens in the United States. That's the consequence of looking the other way for decades. Finding and forcibly removing all of them would make the War on Terrorism look cheap and would disrupt communities and work places to an extent most Americans simply wouldn't tolerate. If a law has failed, you can ignore it or fix it. Looking the other way only encourages more disrespect for the law. We need a new, innovative solution. AgJOBS is the pilot program.
(2)Up to 75 percent of all farm workers are here illegally. If we could round up and deport every illegal farm worker, that would be pretty much the end of American agriculture - the end of our safe, secure, home-grown food supply. That's how I first got involved in this issue, because agriculture is critical to the economy of Idaho - and the nation. We need to bring these workers out of the shadows, out of the underground economy, and turn them into law-abiding workers.

Won't more illegals try to sneak across the border, claim they were already here as farm workers, and abuse this new program?

Unlike the 1986 program - which was amnesty and was very different - our bill requires workers to provide documentary proof that they already were established here as farm workers - for example, tax records or employers' records.

Once this wave of "adjusting workers" settle in, what's to prevent the demand for ANOTHER amnesty program in a few years?

Our bill would help stabilize the farm work force in the short term so that American farmers can adjust to the economy of the 21st Century for the long term. The Adjustment Program would give us the time we need to reform and significantly improve the other program in the bill, the H-2A Program, which employs legal, temporary "guest workers" who enter the U.S. only under government supervision and leave when the work is done. Because the H-2A Program has been broken for decades, there's been no effective vehicle for workers to come here legally to work in agriculture when domestic workers aren't available.

Aren't these illegals stealing jobs from Americans?

I hear about that in other industries. I don't know that I've ever received one complaint from an American citizen who wanted to do the physically demanding labor of a migrant farm worker and felt an illegal alien had kept him or her out of that job. But I have heard from farmers who have gone out of business because they couldn't find a legal work force. This is why many of our legal visa programs are industry-specific - because the economy and labor markets are different for different industries. This is precisely the reason to try the AgJOBS solution in agriculture.

How will this bill help us control our borders?

We can't possibly seal off thousands of miles of borders and coastlines. But we can control them better and improve our homeland security. Thousands of AgJOBS workers would be registered with, and in a job program supervised by, the federal government. This would be a major step forward toward a longer-term, more comprehensive solution.

Who's going to pay for the medical bills and social services for adjusting workers?

Remember, in the AgJOBS Adjustment Program, we are talking only about workers who already are here, with substantial jobs in agriculture. So, AgJOBS does not add one bit to this burden. In fact, if anything, it starts helping to provide relief. When these workers gain legal status, they will be in a better position to earn more and do more to provide for themselves than they can today.

Summary of Significant Provisions

AgJOBS provides a two-step approach to a stable, legal, safe, agricultural work force: I. Streamlining and expanding the H-2A legal, temporary, guest worker program, and making it more affordable and workable — the long-term solution, which will take time to implement; II.Outside the H-2A program, a one-time adjustment to legal status for experienced farm workers, already working here, who currently lack legal documentation — the bridge to allow American agriculture to adjust to a changing economy.

I. Reforms of the H-2A Program

AgJOBS restructures and reforms the H-2A program by

• Streamlining the program's administrative procedures, including revamping the current burdensome and labor certification process.
• Reforming the requirements for H-2A employers, including an immediate reduction and gradual elimination of the Adverse Effect Wage Rate.
• Overhauling the framework for handling disputes between workers and employees
• Streamlining the processes for the admission of H-2A aliens.

II. One-time Earned Adjustment

• Pilot program to allow certain undocumented agricultural workers to legalize their immigration status in the United States.
• The first step requires that undocumented agricultural workers apply for a "blue card" if they can demonstrate that they have worked in American agriculture for at least 150 work days within the previous two years before 12/31/06.
• The second step requires that after a "blue card" holder can demonstrate that they have worked in American agriculture for an additional 150 work days per year for 3 years, or 100 work days per year for 5 years, they will then be eligible to apply for a green card.
• Employment will be verified through employer issued itemized statements, pay stubs, W-2 forms, employer letters, contracts or agreements, employer sponsored health care, time cards or payment of taxes.
• This program will be capped at 1.5 million blue cards in five years (without a per year cap) and sunset after five years.
• Individuals may participate in employment other than agriculture so long as the worker satisfies the 100 or 150 workdays each year.
• Blue card holders (including spouses and children) will be allowed to travel in and out of the United States.
• Spouses of blue card workers will be eligible to apply for their own work permit and their employment will not be limited to agricultural employment.
• Aliens participating in the program will be required to pay a fine of $500, show that they are current on their taxes, and that they have not been convicted of any crime that involves bodily injury, the threat of serious bodily injury, or harm to property in excess of $500.
• The Department of Homeland Security will determine the adequate application fee necessary to offset the costs of this pilot program.
• To avoid backlogs, aliens who receive a green card under this program will be exempt from the overall numerical limitations on visas (i.e., 675,000 visas) and the country numerical limitations for Mexico, India, China and the Philippines.
• Requires the Department of Homeland Security to report annually on the program's use and performance.

The Need for AgJOBS Legislation - Now

Americans need and expect a stable, predictable, legal work force in American agriculture. Willing American workers deserve a system that puts them first in line for available jobs with fair, market wages. All workers deserve decent treatment and protection of basic rights under the law. Consumers deserve a safe, stable, domestic food supply. American citizens and taxpayers deserve secure borders, a safe homeland, and a government that works. Yet we are being threatened on all these fronts, because of a growing shortage of legal workers in agriculture.

To address these challenges, a bipartisan group of Members of Congress, including myself, Senator Ted Kennedy (MA), Senator Dianne Feinstein (CA) and Representatives Chris Cannon (UT) and Howard Berman (CA), continue to promote the Agricultural Job Opportunity, Benefits, and Security (AgJOBS) Act. Despite setbacks on the Senate, there continues to be strong support from both sides of the isle for an effective agricultural guest worker program. This bipartisan effort built upon years of discussion and suggestions among growers, farm worker advocates, Latino and immigration issue advocates, Members of both parties in both Houses of Congress, and others.

The Problems:

Of the USA's 1.6 million agricultural work force, more than half is made up of workers not legally authorized to work here - according to a conservative estimate by the Department of Labor, based, astoundingly, on self-disclosure in worker surveys. Reasonable private sector estimates run to 75 percent or more.

With stepped up documentation enforcement by the Social Security Administration and the Bureau of Immigration and Customs Enforcement (the successor to the old INS), persons working here without legal documentation are not leaving the country, but just being scattered. The work force is being constantly and increasingly disrupted. Ag employers want a legal work force and must have a stable work force to survive - but federal law actually punishes "too much diligence" in checking worker documentation. Some growers already have gone out of business, lacking workers to work their crops at critical times.

Undocumented workers are among the most vulnerable persons in our country, and know they must live in hiding, not attract attention at work, and move furtively. They cannot claim the most basic legal rights and protections. They are vulnerable to predation and exploitation. Many have paid "coyotes" - labor smugglers - thousands of dollars to be transported into and around this country, often under inhumane and perilous conditions. Reports continue to mount of horrible deaths suffered by workers smuggled in enclosed truck trailers.

Meanwhile, the only program currently in place to respond to such needs, the H-2A legal guest worker program, is profoundly broken. The H-2A status quo is slow, bureaucratic, and inflexible. The program is complicated and legalistic. DOL's compliance manual alone is over 300 pages. The current H-2A process is so expensive and hard to use, it places only about 30,000 - 50,000 legal guest workers a year -- 2 percent to 3 percent of the total ag work force. A General Accounting Office study found DOL missing statutory deadlines for processing employer applications to participate in H-2A more than 40 percent of the time. Worker advocates have expressed concerns that enforcement is inadequate.

The Solution - AgJOBS Reforms:

AgJOBS legislation provides a two-step approach to a stable, legal, safe, ag work force:

1. Streamlining and expanding the H-2A legal, temporary, guest worker program, and making it more affordable and used more - the long-term solution, which will take time to implement;
2. Outside the H-2A program, a one-time adjustment to legal status for experienced farm workers, already working here, who currently lack legal documentation - the bridge to allow American agriculture to adjust to a changing economy.

AgJOBS is a Win-Win-Win approach.

Workers would be better off than under the status quo. Legal guest workers in the H-2A program need the assurance that government red tape won't eliminate their jobs. For workers not now in the H-2A program, every farmworker who gains legal status finally will be able to assert legal protection - which leads to higher wages, better working conditions, and safer travel. Growers and workers would get a stable, legal work force. Consumers would get better assurance of a safe, stable, American-grown, food supply - not an increased dependence on imported food. Law-abiding Americans want to make sure the legal right to stay in our country is earned, and that illegal behavior is not rewarded now or encouraged in the future. Border and homeland security would be improved by bringing workers out of the underground economy and registering them with the AgJOBS adjustment program. Overall, AgJOBS takes a balanced approach, and would work to benefit everyone.