Democratic lawmakers unveiled sweeping immigration reform legislation Thursday that could significantly improve the working conditions for farm workers and put them on a long-awaited path to citizenship.
Advocates have for years demanded changes from the Departments of Labor and Homeland Security to address workplace violence and employer manipulation that cause shorted wages, missed benefits, sexual violence and other workplace violations among agriculture workers.
“We really were pushing for legal protections of essential farm and food system workers who have fallen through the cracks not only of this current immigration system but of previous immigration proposals that have not addressed their needs and concerns. And that there is an expedited plan for citizenship,” said María De Luna, national policy and advocacy coordinator at Alianza Nacional de Campesinas.
The U.S. Citizenship Act of 2021, introduced by Rep. Linda Sánchez (D-Calif.), would require that DHS and the DOL establish a commission involving labor, employer and civil rights advocates to make recommendations to improve the employment verification process and it increases protections for workers who “suffer serious labor violations and cooperate with worker protection agencies,” according to the White House fact sheet.
The bill also protects workers who are victims of workplace retaliation from deportation in order to allow labor agencies to interview these workers. It also increases penalties for employers who violate labor laws on undocumented workers, including wage and hour, family and medical leave, occupational health and safety, civil rights and nondiscrimination violations.
Sen. Bob Menendez (D-N.J.) is expected to introduce companion legislation in the Senate next week.
“President Biden has understood the critical role farm workers play in feeding this country,” said Giev Kashkooli, political and legislative director for the United Farm Workers of America. “We are really thrilled that Biden's plan does what previous plans haven't. He is putting forward a plan that is thoughtful, prioritizes the role of people in their community and that he puts a special designation on farm workers.”
Advocacy groups for farm and agriculture workers discussed changes with the Biden transition team in January and with the Biden administration this month. For them, the legislative effort is unique because of the large number of areas the bill covers and that the White House is pushing for it so soon after Biden took office.
Over 70 percent of federal labor standards investigations of farms found violations, including wage theft and inadequate housing and transportation, according to a recent report by the Economic Policy Institute. However, although the agriculture sector accounts for a much higher share of investigations and violations than its share of total U.S. employment, there is a very low chance any farm employer will be investigated.
Currently, a hierarchy exists where legal immigrants suffer higher workplace violations than non-immigrants, but illegal immigrants suffer the highest rates of all, said Daniel Costa, director of Immigration Law and Policy Research at the Economic Policy Institute.
“It's pretty clear that the lack of a legal status leads to the ability for employers to break the law against you without much worry of getting in trouble,” Costa said. “They fear retaliation and can’t speak up in the workplace because that could lead to their deportation and they're afraid to report violations to government officials because they don't want to interact with officials over deportation fears.”
Deportation and retaliation concerns are the main reasons advocates are pushing for provisions in the bill that would provide a pathway to citizenship for farm workers who show a history of work in the United States.
“Immigration oversees everything in farm workers' lives — nearly half who have illegal status. The way they can interact with each state is limited and the ability for state government to connect is limited. So Congress has to create the change,” Kashkooli said.
But with limited Republican support, there is uncertainty about how far the efforts will reach. White House officials familiar with the negotiations said they are currently concerned with getting the bills introduced before considering splitting the provisions into different bills or taking other measures, such as reconciliation, to ensure the bill’s passage.
Republicans, meanwhile, are already attempting to capitalize on Biden’s recent announcements on immigration, calling it an embrace of “open borders” and “blanket amnesty,” POLITICO formerly reported.
Twelve Senate Republicans, including Sens. Ted Cruz (R-Texas), Marco Rubio (R-Fla.) and Tom Cotton (R-Ark.) wrote to Biden last week asking him to reconsider a trigger for increased illegal immigration causing “a public health and humanitarian disaster.”
Menendez and Sánchez told reporters on a call Thursday morning they have been in ongoing discussions with Republican colleagues, though they declined to reveal names.
“Many of them have interest in parts of the legislation. Many of them are representatives of Ag states and so they care very much about the elements on farm workers,” Menendez said. “Others are interested with reference to other forms of reform particularly, for example, seafood industry, poultry, meatpacking.”
The conversations with Republicans involve compromises between those issues and others, Menendez said.
“We are not foreclosing any pathway into which we can achieve robust immigration reform,” Menendez said, opening the possibility of breaking up the bill or using a second reconciliation.
Advocates said they're hopeful that lawmakers will also reintroduce the Farm Workforce Modernization Act by the end of March to allow the bill to skip committee since it passed last session.
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