Farmers hope the lame duck session can change the immigration system

This election cycle has highlighted the growing divide in American politics over immigration. But people who advocate for and employ immigrants are still hoping that some targeted measures can get through Congress in the upcoming lame duck session. NPR's Joel Rose reports. JOEL ROSE, BYLINE: It's apple season in the Blue Ridge Mountains of western North Carolina. (SOUNDBITE OF BARN DOOR SQUEAKING) ROSE: Kenny Barnwell opens the door to his warehouse-sized cooler, where bins full of apples are stacked up to the ceiling. KENNY BARNWELL: It's just like a wall of apples. There's eight or nine different varieties of apples in here now. ROSE: Apples that all have to be picked by hand, along with other crops like potatoes, peaches, tomatoes. Nearly all, Barnwell says, picked by immigrants and migrant workers. BARNWELL: You're just not going to get a person that's born and raised in the United States to go to the field and pick apples or go to the - into the tomato field and harvest tomatoes. It is hard, hard work. ROSE: Growers and dairy farmers across the country say the farm labor shortage is getting worse. That's why they're pushing a bill to expand work visas for agriculture workers. The Farm Workforce Modernization Act has already passed the House of Representatives twice with at least 30 Republican votes. That bipartisan support is encouraging for Kenny Barnwell. He's a registered Republican, who's been trying for years to convince his GOP representatives in North Carolina to support a bill like this one. BARNWELL: It's not everything we need by any stretch of imagination, but it is a good first step about ensuring us a stable workforce. We need to get this done while we've got this narrow window. ROSE: That narrow window is the upcoming lame-duck session of Congress. Ambitious plans to overhaul the nation's immigration system have failed yet again. But immigrant advocates say there's a real chance that more modest proposals will find bipartisan support after the heat of election season has passed. Rebecca Shi is with the American Immigration Business Coalition, which is backing the Farm Workforce bill. REBECCA SHI: Congress usually doesn't move into action unless there's a crisis, and we have a food crisis. We need more workers. ROSE: It's not just farmworkers and the agriculture industry. A lot of immigrants and their allies are looking hopefully to this lame-duck session. Advocates for Afghan evacuees are urging Congress to pass a bill that would give them permanent legal status. And DACA recipients, who are in danger of losing their protections, are looking for help, too. But they will all have to persuade key Republicans, who are focused on the record number of migrant apprehensions at the southern border. (SOUNDBITE OF ARCHIVED RECORDING) JOHN CORNYN: I can't imagine a path forward until we find some way to deal with the crisis at the border. ROSE: Here's Senator John Cornyn of Texas at a hearing in September. (SOUNDBITE OF ARCHIVED RECORDING) CORNYN: It's hard for us to make progress on areas, even where there is consensus on the topic of immigration, while the border is on fire. ROSE: Still, some Republicans do see a narrow window in the lame-duck session. MIKE SIMPSON: I would argue that actually passing this bill will help at the border. ROSE: That's Congressman Mike Simpson, Republican from Idaho and one of the co-sponsors of the Farm Workforce bill, which he argues will discourage illegal immigration. SIMPSON: I don't think we'll have as many people coming across because these people will be here legally. They'll be able to come and go. ROSE: The Farm Workforce bill would create a pathway to legal status for some farmworkers. Immigration hardliners don't like that. They say it's giving, quote, "amnesty" to immigrants who've been working illegally in the U.S. for years. But Simpson says the pathway to a green card in this bill is not easy, and it's not quick. Farmworkers have to work in agriculture for at least eight years to qualify. Simpson says this is a carefully crafted compromise that has support from a broad range of employers and farmworkers. SIMPSON: I think this is becoming the - kind of the last hope. This is the best chance we've got of getting it done. ROSE: Simpson expects the Senate sponsors to release their version of the bill shortly after the election. If it doesn't pass, the whole process has to start over again in the next Congress, and Simpson doubts that this delicate compromise could make it through the House again if Republicans take control. Joel Rose, NPR News. For more informaiton, visit us at http://www.beverlyhillsimmigrationlaw.com/index.html.