The threats to farmworkers and their families intensified this week.  We ask your support to help farmworkers fight for a fair immigration system.

Yesterday, the House immigration subcommittee held a hearing on agricultural guestworker programs.  Rep. Bob Goodlatte (R-VA), Chair of the Judiciary Committee, said he will introduce a bill to repeal and replace the H-2A temporary foreign agricultural worker program.  His bill’s guestworker program would eliminate major labor protections on wages, housing and government oversight.  He opposes a path to immigration status and citizenship for undocumented farmworkers.

The day before, in a sneak attack, the House Appropriations Committee inserted into a spending bill a provision that would undermine farmworkers’ wages and conditions.  It would allow employers with year-round jobs to hire H-2A guestworkers.  Dairies and other farms with year-round jobs should compete for workers with good job terms.

Undocumented dairy and other agricultural workers should be granted an opportunity for immigration status and citizenship.

Trump’s Secretary of Agriculture Sonny Perdue said that he will propose a guestworker program.  And there already are several anti-immigrant, anti-worker bills pending in Congress to change the H-2A program.

Help us stop these anti-worker, anti-immigrant proposals.  We must struggle for fair immigration policies and a path to immigration status and citizenship for undocumented farmworkers and their families.  The Agricultural Worker Program Act of 2017 would do that.

We ask for your support for our vital work at this momentous time.

Bruce

P.S.  Descriptions of legislative proposals on farmworker immigration are available on our website.