Farmworker Justice Immigration Update 11/7/14

With the midterm elections over, all eyes are turned to the President to see what steps he will take to address our broken immigration system. As you may recall, in September President Obama announced a delay in his plans for administrative action to address the broken immigration system, which he had previously promised would take place by the end of the summer. The President’s stated reason for delay was that his Administration needed more time to explain the Central American child refugee crisis to the American people and to build support for his administrative action. While not the stated basis for his delay, this week’s elections were widely regarded as a primary reason for this setback.  

At a press conference on Wednesday, President Obama reaffirmed his commitment to take executive action to improve the immigration system by the end of the year. While President Obama said that he would prefer that Congress pass immigration reform legislation, he was committed to taking executive action given the House’s failure to act. President Obama noted that he would like legislation to eventually replace his administrative action, but stated, “But what I’m not going to do is just wait. I think it’s fair to say that I’ve shown a lot of patience and have tried to work on a bipartisan basis as much as possible, and I’m going to keep on doing so.” The President declined to give any details on what form the relief will take. The anticipated announcement of administrative action on immigration is rumored to include a program that could protect millions of undocumented immigrants from deportation and provide them with work authorization.

Republican gains on Tuesday are not likely to have a significant impact on the potential for immigration reform legislation to pass in the next two years. Republicans gained enough Senate seats (7 so far, plus they could pick up two more: the Alaska race has not yet been called and Louisiana has a runoff scheduled for December 6th) to take majority control of the Senate and enough House seats to give them the largest majority they have had since World War II. However, Tuesday’s election results are not viewed as a referendum on public support for immigration reform; in fact exit polling shows that 57% of voters support a path to citizenship.

Immigration legislation that would create a path to permanent immigration status and citizenship for undocumented immigrants is very unlikely to pass in the next two years. The current Congress was the best opportunity to pass comprehensive immigration reform in recent years and the House refused to bring the Senate-passed comprehensive immigration reform bill up for a vote, or for that matter, any immigration reform bill. Instead, the only votes the House held on immigration were to seek to end the DACA program and to expedite the removal of unaccompanied minors from Central America fleeing violence to the U.S. There is no indication that the House will be any different in the next two years, especially once the Presidential primary season begins.

There may be some efforts in Congress to block the President’s executive action on immigration. Congress may also seek to pass bills that provide even more money to increase the militarization of the border and create harmful guestworker programs. Farmworker Justice will continue to educate Congress and the public about the need for legal status and citizenship for farmworkers and other aspiring Americans. We will also continue our work to improve the H-2A agricultural guestworker program, to explain the inherent flaws in the guestworker model and to fight off bad proposals for agricultural guestworker programs.

Farmworker Justice believes that now is the time for President Obama to act boldly to provide expansive affirmative administrative relief to address the millions of undocumented people who contribute to our economy and society but suffer due to our broken immigration system. The Administration must take action because Congress has failed to address the urgent need for comprehensive immigration reform. Any action President Obama takes must be broad and inclusive of farmworkers, the majority of whom are undocumented. Broad, bold administrative relief would help farmworkers, their families and their communities, and would help stabilize the farm labor force and ensure a prosperous agricultural sector. We will continue our advocacy to ensure farmworkers are included in the anticipated administrative relief. We are also working with our allies to ensure that farmworkers will be able to access and take maximum advantage of any administrative relief opportunities.

Thank you for your support of farmworkers.

With the midterm elections over, all eyes are turned to the President to see what steps he will take to address our broken immigration system. As you may recall, in September President Obama announced a delay in his plans for administrative action to address the broken immigration system, which he had previously promised would take place by the end of the summer. The President’s stated reason for delay was that his Administration needed more time to explain the Central American child refugee crisis to the American people and to build support for his administrative action. While not the stated basis for his delay, this week’s elections were widely regarded as a primary reason for this setback.  

At a press conference on Wednesday, President Obama reaffirmed his commitment to take executive action to improve the immigration system by the end of the year. While President Obama said that he would prefer that Congress pass immigration reform legislation, he was committed to taking executive action given the House’s failure to act. President Obama noted that he would like legislation to eventually replace his administrative action, but stated, “But what I’m not going to do is just wait. I think it’s fair to say that I’ve shown a lot of patience and have tried to work on a bipartisan basis as much as possible, and I’m going to keep on doing so.” The President declined to give any details on what form the relief will take. The anticipated announcement of administrative action on immigration is rumored to include a program that could protect millions of undocumented immigrants from deportation and provide them with work authorization.

Republican gains on Tuesday are not likely to have a significant impact on the potential for immigration reform legislation to pass in the next two years. Republicans gained enough Senate seats (7 so far, plus they could pick up two more: the Alaska race has not yet been called and Louisiana has a runoff scheduled for December 6th) to take majority control of the Senate and enough House seats to give them the largest majority they have had since World War II. However, Tuesday’s election results are not viewed as a referendum on public support for immigration reform; in fact exit polling shows that 57% of voters support a path to citizenship.

Immigration legislation that would create a path to permanent immigration status and citizenship for undocumented immigrants is very unlikely to pass in the next two years. The current Congress was the best opportunity to pass comprehensive immigration reform in recent years and the House refused to bring the Senate-passed comprehensive immigration reform bill up for a vote, or for that matter, any immigration reform bill. Instead, the only votes the House held on immigration were to seek to end the DACA program and to expedite the removal of unaccompanied minors from Central America fleeing violence to the U.S. There is no indication that the House will be any different in the next two years, especially once the Presidential primary season begins.

There may be some efforts in Congress to block the President’s executive action on immigration. Congress may also seek to pass bills that provide even more money to increase the militarization of the border and create harmful guestworker programs. Farmworker Justice will continue to educate Congress and the public about the need for legal status and citizenship for farmworkers and other aspiring Americans. We will also continue our work to improve the H-2A agricultural guestworker program, to explain the inherent flaws in the guestworker model and to fight off bad proposals for agricultural guestworker programs.

Farmworker Justice believes that now is the time for President Obama to act boldly to provide expansive affirmative administrative relief to address the millions of undocumented people who contribute to our economy and society but suffer due to our broken immigration system. The Administration must take action because Congress has failed to address the urgent need for comprehensive immigration reform. Any action President Obama takes must be broad and inclusive of farmworkers, the majority of whom are undocumented. Broad, bold administrative relief would help farmworkers, their families and their communities, and would help stabilize the farm labor force and ensure a prosperous agricultural sector. We will continue our advocacy to ensure farmworkers are included in the anticipated administrative relief. We are also working with our allies to ensure that farmworkers will be able to access and take maximum advantage of any administrative relief opportunities.

Thank you for your support of farmworkers.