Farmworker Justice Immigration Update 6/27/14

One Year Anniversary of Senate Bill and Dimmed Hope for Congressional Immigration Reform

Today marks the one year anniversary of the Senate passage of a bipartisan comprehensive immigration reform bill; but it is not a date to celebrate. Knowledgeable members of Congress announced that the House is very unlikely to pass immigration reform either before or after the August recess. The prospects for legislation are dim but the fight to fix our broken immigration system must continue.

The Senate bill, S.744, while far from perfect, includes the agricultural stakeholder agreement, critical international labor recruitment protections, and a path for many undocumented immigrants to become citizens. Despite bipartisan support for this bill, and its House counterpart, HR 15, the House has failed to move forward, amid a parade of excuses by the House leadership. Opponents claim that President Obama cannot be “trusted” to enforce a new immigration law even though this Administration has conducted an unprecedented number of deportations and new legislation likely would be implemented primarily by his successor. Most recently, obstructions claimed that Eric Cantor’s primary election loss and the crisis of youths crossing our southern border (described below) justify inaction or one-sided, limited legislation.

While there probably remains a slim chance that the House will take up immigration reform in July or during the “lame duck” session of Congress after the November elections, many organizations and immigration advocates are moving on for now. Rep. Gutierrez (D-IL) spoke on the House floor Wednesday, announcing that he has finally given up on waiting for Republicans to act and that it will now be up to the President to modify deportation priorities and provide some form of temporary status for many undocumented immigrants.

On Thursday, Rep. Gutierrez hosted a press conference with other Members of Congress and the advocacy groups Fair Immigration Reform Movement (FIRM), NCLR (the National Council of La Raza), and America’s Voice, proclaiming their disappointment with House inaction and calling on the President to act. Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid (D-Nev.), House Minority Leader Nancy Pelosi (D-Calif.) and other Democrats also held a press conference Thursday where they urged Speaker Boehner to bring a bill to the floor for a vote in July. At least one Republican Member of the House still thinks that immigration reform is possible this year. Rep. Ileana Ros-Lehtinen (R-FL) says she remains “cautiously optimistic” but views the July window as a last opportunity.

Although President Obama should take additional action, Congress remains the only option for true immigration reform as it is the only body of our government that can provide lawful permanent residency with a path to citizenship. Until the August recess, Farmworker Justice will continue to support efforts in Congress to pass immigration reform, even as we press the White House for administrative relief from the broken immigration system.

There remains the question of what kind of reform the House would pass even if it does vote on immigration legislation and then how the House and Senate would reach a compromise on a final bill that could be signed by the President. Some legislators would allow undocumented immigrants to remain the country under certain conditions but without an opportunity to earn citizenship. Some conservative groups and individuals, however, would follow the lead of the Senate bill. An Op-ed in Politico by Sheldon Adelson, a major funder of conservative causes, calls for the House to act on immigration reform with a path to citizenship for the 11 million undocumented immigrants. Another op-ed this week by representatives of AGree, an agribusiness collaborative, urged Congress to take up immigration reform for agriculture. Unfortunately, the op-ed focused on the need for an agricultural guestworker program and only briefly mentioned the need to legalize undocumented farmworkers, without an explicit call for a path to citizenship. The AGree principles do recognize the need to “[e]nsure quality of life, good working conditions, and opportunities for food and agriculture workers.” It is troubling, however, that the employers who benefit from the labor of undocumented immigrants often fail to publicly advocate for the opportunity for undocumented farmworkers to become full and equal members of our society.

Farmworker Justice will continue to support immigration reform that enables farmworkers and their family members to hold a true immigration status with an opportunity for citizenship. Farmworker Justice also will continue to provide farmworker organizations and the public with the information they need to understand the policy debate and make their voices heard.

Actions for immigration reform continue. Yesterday the UFW, the UFW Foundation and other groups held an action in Colorado Rep. Gardner’s office (also the Republican Senate candidate) and PCUN and Causa Oregon rallied in Rep. Walden’s (R-OR) district to protest their failure to move immigration reform forward. Tomorrow FIRM is initiating a National Day of Action to Stop Separating Families on June 28 which includes events around the country. The events will mark the one-year anniversary of the S. 744 passage and will seek to hold accountable Members of Congress that have stalled reform in the House and to demand that President Obama take immediate and aggressive action on administrative relief for our families. More information is available at http://www.stopseparatingfamilies.org/.

Devolution of Immigration Reform Prospects in the House: Leadership Changes and Crisis of Unaccompanied Minors at the Border

Last week, the House Republicans held leadership elections for the Majority Leader and Majority Whip positions. Following Eric Cantor’s primary loss and subsequent resignation as Majority Leader, House Majority Whip Kevin McCarthy (R-CA), defeated Rep. Raul Labrador (R-ID) to become the new Republican majority leader. As we noted in our press statement, Majority Leader elect McCarthy, who represents a heavily agricultural district in California that is 35% Latino, should understand the importance of immigration reform. Unfortunately, McCarthy’s recent statements have focused on a call for border security before immigration reform can be a possibility, without acknowledging the intrinsic link between the two issues.

Following the election of McCarthy as Majority Leader, Rep. Steve Scalise (R-LA) was elected to replace McCarthy as the Republican whip. Rep. Scalise is the Chair of the Republican Study Committee, a conservative House Republican group. According to Scalise’s website, he is an original co-sponsor of notoriously anti-immigrant Rep. King’s Birthright Citizenship Act, a bill that would end birthright citizenship (although he did not sponsor the bill this Congress). Scalise’s position on immigration also includes increased border security and opposition for granting “amnesty” for undocumented immigrants.

Crisis of Unaccompanied Minors at the Border

As we mentioned in our last update, the surge of unaccompanied minors crossing the border into the U.S. from El Salvador, Honduras & Guatemala is a continuing humanitarian crisis. Unfortunately, the crisis has become the latest page in the playbook to delay consideration of immigration reform and to criticize the Obama Administration. This week, the House Judiciary Committee, the House Homeland Security Committee and the House Foreign Affairs Committee held hearings on the issue.

Secretary of Homeland Security Jeh Johnson testified in the Homeland Security Committee and described the Administration’s efforts to open more detention facilities; place more immigration officers and judges; and Immigration and Customs Enforcement attorneys on the border; and educate potential migrants about the dangers of the journey and lack of immigration options. During the hearings, several Republican Members of these committees blamed the crisis on the Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals program (DACA), arguing that the children are coming in response to President Obama’s DACA program. While Johnson acknowledged the misinformation being spread by the criminal networks of human smugglers, he noted that the Administration is working to counter this message. He and several members of the committee pointed to the severe violence in El Salvador, Honduras and Guatemala as the cause for the migrations.

In an extremely disheartening response to this humanitarian crisis, Rep. Darrel Issa (R-CA) is circulating a sign-on letter to his colleagues blaming the President for the crisis at the border and specifically calling on him to end the Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals Program (DACA). Earlier in the year, Rep. Issa announced that he planned to file a bill to legalize undocumented immigrants. Now, he appears to be doing an about face. Deporting Dreamers is not a solution to the humanitarian crisis at the border, nor an appropriate response to fixing our broken immigration system.

Reminder: Last Day of Farmworker Voices Social Media Campaign

We seek your help in promoting farmworkers and immigration reform through a social media campaign this week. We must continue to fight for a just immigration reform. Spread the word.

Please share one of our graphics right now on Facebook or Twitter. Click on this link and you will be taken to site where you can download the images and paste it into your message. When you share online, don’t forget to tag Farmworker Justice on Facebook and Twitter, and please use the hashtag #FWVoices. Tell Congress to support the people who put food on our tables every day.