agjobs
AgJOBS amnesty/indentured servitude bill (Agricultural Job Opportunities, Benefits and Security Act)
Summary (posts follow):
The AgJOBS bill ("Agricultural Job Opportunities, Benefits and Security Act") is an amnesty for farmworkers that, as have past amnesties, could be abused by criminals and terrorists (p.47).
The bill has an indentured servitude component: it would keep the newly-legalized on the farm for a few years if they wanted to be able to get on the path to citizenship. Once legalized, former illegal alien farm workers would be able to compete for any job for which they're qualified: cashier, nurse, teacher, whatever. The AgJOBS solution amounts to indentured servitude: keep them on the farm if they want to eventually become citizens.
Last modified Jun 29, 2011
Discussed in (click each link for the full post):
USDA: millions fewer illegal aliens wouldn't devastate agriculture (farm labor supply economic models, guest workers) - 06/12/12
The table at [1] is from a Department of Agriculture study (link) showing the impacts of two different immigration scenarios:
Comprehensive Immigration Reform Act of 2011: new amnesty push from Leahy, Menendez, Durbin, Reid, Schumer, Kerry, Gillibrand - 06/23/11
Yesterday the U.S. Senators listed in the title introduced the Comprehensive Immigration Reform Act of 2011, this year's version of a major amnesty bill.
Comprehensive Immigration Reform Act of 2010: Robert Menendez' amnesty - 09/30/10
Senator Bob Menendez has introduced a new amnesty bill called the "Comprehensive Immigration Reform Act of 2010". It's almost 900 pages and, since it's probably not going anywhere, the following discussion will be brief. However, feel free to provide additional information in comments. You can download a copy from weareoneamerica.org/blog/sep-10/we-have-bill
At least one part of it appears to be lifted from Ted Kennedy's 2007 amnesty (#4 below). If anyone would like to compare the two, please leave a comment.
1. The section "Annual report on improving North American security information...
Mike Thomas of Orlando Sentinel supports exploitation of farm workers to keep prices low (UFW's anti-American takeourjobs) - 07/14/10
Mike Thomas of the Orlando Sentinel offers "If illegal immigrants go, produce prices would skyrocket" (link), a breezy attempt to put a happy face on the United Farmworkers of America'
Michael Steele, extremist and Mexico-linked illegal immigration supporters to meet March 31 (after sit-in) - 03/30/10
RNC chairman Michael Steele will be meeting with a group of far-left illegal immigration supporters on March 31, 2010; the details on who's involved and the backstory is below. Most importantly of all, please take a few moments and try to contact him, his staff, or someone who can get a message to him and suggest that he handles this meeting in the right way.
Note: the only two contacts I've found are info *at* gop.com and on Twitter: @ChairmanMSteele but I don't know if the second is really his.
The wrong way, of course, would be for the chairman of the Republican Party to agree with far-...
McCain still supports amnesty, says probably won't pass; Western Growers wants subsidized labor - 01/22/10
John McCain spoke to Western Growers on the 14th, at a meeting that he initiated (link). He still (of course) supports comprehensive immigration reform but he says it's not likely in 2010 due to it being an election year. He also said that passing AgJOBS is impossible to pass in 2010 as a standalone bill but only as a part of a CIR bill. And:
(Tom Nassif) said the Western Growers provided McCain with policy papers on the group’s concerns, including health care costs for seasonal workers and undocumented workers. Western Growers would prefer that part-time seasonal workers be exempt from...
Read about CIR ASAP: "Comprehensive Immigration Reform for America's Security and Prosperity Act of 2009" (Luis Gutierrez) - 12/11/09
[A DISCUSSION OF SOME OF THE PROVISIONS IS HERE, AND MORE UPDATES ARE BELOW]
On Tuesday, December 15, 2009 Rep. Luis Gutierrez will introduce an amnesty bill called the "Comprehensive Immigration Reform for America's Security and Prosperity Act of 2009". His announcement (luisgutierrez.house.gov/PRArticle.aspx?NewsID=1406) provides no details, however:
1. Details on the bill will be provided here when it becomes available; expect it to be a bit on the far-left side and expect it to not go very far, except perhaps if it's watered down. In the latter case it might present a problem.
2. The way...
Grover Norquist group's loony libertarian immigration ideas - 06/01/09
On Friday, RedState front-paged the Brian Johnson article "Conservative Immigration Reform is Right Next to Unicorns and Leprechauns" [1]. At first you might think he's just some random libertarian loon, until you see the article in its original location at the "Alliance for Worker Freedom" [2].
Andrew Rosenthal/NYT supports AgJobs (indentured servitude bill) - 05/16/09
The NYT editorial "Farms and Immigrants" (link) supports the recently re-introduced AgJobs farmworker amnesty/indentured servitude bill:
Because it’s hard to find Americans willing to endure the heat, cold and misery of stooping in the fields - or the low wages - growers overwhelmingly use undocumented workers. An estimated 75 percent or more of the agricultural work force is here illegally. This is bad for everybody. Undocumented workers are easy prey for exploitation and unable to assert their rights. Growers constantly complain about labor shortages and are vulnerable to disruptive...
Feinstein re-introduces AgJobs farmworker amnesty/indentured servitude bill - 05/14/09
Senator Dianne Feinstein has re-introduced the "Agricultural Job Opportunities, Benefits and Security Act" (AgJobs) farmworker amnesty plan [1] with sixteen co-sponsors [2]. Consider these listed features:
# Undocumented agriculture workers would be eligible for a “blue card” if they can demonstrate having worked in American agriculture for at least 150 work days (or 863 hours) over the previous two years before December 31, 2008.
# The blue card holder would be required to work in American agriculture for an additional three years (working at least 150 work days per year) or five years (...
Sen. Dianne Feinstein pushing AgJobs amnesty, attached to Iraq bill - 05/15/08
Via this we find this:
Sen. Diane Feinstein (D-Calif.) obtained passage today of an amendment to the Iraq supplemental appropriations bill to provide partial amnesty for illegal immigrants working in agriculture. The amendment would provide legal status for 1.35 million agricultural workers and lessen current protections for Americans and new foreign workers taking agricultural jobs.
Dianne Feinstein's "Emergency Agriculture Relief Act of 2008": mini-AgJobs - 04/01/08
Senator Dianne Feinstein's robotic quest to help growers in California and otehr states obtain cheap labor continues as she will apparently offer the "Emergency Agriculture Relief Act of 2008", as described here:
[It] would provide temporary limited legal immigration status to experienced farmworkers who must continue to work in agriculture for five years after enactment.
Workers, however, could not obtain legal permanent resident status (green cards), the program would be capped at 1.35 million workers nationwide and eligibility would be limited to those who can prove agricultural...
Bush admin's new massive guest worker program (H-2A overhaul) - 02/06/08
The Bush administration wants a massive "guest" worker program, and if they can't get it through legislation they'll do it by revamping a program that already exists, H-2A.
Dianne Feinstein drops AgJobs amnesty, doesn't have the votes - 11/06/07
According to this, Sen. Dianne Feinstein yesterday decided that she didn't have the votes to add the AgJobs farmworker amnesty to the Farm Bill:
"When we took a clear-eyed assessment of the politics of the farm bill and the defeat of the DREAM Act and comprehensive immigration reform, it became clear that our support could not sustain these competing forces... [because of this] we will continue to see labor shortages far into the future. Fruit will rot. Crops will go unharvested.
AgJobs amnesty: on Farm Bill next week? - 11/01/07
Dianne Feinstein might try to attach the AgJobs amnesty (info) to the Farm Bill, which apparently will be voted on next week.
Jeff Sessions warns: AgJOBS, DREAM Act amnesties as amendments - 09/12/07
From this:
Sen. Jeff Sessions, R-Ala., a leading immigration policy critic, said Wednesday that amendments planned for upcoming legislation could put more than 4 million illegal immigrants on a path to citizenship.
...Sessions warned colleagues in a letter that legislation (S 774) labeled the DREAM Act that would allow states to provide college benefits to illegal immigrants could be offered as an amendment to the fiscal 2008 Defense appropriations bill (HR 3222) later this month.
Feinstein, Reid, growers to push AgJobs amnesty (yes, again) - 08/23/07
Senator Dianne Feinstein apparently gave a speech today where she promised to bring back the AgJobs farmworkers amnesty scheme, which would cover at least 1.5 current illegal aliens. Harry Reid already promised to bring it back, perhaps attached to some other bill such as the Farm Bill.
Step one in the plan for passage calls for farmers and their allies to emphasize anew the dangers of losing an agricultural work force.
They've been working on that for a while, with sympathetic "news" sources promoting "crops rotting in the fields" articles.
"Agriculture is going to push this thing,"...
Larry Craig on no-match: without "reform" it's the end of the American Dream - 08/13/07
Yet another sign that the Bush administration's current pledge to enforce our immigration laws is a scam comes from the thoughts of Senator Larry Craig, who spoke to a Rotary Club to promote his AgJobs amnesty:
Pressure to pass immigration reform will intensify as millions of undocumented workers lose jobs as a result of a crackdown by the Social Security Administration, Sen. Larry Craig, R-Idaho, said Thursday...
Dianne Feinstein: either pass "reform", or allow illegal immigration (acropalypse!) - 08/11/07
Senator Dianne Feinstein uses the news that the Bush administration says it's finally going to enforce our immigration laws to promote the AgJobs amnesty. Reading between the lines, she's saying that if that doesn't pass, she's willing to support illegal immigration. Is she little more than an enabler of crooked growers?
Carlos Gutierrez, Larry Craig get plaques from American Nursery and Landscape Association - 07/30/07
From this:
Attendees at the 2007 (American Nursery and Landscape Association) Legislative Conference visited approximately 250 House and Senate offices representing 40 states. Attendees visited Capitol Hill to lobby Congress for a solution to the labor and immigration crisis and to support specialty crop provisions in the 2007 Farm Bill reauthorization. Research funding and water policy were also addressed.
United States Commerce Secretary Carlos Gutierrez [shown right receiving a plaque "in thanks for his work to secure comprehensive immigration reform"] [1] and Senator Larry Craig (R-...
Agrigeddon! WSJ says fewer cukes being grown this year - 07/20/07
The Wall Street Journal offers "Immigration Non-Harvest" (PDF), which is designed to promote the AgJOBS amnesty. The tale is not to be taken seriously and is presented here only because it's so funny:
...This spring, labor shortages forced Michigan growers to leave asparagus rotting in the fields, while farmers in North Carolina lost nearly a third of their cucumber crop last year. They're growing fewer cukes this summer... Growers who can't find enough workers to pick cantaloupe and eggplant are already substituting row crops such as wheat, corn or soybeans that are more highly mechanized....
Jeff Flake: STRIVE Act (House amnesty) doesn't have a prayer. But... - 07/19/07
Some comments from Rep. Jeff Flake ("Smiley"; R-AZ) on the Flake-Gutierrez STRIVE Act (House amnesty) are here. Asked whether it has a chance:
Not a prayer. No, I just don't see the Democrats wanting to take it up. I mean with the Senate bill dead I just don't think there's going to be any serious comprehensive legislation to move. There may be some political statement legislation or some single elements go through...
Alan Bjerga/Bloomberg propaganda: wheat farmers want cheap foreign labor - 07/04/07
For years, newspapers have been printing outright propaganda pieces with growers complaining that unless they get cheap foreign labor crops will rot in the fields. However, Alan Bjerga of Bloomberg offers a new twist: this time it's wheat farmers doing the whining ("U.S. Wheat Farmers Face Grim Harvests as Immigration Bill Dies", link).
Democrats next immigration move: pass AgJobs, anti-American DREAM Act - 06/29/07
Yesterday, Senator Barbara Boxer issued the following release regarding the failed Bush-Kennedy-Senate immigratiom amnesty bill [1]:
"I decided to vote yes on cloture today because I felt that if the policies in this bill were carried out properly, the result would be a strengthening of our border security, the rescue of our agriculture industry, and the acknowledgment that hardworking undocumented immigrants should have a path to legality if they follow the tough rules we have set out...
STRIVE Act: MALDEF, Juan Hernandez, ANLA support; Chertoff kinda - 03/24/07
Without refering to Flake-Gutierrez specifically, DHS Secretary Michael Chertoff reiterated his support for "guest" worker scheme:
"[The new laws should] bring them out, register them ... and make sure as a condition that they pay their debt to society for having broken the law... What I'm talking about is a common sense policy... We have to be tough. We have to be humane.
H.R.1645 Summary, Co-Sponsors, Full Text (Flake, Gutierrez, HR1645, STRIVE Act) - 03/24/07
The official summary of the Security Through Regularized Immigration and a Vibrant Economy ("STRIVE Act", aka HR1645, aka H.R. 1645, aka HR 1645, aka the "Flake-Gutierrez Massive Illegal Alien Amnesty of 2007") is here. The full text and other details are available here.
Jeff Flake, Luis Gutierrez to introduce amnesty bill in House - 03/20/07
Looks like there's a bit of work ahead, as Reps. Jeff Flake (R-AZ) and Luis Gutierrez (D-IL) are going to introduce an illegal alien amnesty bill in the House on Thursday.Looks like there's a bit of work ahead, as Reps. Jeff Flake (R-AZ) and Luis Gutierrez (D-IL) are going to introduce an illegal alien amnesty bill in the House on Thursday. Senator Teddy Kennedy "applauds" their efforts as he continues his attempts to bring forth a horror in the Senate.
The details of the bill as provided by those Reps and apparently annotated by the OC Register are included in the extended entry, and they...
American Nursery and Landscape Association: green thumbs up for Bush immigration plan - 01/28/07
The American Nursery and Landscape Association joins the other groups issuing press communiques relating to Bush's SOTU speech, in which he (for the umpteenth time) promoted a "guest" worker plan and amnesty for illegal aliens.
California Rural Legal Assistance Foundation making signs for day laborers? - 01/11/07
Is part of the mandate of the California Rural Legal Assistance Foundation - funded by the federal agency the Legal Services Corporation - to help day laborers make signs?
Fight the AgJobs amnesty (precursor to full amnesty) - 01/11/07
As previously discussed, yesterday various amnesty supporters in the House and Senate reintroduced the AgJobs bill that would give amnesty to up to 1.5 million illegal alien farmworkers. In addition to the names previously mentioned:
Last year's chairman of the House immigration subcommittee, Indiana Republican John Hostetler, staunchly opposed guest-worker bills. He was not re-elected in November.
Feinstein, Larry Craig to push AgJobs (illegal alien farmworker amnesty) - 01/09/07
Garance Burke of the AP swallows grower propaganda till, tractor, and plow in "California farmers gear up to champion new guest worker bill". She also reveals that CA Senator Dianne Feinstein and Idaho Senator Larry Craig will be introducing a new farmworker amnesty scheme tomorrow. It appears to be a new version of AgJobs, and:
The bill would create a pilot program allowing people who have worked in agriculture for at least 150 days a year for three years, or 100 days per year for five years, to apply for a green card. It would grant legal status to no more than 1.5 million workers over five...
Miranda Vagg transcribes growers pining for cheap labor - 10/10/06
Miranda Vagg of the "Greater Niagara Newspapers" group (printed in New York's "Lockport Union-Sun & Journal") offers a slab of pro-illegal immigration propaganda called "IMMIGRATION RAIDS: Local farmers reeling from busts".
California Rural Legal Assistance violated federal law? - 09/15/06
The inspector general of the federal Legal Services Corporation has issued a report highly critical of California Rural Legal Assistance (CRLA), which is funded by LSC. He:
found "substantial evidence the CRLA has violated federal law" by soliciting clients, working a fee-generating case, requesting attorney fees and associating with political activities...
Larry Craig to lead "Secure Our Borders and Our Economy" rally - 09/11/06
Senator Larry Craig (R-ID) and friends will be holding a "rally" on Capitol Hill on Wednesday and demanding "comprehensive" immigration "reform". From their press release:
A group of lawmakers, business leaders and agriculture producers will gather on Capitol Hill to demand Border Security be paired with Immigration Reform.
Larry Craig voters unhappy over his support for illegal immigration - 08/23/06
From the article "Craig shouted down at feisty forum on immigration":
A town hall meeting with Sen.
Immigration laws squeeze cherry, grape farmers; Mike Johanns - 07/01/06
Various newspapers have printed an infinite series of propaganda featuring various growers complaining about how their crops are rotting in the fields because of a lack of cheap foreign serf labor.
Mexicans demand citizenship rights... in Aurora, Illinois - 09/26/05
"Nearly" one thousand people - many or most of them illegal aliens from Mexico and other countries - marched through Aurora IL demanding that House Speaker Dennis Hastert support the Kennedy-McCain massive amnesty scheme. The march was organized by the Illinois Coalition for Immigrant and Refugee Rights. See the link for more information on that organization.
Citizenship and Immigration Ombudsman is fmr prez of AILA chapter - 09/21/05
The Ombudsman of the Department of Homeland Security's Citizenship and Immigration Services is a former President of the Central Florida Chapter of the American Immigration Lawyers Association:
...the AILA is directed by approximately 100 associates who also serve as members of the pro-Communist National Lawyers Guild... AILA has joined with other leftwing groups to denounce, in their entirety, the security measures taken by the U.S.
Throw another PIIPP on the pile - 07/26/05
[A "PIIPP" is a "pro-illegal immigration puff piece".