Working families commend and support Senators Craig and Kennedy in their latest efforts to improve the lives of hard-working immigrant farm workers in this country. Unlike other legislative immigration proposals circulating within the Senate, the historic Agricultural Job Opportunity, Benefits and Security Act (AgJOBS) is the only measure offering true relief to the hundreds of thousands of immigrant farm workers toiling in our fields.

This bipartisan piece of legislation is a necessary remedy to the problems that plague immigrant farm workers who struggle with some of the most perilous work conditions. This landmark compromise represents a compassionate, realistic and economically sound reform of the current H-2A agriculture guest worker program.

When enacted AgJOBS will provide an avenue for undocumented farm workers to qualify for permanent residency status through an earned legalization program. AgJOBS will also streamline the current H-2A guest worker program and provide additional legal protections for migrant workers who hold H-2A visas. The Kennedy-Craig AgJOBS amendment is a necessary immigration reform that will protect the rights and economic well being of both immigrant and U.S workers.

We will continue to reject heartless, cheap labor programs like that proposed by Senator Chambliss and Kyl. In line with conventional guest worker programs, the Chambliss-Kyl proposal will work only to provide greedy employers with an expanded, steady stream of vulnerable workers they may exploit for commercial gain. By stripping immigrant farm workers of the few labor protections they have, the Chambliss-Kyl amendment further deepens the potential for abuse and exploitation while undermining wages and labor protections for all.

Real immigration reform cannot and should not be designed around the corporate demand for cheap labor. Real immigration reform must reward and relieve hardworking immigrants by providing a clear and well-defined path to citizenship so that they may have the opportunity to participate as full members of society once and for all. AgJOBS is an important step in the process of repairing our nation’s broken immigration system and we will proudly continue to support its passage.

Contact Esmeralda Aguilar 202-637-5018