House poised to advance immigration reform, wrapped in an agriculture bill

One top Democratic aide described the bill aptly: “It’s a small slice of the immigration pie, but one where there is definitely bipartisan compromise.”

The House Judiciary Committee on Wednesday is set to advance a measure that would, for the first time, provide a pathway to permanent legal status, and eventually citizenship, for immigrants who are currently working illegally in the nation’s agriculture sector.

The measure would also establish the nation’s first mandatory E-verify system by requiring it for all agriculture workers (some federal contractors and some states already have the requirement.)

E-verify and a pathway to legal status for illegal immigrants are among goals long sought by both Democrats and Republicans, and the compromise helped the measure earn serious bipartisan support.

So far, 24 Democrats and 22 Republicans have signed on to the bill, and lawmakers are aiming for a floor vote by the end of the year and perhaps a chance for consideration by the GOP-led Senate, though that is considered unlikely.

“We’ve been talking to senators,” Democratic Rep. Zoe Lofgren of California, the lead sponsor, told the Washington Examiner. “I think there’s a possibility.”

Lofgren called the measure “an important bill,” but she downplayed the immigration component. “It’s an agriculture bill.”

If it passes the House, the measure would become the first significant bipartisan immigration reform bill to win approval in Congress since 2013, when the Senate passed comprehensive legislation that was later blocked by the House.

The measure would address a significant part of illegal immigration in the United States.

The nation’s agriculture sector utilizes proportionally more illegal workers than any other U.S. business sector, the Pew Research Center reported.

Farming, fishing, and forestry workers represented nearly a quarter of the 7.8 million illegal workers aged 18 and over in the labor force in 2016.

Rep. Dan Newhouse of Washington is the Republican lead co-sponsor and is a third-generation farmer.

Newhouse said farmers and ranchers across the country report that labor shortages are a major problem.

“Our nation’s agriculture industry is diverse and flourishing, but producers are in desperate need of a legal and reliable workforce,” Newhouse said in a statement.

He called the measure “a strong, bipartisan workforce solution to provide certainty to both farm owners and workers through an accessible, employment-based program.”

The top Republican on the House Judiciary Committee, Doug Collins of Georgia, opposes the bill, and many other Republicans are likely to vote against it. “If there is any doubt about the point of this bill, one only has to look at the very first thing it does: It grants mass amnesty and a path to citizenship to agricultural workers and their families who illegally live and work in the United States,” said Collins. He also said the bill has no chance of passing in the Senate.

A representative for Majority Leader Mitch McConnell could not provide any information about whether the bill may reach the Senate floor if it passes the House.

Democrats tout the bill’s top change to immigration law. It would allow agriculture workers who are working here illegally to earn legal status by gaining access to five-year, renewable agriculture visas and eventually earn legal permanent resident status.

Most permanent residents can also eventually apply for citizenship.

The bill would make significant changes to the nation’s guest-worker program that many farmers and immigrants utilize.

One big change sought by dairy farmers would permit some guest workers in the agriculture sector who utilize H-2A visas to remain in the U.S. year-round without having to return home.

The current program defines agriculture workers as seasonal employees and does not permit year-round legal status in the U.S.