Birdnow's Aviary

February 14, 2020

Republicans to Join Democrats in Backdoor Amnesty

Timothy Birdnow

Republicans are joining Democrats in a scheme to backdoor amnesty for illegal aliens.

According to Conservative HQ:

The Farm Workforce Modernization Act of 2019, H.R. 4916, introduced by Congresswoman Zoe Lofgren (CA-19), would grant amnesty - including work permits, green cards, and a path to citizenship - to illegal aliens who have been unlawfully employed in agriculture during the past two years. In fact, illegal aliens who spent just most weekends working in agriculture over two years would qualify, since only 1,035 hours or 180 workdays are required according to analysis shared with us by our friends at NumbersUSA.

Editorâ€™s Note: Rep. Zoe Lofgren was one of the House Democratsâ€™ impeachment "managersâ€ in the recent Senate trial which acquitted President Trump of both articles of impeachment.

The purpose of the bill, ostensibly, is to ensure a stable and legal agriculture workforce. Naturally, the first step would be to reform the H-2A guest worker program that allows employers to import an unlimited number of workers each year for temporary, seasonal agricultural work. The current H-2A program, while used successfully by many growers to obtain agricultural workers each year, is bureaucratic and cumbersome. But, no, unfortunately, that is not the primary focus of H.R. 4916. Rather than simply streamlining the H-2A program, Title I of the bill is all about amnesty.

The Farm Workforce Modernization Act fact sheet

The Amnesties of H.R. 4916

Special Treatment in H.R. 4916

Congress knows that giving amnesty to illegal agricultural workers will fail to produce a stable, legal workforce because theyâ€™ve tried it before.

So how are they going to do it?

Under H.R. 4916, if an alien worked unlawfully in agriculture for at least 10 years prior to the date of enactment, that alien will be granted Certified Agricultural Worker (CAW) status for 5Â½years with an employment authorization document that allows him or her to work for any employer in the United States, in agriculture or not. After four years in CAW status, the alien can apply for a green card and the path to citizenship, if the alien worked in agriculture for at least 575 hours or 100 workdays in each of those four years. So these longtime illegal workers are "onlyâ€ indentured for four years.

However, if an alien worked unlawfully in agriculture for fewer than ten years prior to enactment, that alien also will be granted CAW status but will be required to work in agriculture for the next eight years. Aliens in this category cannot apply for a green card and the path to citizenship until they have had CAW status for eight years and can show that they worked in agriculture for at least 575 hours or 100 workdays in â€‹eachâ€‹ of the past eight years. So these aliens who worked unlawfully for less time will be indentured to agriculture for eight years before they can completely abandon farm work. Like the first category, though, they will still have an employment authorization document that is not limited to agriculture.

So they want to reinstate serfdom. Or indentured servitude, if you prefer.

And the use of e-verify is only mandatory for agricultural workers, and does nothing to stem the flow of illegals.

Republicans are on board with this, too:

Now that the Lofgren bill has passed the House our sources on Capitol Hill tell us that there is growing interest among some GOP Senators to pass this monstrosity. The latest information is that Sen. Thom Tillis (R-NC) and Senators Lindsey Graham (R-SC) and James Lankford (R-OK) are also on board. Tillis is expected to be the lead in introducing the Senate version. Whatâ€™s even more amazing and disheartening is that Vice President Penceâ€™s PAC organization is rumored to be prepared to spend $30 million on an ad campaign to promote this despicable attack on American workers.

Posted by: Timothy Birdnow at 12:13 PM | Comments (2) | Add Comment
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1 This is distressing, not to put too fine a point on it! And the particular GOPers who are doing it are super-distressing. There's no way they will extract a pound of flesh in return, later on, because the opposition doesn't work that way.

Posted by: Dana Mathewson at February 15, 2020 11:23 AM (rIYC+)

2 We are beset on all sides by evil and unjust men.

Posted by: Timothy Birdnow at February 15, 2020 12:34 PM (ikPay)

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