Emergency Agriculture Relief Act of 2008
Source: Agriculture Coalition for Immigration Reform
The AgJOBS compromise (Emergency Agriculture Relief Act of 2008, or EARA) is on the table. In March, at the behest of Sen. Dianne Feinstein, EARA was negotiated by ACIR (Agriculture Coalition for Immigration Reform, of which NGA Administrator Mike Gempler is an executive committee member) and labor representatives. A letter of support came from the American Farm Bureau Federation in April, but they were not involved in the negotiations. With the exception of the Earned Adjustment of Status and certain H-2A Program Reform provisions described below, the Emergency Agriculture Relief Act of 2008 contains language identical to the current AgJOBS bill.
The week of May 12 could be pivotal for labor relief and reform. Your immediate help is needed to shape the outcome. On Thursday, May 15, the Senate Appropriations Committee is expected to mark up the Supplemental spending bill needed to fund ongoing military activities in Iraq and Afghanistan. Because the Supplemental is certainly one of the only "must-pass" bills to be considered before the November elections, unrelated amendments are expected and could include the amendments on H-2A and H-2B "guest-worker" programs.
Sen. Feinstein may offer the Emergency Agriculture Relief Act (which features the essential structure of AgJOBS -- H-2A guest worker reforms and earned legal status for unauthorized workers) but the program would sunset in five years, requiring agriculture to remain at the table pushing for permanent reforms in a more comprehensive bill at some future time. It is expected that Sen. Mikulski and other allies will offer a clean extension of the exemption for returning H-2B workers from counting against the unrealistic visa cap. The exemption may last as long as five years.
The procedural hurdles are considerable. First, the Appropriations Committee may reject these measures as non-germane to the spending bill's purpose. Secondly, Senate leadership may bring the House-passed version of the Supplemental directly to the Senate floor, bypassing the version the Committee produces. Thirdly, these amendments could be subject to a floor challenge since Senate rules forbid legislating on an appropriations bill, unless at least 60 Senators vote to waive the rule.
Please take a moment to send a letter urging the US Senators in your state to support Feinstein and Mikulski on what may be the last shot at reform this year. A sample letter is included at the end of this post.
Summary of the Emergency Agriculture Relief Act
Emergency Agricultural Worker Status
Earned Adjustment of Status provides temporary limited immigration status for experienced farmworkers who can prove agricultural employment for at least 150 days or 863 hours or who have earned at least $7,000 working in U.S. agriculture during the 48 months prior to December 31, 2007. Emergency workers must continue to work at least 100 days per year in agriculture for each of the next five years.
To obtain Emergency Agricultural Worker Status workers must pay a $250 fine and processing fees. These workers cannot obtain legal permanent resident status (a green card) and would not be entitled to Social Security benefits based on employment in prior illegal status. The program would be capped at 1.35 million workers. If Congress does not enact AgJOBS or comprehensive reform in the next five years, the emergency workers would have to leave the country or return to illegal status.
H-2A Program Reform
All provisions are identical to AgJOBS except:
- The "adverse effect wage rate" (AEWR) would be frozen at the level in effect on January 1, 2008 (2007 AEWR). It would be frozen at this level until March 1, 2012. If Congress failed to act to make the reforms of AgJOBS permanent, after March 1, 2012 the formula for calculating the AEWR would revert to the current formula (AEWR is the average of all field and livestock worker wages in a state or multi-state region).
- The EARA includes the special provisions of AgJOBS which extend to the dairy industry special provisions that currently apply to the sheep industry.
- If Congress does not enact AgJOBS or comparable reforms in the next five years, the H-2A reforms would sunset and the current H-2A program would be reinstated.
