'AgJobs' Bill May Not Wait for Broader Immigration Measure

January 12, 2007 - A bipartisan group of senators claim to have the votes necessary to pass stand-alone legislation allowing more foreign agricultural workers to come to the United States.

They said they would prefer to move their AgJobs measure as part of a broader immigration overhaul. But they are not prepared to wait indefinitely.

Much of the draft measure, co-sponsored by democratic senators from California, Sens. Dianne Feinstein and Barbara Boxer, Edward M. Kennedy (D-Mass.), Larry E. Craig (R-Idaho) and Mel Martinez (R-Fla.), was included in last year's Senate immigration overhaul.

That measure stalled when the House refused to consider provisions that would have allowed millions of illegal immigrants to earn citizenship over a period of years.

The draft farm jobs measure would allow more than 1.5 million workers to come into the United States over the next five years. It also would create a pilot program to legalize illegal immigrants who have been working in agriculture during the past two years.

The AgJobs legislations includes the H2A program with codification of provisions for sheepherders as supported by the American Sheep Industry Association policy.
Reprinted from Congressional Quarterly

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