Legislation would protect workers from deportation, ease labor shortages, proponents say
Two California Democrats filed legislation Thursday that would give undocumented immigrant farmworkers and their families a path to legal resident status and possibly U.S. citizenship.
The legislation by Sen. Dianne Feinstein and Rep. Zoe Lofgren is designed to ease agricultural worker shortages and protect undocumented workers already in the United States from deportation. The bills come as the nation grapples with an extended partial government shutdown fueled by an impasse between President Donald Trump and congressional Democrats over funding for a border wall and broader differences over immigration policies.
The companion Senate and House bills revive proposals by Feinstein in prior Congresses to allow immigrant farmworkers to apply for so-called blue cards from the Department of Homeland Security, which would provide temporary legal status for those who qualify. Applicants would have to undergo background checks, have no criminal records, and pay federal taxes, immigration processing fees and $100 penalty fee to DHS.
View the complete January 18 article by Ellyn Ferguson on The Roll Call website here.