House Judiciary consider bill ag leaders don’t like
March 03, 2015 |05:07 PM
The House Judiciary Committee today is considering a bill that would require all employers in the country to use the E-Verify system to check whether a potential employee is in the United States legally.
House Judiciary Committee Chairman Bob Goodlatte, R-Va., urged the committee to vote for the measure, but the Agriculture Workforce Coalition said it opposes the bill. No vote had been taken at publication time.
“One way to make sure we discourage illegal immigration in the future is to prevent unlawful immigrants from getting jobs in the U.S.,” Goodlatte said. “Requiring the use of E-Verify by all employers across the country will help do just that. The web-based program is a reliable and fast way for employers to electronically check the work eligibility of newly hired employees.”
Goodlatte added, “I understand that some in the agricultural industry do not support the Legal Workforce Act because they prefer it to be moved at the same time as an agricultural guestworker program. And I remain just as committed to moving such a guestworker program through this committee as I was last Congress.”
The Legal Workforce Act “in no way diminishes the need for a workable agricultural guestworker program and in no way diminishes my commitment to having this committee consider such a bill as soon as possible,” Goodlatte said.
But the Agriculture Workforce Coalition, which represents 70 farm groups, said it “vehemently opposes” the bill.
“Any bill mandating E-Verify must only come after or in conjunction with legislation to address the labor crisis being faced by America’s farmers, ranchers, and growers,” the group said. "Imposing mandatory E-Verify without fixing our country’s broken immigration system will sound the death knell for thousands of farming operations across the country.
“As we have repeatedly stated, agriculture faces unprecedented demographic challenges and relies heavily on foreign-born workers. Continued inaction by Congress in the fact of these realities will mean more fields lying fallow, more farmers losing their livelihoods and fewer of the foods we eat being grown in America,” the AWC added.
The steering committee of the AWC consists of: American Farm Bureau Federation, AmericanHort, Florida Fruit & Vegetable Association, National Council of Agricultural Employers, National Council of Farmer Cooperatives, National Farmers Union, National Milk Producers Federation, USA Farmers, U.S. Apple Association, United Fresh Produce Association, Western Growers Association, and Western United Dairymen.
House Judiciary Committee Chairman Bob Goodlatte, R-Va., urged the committee to vote for the measure, but the Agriculture Workforce Coalition said it opposes the bill. No vote had been taken at publication time.
“One way to make sure we discourage illegal immigration in the future is to prevent unlawful immigrants from getting jobs in the U.S.,” Goodlatte said. “Requiring the use of E-Verify by all employers across the country will help do just that. The web-based program is a reliable and fast way for employers to electronically check the work eligibility of newly hired employees.”
Goodlatte added, “I understand that some in the agricultural industry do not support the Legal Workforce Act because they prefer it to be moved at the same time as an agricultural guestworker program. And I remain just as committed to moving such a guestworker program through this committee as I was last Congress.”
The Legal Workforce Act “in no way diminishes the need for a workable agricultural guestworker program and in no way diminishes my commitment to having this committee consider such a bill as soon as possible,” Goodlatte said.
But the Agriculture Workforce Coalition, which represents 70 farm groups, said it “vehemently opposes” the bill.
“Any bill mandating E-Verify must only come after or in conjunction with legislation to address the labor crisis being faced by America’s farmers, ranchers, and growers,” the group said. "Imposing mandatory E-Verify without fixing our country’s broken immigration system will sound the death knell for thousands of farming operations across the country.
“As we have repeatedly stated, agriculture faces unprecedented demographic challenges and relies heavily on foreign-born workers. Continued inaction by Congress in the fact of these realities will mean more fields lying fallow, more farmers losing their livelihoods and fewer of the foods we eat being grown in America,” the AWC added.
The steering committee of the AWC consists of: American Farm Bureau Federation, AmericanHort, Florida Fruit & Vegetable Association, National Council of Agricultural Employers, National Council of Farmer Cooperatives, National Farmers Union, National Milk Producers Federation, USA Farmers, U.S. Apple Association, United Fresh Produce Association, Western Growers Association, and Western United Dairymen.