Ag immigration discussions continue
April 03, 2013 | 07:45 PM
Negotiations between farm and farm labor groups and members of Congress on immigration reform are continuing, and the lack of a farm labor component in the agreement between the U.S. Chamber of Commerce and labor unions did not signal a problem, key farm and labor leaders have told The Hagstrom Report.
Kristi Boswell, the American Farm Bureau Federation director of congressional relations who is working on the issue for Farm Bureau, said that the negotiations with Congress on farm labor are continuing on a separate track.
The four senators working on the agriculture section of the proposal are Dianne Feinstein, D-Calif., Orrin Hatch, R-Utah, Marco Rubio, R-Fla., and Michael Bennett, D-Colo.
Boswell said she considered the announced agreement between the chamber and labor to be a positive sign, and that she hopes agreement on a farm labor section will follow the same schedule as the rest of the package.
A spokeswoman for Bruce Goldstein of the Farmworker Justice Fund confirmed that “discussions are occurring at the moment but we do not have anything concrete at that moment that we can discuss.”
Rubio is a member of the group of eight senators who are expected to unveil a package next week. Rubio has strong conservative credentials and his participation in the immigration reform talks has been considered key to their development, but over the weekend he said that extensive hearings should be held.
Senate Judiciary Committee Chairman Patrick Leahy, D-Vt., has agreed to hold one hearing, but believes that it is important to move quickly on the bill, Politico reported Tuesday.
Kristi Boswell, the American Farm Bureau Federation director of congressional relations who is working on the issue for Farm Bureau, said that the negotiations with Congress on farm labor are continuing on a separate track.
The four senators working on the agriculture section of the proposal are Dianne Feinstein, D-Calif., Orrin Hatch, R-Utah, Marco Rubio, R-Fla., and Michael Bennett, D-Colo.
Boswell said she considered the announced agreement between the chamber and labor to be a positive sign, and that she hopes agreement on a farm labor section will follow the same schedule as the rest of the package.
A spokeswoman for Bruce Goldstein of the Farmworker Justice Fund confirmed that “discussions are occurring at the moment but we do not have anything concrete at that moment that we can discuss.”
Rubio is a member of the group of eight senators who are expected to unveil a package next week. Rubio has strong conservative credentials and his participation in the immigration reform talks has been considered key to their development, but over the weekend he said that extensive hearings should be held.
Senate Judiciary Committee Chairman Patrick Leahy, D-Vt., has agreed to hold one hearing, but believes that it is important to move quickly on the bill, Politico reported Tuesday.
