Farm workers need you to make sure your Senator supports AgJobs "as is"! Call your Senator today: 202-224-3121

The Senate has again taken up immigration as an issue and our senators need to hear from us - we know they are hearing from those in opposition to fair immigration reform. And that's why it's so important for American citizens to be calling our elected leaders now--today and tomorrow. This is the perfect opportunity to put our faith into action, to invoke the mandate of "welcoming the stranger."

As you remember, Ag Jobs is the carefully negotiated compromise between farmworkers and agricultural employers. It provides a path to earned legalization for thousands of farm workers and reforms the current H2A guest worker program. AgJobs is included in the major immigration bill currently in the Senate (Hagel-Martinez Bill S. 2611.)

Unfortunately, Senator Chambliss threatens to erode all the positive steps in AgJobs with negative amendments during the debate, including removing the earned legalization component and removing wage protections for H2A guest workers. (An Action Alert from the Farmworker Justice Fund with more information on AgJobs is below.)

What you can do:
Call you senators now (the amendments could come up at any time this week) and ask them to:
--Support the provisions of AgJobs, a very carefully negotiated compromise that specifically adresses farmworkers, and
--OPPOSE THE CHAMBLISS AMENDMENTS

Call your Senator today: 202-224-3121


 

Please call and get 5 other people to call if you can.


 

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AgJOBS Action Alert!
Please support the AgJOBS Farmworker Immigration Compromise

What is AgJOBS?
* The Agricultural Job Opportunities, Benefits and Security Act of 2006 ("AgJOBS") represents a major compromise between farmworker advocates (led by the United Farm Workers) and major agricultural employers to address the agricultural immigration crisis.
* The primary sponsors of AgJOBS are Senators Larry Craig (R.-Idaho), Edward Kennedy (D.-Mass.), and Dianne Feinstein (D.-Cal) in the Senate and Reps. Chris Cannon (R.-Utah) and Howard Berman (D.-Cal.) in the House of Representatives.
* AgJOBS contains two main parts: (1) an "earned adjustment" program enabling many undocumented farmworkers and H-2A guestworkers to obtain a "blue card" temporary immigration status with the possibility of becoming permanent residents of the U.S. through continued work in agriculture; and (2) revisions to the existing H-2A temporary foreign agricultural worker program.

What is the status of AgJOBS?
* AgJOBS is included in the Senate compromise immigration bill, the Comprehensive Immigration Reform Act of 2006, S. 2611, sponsored by Senators Specter, Hagel, Martinez, Kennedy, McCain, and others. It is likely that the Senate will debate immigration again beginning next week. But there are still challenges ahead in winning passage of AgJOBS in the Senate and then by the full Congress.
* Sen. Chambliss (R.-Ga.) who opposes any earned legalization program, has filed many amendments to AgJOBS that would make the AgJOBS legislation unworkable for farmworkers and employers and make it fundamentally unfair in many ways.

What can you do to help migrant farmworkers?
* Please contact Senator Nelson at 202-224-5274 and ask him to support AgJOBS and oppose the Chambliss amendments. You can use the talking points below.

Talking Points
* Please support the AgJOBS farmworker immigration compromise.
* Please oppose the Chambliss amendments, and oppose any other amendments not supported by the AgJOBS primary sponsors (Craig, Kennedy and Feinstein).
* We are particularly concerned about Sen. Chambliss's proposal to undermine the wage protections for U.S. farmworkers under the H-2A guestworker program. His so-called "prevailing wage" amendment would abolish the longstanding H-2A adverse effect wage rate and install a new, skewed formula for determining the "prevailing" wage rate. The AgJOBS compromise already includes a decrease in the H-2A wage rates and a three-year freeze while two studies are performed so that recommendations to Congress can be made.
* Sen. Chambliss would eliminate the opportunity of farmworkers to earn permanent resident status, and instead would create an unworkable "report to deport" program. His proposal offers no prospect for stabilizing the work force with legal-resident workers.
* He also would unfairly terminate legal-aid eligibility for H-2A agricultural guestworkers.
* These amendments are similar to the amendment Chambliss offered last April that lost by 77-21.

Thank you for your help.

More information about AgJOBS and other immigration bills affecting farmworkers can be found on www.fwjustice.org under Legislative News.