Young undocumented immigrants and Afghan evacuees weren’t the only ones screwed out of permanent relief by Senate Republicans during this lame duck session. Farmworker advocates said GOP leadership also blocked a compromise bill supported by both agricultural workers and employers from inclusion in the omnibus package passed on Thursday.
United Farm Workers (UFW) and UFW Foundation said the Affordable and Secure Food Act “was also denied a vote as an amendment to the omnibus despite similar legislation passing the House on a strong bipartisan vote.” They said it “effectively kills any possibility for farm worker legalization before the end of this Congress.” UFW president Teresa Romero called it “a very bitter disappointment for farm workers across the country who have more than earned the right to legal status through the sweat of their brow.”
RELATED STORY: Farmworkers from nearly a dozen states are rallying in D.C. to urge action during lame duck session
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Farmworkers had traveled to D.C. in November, and again this month, to lobby lawmakers and urge action during the lame-duck session. While the Farm Workforce Modernization Act passed the House with 30 GOP votes over a year ago, action stalled in the upper chamber. Colorado’s Michael Bennet introduced the Affordable and Secure Food Act as a counterpart to the House’s bill, moving ahead with after Idaho Republican Mike Crapo “walked out of talks,” “citing a ‘mutual impasse,’” NPR’s Ximena Bustillo tweeted earlier this month.
Perhaps this “impasse” existed only in Crapo’s head, because Bennet cited a wide coalition of growers and workers behind the bill, which would provide permanent relief to eligible workers, lower food prices, and implement H-2A visa program reforms. Growers and workers also united in appealing to Senate leadership to include the bill in the must-pass funding bill.
But like in the case of our Afghan allies, the bill “was excluded from the Omnibus package at the bidding of Senate Republican leadership,” UFW and UFW Foundation said in a statement. Iowa’s Chuck Grassley reportedly torpedoed the effort behind the Afghan Adjustment Act, angered advocates said. Senators went home after passing the omnibus Thursday, killing both bills for the rest of this session of Congress.
“Senate Republican leaders demonstrated shameful hypocrisy today—they will go home to enjoy holiday meals made possible by hard-working farm workers, all the while having blocked efforts to provide these essential workers with legal status,” said UFW Foundation chief executive officer Diana Tellefson Torres. “While this is a significant setback, it won’t deter us from continuing to fight for legalization for farm workers. Our nation’s food security depends on it.”
Senate Republicans also failed to support a separate immigration framework that would have protected young undocumented immigrants in exchange for the kind of harsh border enforcement measures they usually proclaim to love. “No one should harbor any illusion that the GOP insistence to focus on the border is anything more than cynical ploy fear and division,” immigration reform advocacy group America’s Voice said in response.
Arizona’s Kyrsten Sinema, one of the senators behind the framework, appeared convinced that immigration framework talks could resume in the next Congress. Good luck dealing with House Republicans, Senator.
In the meantime, farmworkers will continue laboring for us, including the very Republican lawmakers who let them down. Farm laborers are so critical to our nation that they were deemed “essential workers” by the federal government during the pandemic. But not so essential that Republicans would step up to protect them. “Deep down, the leadership of the American Farm Bureau and the Senate GOP prefer to keep farm workers living in fear and uncertainty, because they know that an undocumented workforce is easier to intimidate and exploit,” Romero said.
RELATED STORIES:
Republicans dust off 'border first' excuses to derail immigration framework
Omnibus passed by Senate excludes Afghan allies bill, leaving tens of thousands in continued limbo
Idiot alert: Sinema claims immigration framework talks will resume next year
United Farm Workers (UFW) and UFW Foundation said the Affordable and Secure Food Act “was also denied a vote as an amendment to the omnibus despite similar legislation passing the House on a strong bipartisan vote.” They said it “effectively kills any possibility for farm worker legalization before the end of this Congress.” UFW president Teresa Romero called it “a very bitter disappointment for farm workers across the country who have more than earned the right to legal status through the sweat of their brow.”
RELATED STORY: Farmworkers from nearly a dozen states are rallying in D.C. to urge action during lame duck session
Campaign Action
Farmworkers had traveled to D.C. in November, and again this month, to lobby lawmakers and urge action during the lame-duck session. While the Farm Workforce Modernization Act passed the House with 30 GOP votes over a year ago, action stalled in the upper chamber. Colorado’s Michael Bennet introduced the Affordable and Secure Food Act as a counterpart to the House’s bill, moving ahead with after Idaho Republican Mike Crapo “walked out of talks,” “citing a ‘mutual impasse,’” NPR’s Ximena Bustillo tweeted earlier this month.
Perhaps this “impasse” existed only in Crapo’s head, because Bennet cited a wide coalition of growers and workers behind the bill, which would provide permanent relief to eligible workers, lower food prices, and implement H-2A visa program reforms. Growers and workers also united in appealing to Senate leadership to include the bill in the must-pass funding bill.
But like in the case of our Afghan allies, the bill “was excluded from the Omnibus package at the bidding of Senate Republican leadership,” UFW and UFW Foundation said in a statement. Iowa’s Chuck Grassley reportedly torpedoed the effort behind the Afghan Adjustment Act, angered advocates said. Senators went home after passing the omnibus Thursday, killing both bills for the rest of this session of Congress.
“Senate Republican leaders demonstrated shameful hypocrisy today—they will go home to enjoy holiday meals made possible by hard-working farm workers, all the while having blocked efforts to provide these essential workers with legal status,” said UFW Foundation chief executive officer Diana Tellefson Torres. “While this is a significant setback, it won’t deter us from continuing to fight for legalization for farm workers. Our nation’s food security depends on it.”
Senate Republicans also failed to support a separate immigration framework that would have protected young undocumented immigrants in exchange for the kind of harsh border enforcement measures they usually proclaim to love. “No one should harbor any illusion that the GOP insistence to focus on the border is anything more than cynical ploy fear and division,” immigration reform advocacy group America’s Voice said in response.
Arizona’s Kyrsten Sinema, one of the senators behind the framework, appeared convinced that immigration framework talks could resume in the next Congress. Good luck dealing with House Republicans, Senator.
In the meantime, farmworkers will continue laboring for us, including the very Republican lawmakers who let them down. Farm laborers are so critical to our nation that they were deemed “essential workers” by the federal government during the pandemic. But not so essential that Republicans would step up to protect them. “Deep down, the leadership of the American Farm Bureau and the Senate GOP prefer to keep farm workers living in fear and uncertainty, because they know that an undocumented workforce is easier to intimidate and exploit,” Romero said.
RELATED STORIES:
Republicans dust off 'border first' excuses to derail immigration framework
Omnibus passed by Senate excludes Afghan allies bill, leaving tens of thousands in continued limbo
Idiot alert: Sinema claims immigration framework talks will resume next year