An Update On AgJOBS

 On Friday, March 12, Sen. Dianne Feinstein (D-CA) announced that her colleague Sen. Richard Lugar (R-IN) had joined her as the 22nd cosponsor of the Agricultural Job Opportunity, Benefits, and Security Act, or AgJOBS. American Nursery & Landscape Assocation (ANLA) warmly applauds Senator Lugar’s decision, which underscores the urgency of Congress getting to the serious business of fixing America’s dysfunctional immigration system in a timely, smart, balanced, and bipartisan way.

“Senator Lugar is a longstanding friend of American agriculture and the green industry, and we are grateful for his statesmanship and support in these tumultuous times,” said Craig Regelbrugge, ANLA vice president for government relations and national co-chairman of the Agriculture Coalition for Immigration Reform (ACIR). “The AgJOBS reforms are tailor-made to address the enormous challenges facing agricultural, nursery and greenhouse employers, and they are needed now,” he added.

Those challenges include widespread shortages of legally authorized workers, the devastating consequences faced by employers subjected to Form I-9 audits, and recent employer-unfriendly regulatory changes to the H-2A agricultural worker program scheduled to take effect March 15. On the latter point alone, 75 pages of the AgJOBS bill spell out in detail important reforms to H-2A that would streamline the process for using the program, provide wage relief, housing flexibility, and discourage frivolous litigation. AgJOBS, when enacted as part of immigration reform, will supersede the new regulations, which are causing confusion and consternation from coast to coast.

Sen. Feinstein’s full announcement can be viewed by clicking here.   

Source: ANLA press release