Lawmaker Offers Plan to Lure Migrant Farm Workers

The New York Times reports that Texas Rep. Lamar Smith introduced a farm guest worker bill and held a hearing on it in the House.  The plan represents an overhaul of the existing guest worker program for agriculture, known as H-2A, which is considered by most growers to be too bureaucratic and costly for their fast-changing labor needs.  Mr. Smith’s proposal, for a new program he is calling H-2C, would bring 500,000 foreign migrant farm workers to the United States each year and would shift management of the guest worker program from the Department of Labor to the Department of Agriculture. 

The plan comes in the wake of Smith’s bill requiring all employers to use E-Verify, which drew ire from farmers who have a hard time finding legal workers willing to undertake strenuous farm work.  The plan drew mixed reactions from farmers with some from states like North and South Carolina and Georgia supporting the bill as a positive step while others, including the California Farm Bureau Federation, said Mr. Smith’s program failed to meet their needs.  With no provisions to legalize illegally present immigrants, the H-2C program is expected to face strong opposition in the Democrat-controlled Senate.

http://www.nytimes.com/2011/09/09/us/09farm.html

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House Immigration Status-Check Bill Faces Tough Road

USA Today reports that the House Judiciary Committee passed Committee Chairman Lamar Smith’s bill to mandate use of E-Verify, a government run system that enables businesses to check potential employees’ Social Security numbers against a government database.  Smith said he considers it a jobs measure that could help put Americans back to work in tough economic times by weeding out unauthorized employees.  The bill passed the committee with a 22-13 straight party vote with many Democrats dissenting because of fears that the bill will actually hurt businesses and legal workers due to errors and implementation costs.  Rep. Zoe Lofgren, the ranking Democrat on the immigration subcommittee, said the bill is misguided and only “[enforces] a dysfunctional system.”  The legislation mandating E-Verify has a difficult path ahead.  Several House committees have jurisdiction, and even if they all approve it, it would need to secure time on the House schedule.  Then it would have to pass the Senate and be signed by President Obama.

http://www.usatoday.com/news/washington/story/2011-09-22/House-immigration-status-E-Verify/50520146/1

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Lawmakers Praise Visa Programs to Attract Foreign Investors, Entrepreneurs

The Hill (DC) reports that lawmakers on the House Judiciary Committee’s Immigration subpanel praised two visa programs they said could create thousands of jobs in the United States.  The EB-5 investor visa program aims to attract foreign investment to the United States.  The second program, the start-up visa program, is part or a bill introduced by Rep. Zoe Lofgren (D-Calif.) and would encourage entrepreneurs to start their businesses in the United States.  Both Democrats and Republicans alike praised the investor program as an underutilized asset to bringing jobs to the United States.  Republicans were more guarded in their support for the start-up program, though Rep. Elton Gallegly (R-Calif.) said such an “innovative proposal deserves Congress’ serious consideration.”  Lofgren said her start-up program attracts immigrants with “significant intellectual capital,” and was designed to ensure that “the next Google or Intel remains here in the United States.”

http://thehill.com/blogs/hillicon-valley/technology/181593-lawmakers-praise-visa-programs-aimed-at-job-creation

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