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AgJOBS

Facts about Farmworkers

AgJOBS is a bipartisan, compromise bill that is the result of years of negotiations among farmworkers, growers, and Members of Congress. The Immigration Policy Center has produced a Fact Check on Farmworkers.

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Published On: Wed, May 13, 2009 | Download File

Summary of AgJOBS: The Agricultural Job Opportunities, Benefits and Security Act of 2007

What is AgJOBS?     

AgJOBS, the Agricultural Job Opportunities, Benefits and Security Act, is a proposed immigration law that would provide agricultural employers with a stable, legal labor force while protecting farmworkers from exploitative working conditions.  The AgJOBS compromise was reached in 2000 after years of Congressional and labor-management conflict resulting in tough negotiations between the United Farm Workers (UFW), major agricultural employers, and key federal legislators.  On January 10, 2007, Senators Kennedy (D.-Mass.), Feinstein (D-Cali.), and Craig (R.-Idaho) and Reps. Cannon (R.-Utah) and Berman (D.-Cal.) introduced AgJOBS in the 110th Congress.  Read more...

Published On: Tue, Jan 01, 2008 | Download File

America Needs AgJOBS, not Harsh Guestworker Programs

Background:  Immigration is a critical issue for farmworkers.  The majority of farmworkers are undocumented, with estimates ranging from 53% to 75% of the workforce.  Without legal status, most farmworkers are too fearful of deportation to challenge unfair treatment.  Intensified immigration enforcement efforts have driven undocumented workers further underground, leaving them even more vulnerable to exploitation.  Read more...

Published On: Tue, Jan 01, 2008 | Download File

Guest Workers Program with a Path to Legalization

As we have seen in the last month, segments of the United States media, policy leaders, and populace continue to be obsessed with the issue of undocumented immigration to the United States. Turn on CNN and you may find Lou Dobbs chastising President Bush for failing "to enforce immigration laws that would slow the invasion of illegal aliens." Open the Los Angeles Times, and you can read about California Governor Arnold Schwarzenegger singing praises for the Minuteman Project, the volunteer group of Arizona vigilantes formed to patrol the U.S.-Mexico border. Open a paper in Las Cruces, New Mexico and you can read about Mexican workers in Chihuahua, Mexico waiting for the right time to cross the border illegally to find work as ranch hands in New Mexico or in construction in Chicago. In Boise, Idaho a letter to the editor complains about illegal immigrants and "[contractors] willing to pay cheap wages under the table...in lieu of hiring American citizens."

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Published On: Sat, Apr 01, 2006 | Download File