Following the latest paths to citizenship for undocumented farmworkers
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Due to the COVID-19 pandemic, it’s now hardly a secret about who the essential workers are who contribute to the nation’s food supply chain.
There are differing opinions by advocacy groups on how best to achieve citizenship and secure legal status in the U.S., but these groups agree farmworkers deserve citizenship because of their essential labor for the country. Civil Eats reports that an array of bills recently introduced are putting these workers a step closer to getting these much needed legal and labor protections. However, these developments have intensified the immigration debate at a time when focus on the number of migrants crossing the border has intensified.
On the day he was sworn in, Jan. 20, President Joe Biden sent the U.S. Citizenship Act of 2021 to Congress, reports NBC News. If passed by Congress, this bill would create an avenue for 11 million undocument immigrants to become citizens and expedite the process for farmworkers. It also advances labor protections. The bill called for changing “alien” to “noncitizen” in immigration laws, which the administration said was to recognize the country as a nation of immigrants. The bill allows undocumented individuals to apply for temporary legal status, with the ability to apply for green cards after five years if they pass criminal and national security background checks and pay their taxes.
The U.S. Citizenship Act includes labor safeguards to particularly benefit undocumented women. It would establish a commission made up of labor, employer, and civil rights groups that would cooperate with worker protection agencies and make recommendations about improving the employment verification process and preventing labor violations. The act would also include provisions to protect migrant and seasonal workers as well as victims of workplace retaliation.
The legislation could also make it less difficult for female farmworkers to report sexual assault and other forms of violence they’ve endured in their workplaces, homes, or elsewhere.
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“We see these critical protections as a sort of initial first step,” said Maria de Luna, policy and advocacy director of Alianza Nacional de Campesinas, to Civil Eats. “We really do welcome this much broader vision of comprehensive immigration reform, ensuring that the millions of undocumented people who we call our families or friends or neighbors are able to have a pathway to citizenship.”
The Citizenship for Essential Workers Act would establish a citizenship path for five million essential workers on non-immigrant visas and their family members. Those who pass background checks would be granted legal residency and work authorization, reports The Washington Post. After five years they could become legal permanent residents after paying all their taxes and fees. Then, they could then apply for naturalization after three more years, with many eligible to take the citizenship oath by 2030.
Recently passed by the House, the Farm Workforce Modernization Act (FWMA) would provide more than one million undocumented agricultural workers with an opportunity to receive legal status. In contrast to the Citizenship Act and the Citizenship for Essential Workers Act, the FWMA has bipartisan support by politicians. Advocacy groups, however, are not exactly on the same page. Civil Eats reports that a previous version of this bill failed two years ago, and some farmworkers and their supporters argue it creates a lengthy and complicated path to legal status.
The act would allow unauthorized immigrants who have worked on a farm for a minimum of 180 days over the past two years to apply for “certified agricultural worker status,” a legal status that would prevent their deportation, and which they could renew every five years. These workers would also pay a $1,000 fine to receive temporary legal status. They would have to remain farmworkers for another eight years just to qualify for permanent legal residency.
“Whatever it is, the way you tell your story online can make all theI think that our farmworker members, who have sacrificed so much during this last year, are in a position where they’re saying, ‘We just can’t accept a bill that represents this kind of giveaway to the grower lobby at the expense of workers difference.”
The law would also establish a mandatory, nationwide E-Verify system for all agricultural employment, reports Meat + Poultry. It also amends the existing H-2A temporary agricultural worker visa program, reports NPR.
The American Dream and Promise Act, which previously passed the House in 2019, would create a process for undocumented immigrants brought to the U.S. as children — otherwise known as "DREAMers" — to earn permanent resident status and eventual citizenship. It also includes a path to citizenship for people with temporary protected status and beneficiaries of deferred enforced departure.
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