H.R. 5038 is called the Farm Workforce Modernization Act of 2019. It’s a massive amnesty bill disguised as “modernization.” It should be called the Ag Amnesty and Indentured Servitude Act. Or just the "Ag Amnesty bill". It’s on a fast track in the House, scheduled for Rules Committee on Tuesday, Dec. 10, with floor vote likely Wednesday, Dec. 11.
Please call your Representative and voice your objections. In speaking to the U.S. Representative’s office, refer first to the bill number, H.R. 5038. Phone numbers are given below.
Here are a few key facts, compiled by NumbersUSA. They have prepared a more complete analysis here.
Amnesty -- H.R. 5038 would give amnesty--including work permits, green cards, and a path to citizenship--to illegal aliens who have been unlawfully employed in agriculture at least part time during the past two years. In fact, illegal aliens who spent just most weekends working in agriculture over two years would qualify.
H-2A Expansion -- Rather than providing incentives for mechanization to reduce the need for manual labor, or even just streamlining the existing H-2A program, the sponsors of H.R. 5038 decided that it is time to complete the hollowing out of several other industries, in addition to seasonal farm work. They kept the numerically unlimited H-2A category for seasonal work, but created a new, non-seasonal, year-round category so that at least 20,000 (and potentially many more) low-paid foreign workers can be imported each year to work at dairies, meat-packing plants, fish canneries, nurseries, and more.
Indentured Servitude -- Congress knows that giving amnesty to illegal agricultural workers will fail to produce a stable, legal workforce, because they've tried it before. Congress passed an agricultural amnesty in 1986, as part of the Immigration Reform and Control Act (IRCA). But there was a catch: most of the amnestied ag workers left agriculture for better-paying jobs as soon as they got their work permits. The sponsors of the Farm Workforce Modernization Act decided to address this problem by regressing to the 17th Century practice of indenturing these newly amnestied agricultural workers for various durations, mainly four to eight years.
In its Alert on H.R. 5038, NumbersUSA says it's “important for every office's staff to know that WE THE PEOPLE know the amnesty vote is coming. And that WE THE PEOPLE probably know more about what is in the amnesty bill than their boss the Representative knows. For example, do they know this is a bill that re-establishes indentured servitude in this country. Let's cause those staffers to start scrambling to see what is actually in this bill.”
If you have not signed up with NumbersUSA to receive its Alerts directly and to use its free messaging to Congress, we recommend that you do. NumbersUSA staff watch Congress constantly, and the NumbersUSA website has a large fund of pertinent information.
The last thing the U.S. needs now is another massive amnesty for illegal aliens. There have been too many amnesties already in recent decades, resulting in disrespect for immigration law and law in general. Amnesties stimulate further illegal immigration. Oregonians face congestion already, along with widespread homelessness, expensive housing, climate crisis, drug crisis, etc. The future will be even grimmer as more and more people from other countries pour into the U.S. See this trenchant commentary on H.R. 5038 by Bob Dane, of the Federation for American Immigration Reform.
Phone numbers for Oregon’s Representatives
You can reach the Washington office of any Representative by calling the U.S. Capitol switchboard number: 202-224-3121 (not a toll-free number). Then ask the operator to connect you with the Representative to whom you wish to speak.
District 1 – Suzanne Bonamici – 202-225-0855
District 2 – Greg Walden – 202-225-6730
District 3 - Earl Blumenauer – 202-225-4811
District 4 - Peter A. DeFazio – 202-225-6416
District 5 – Kurt Schrader – 202-225-5711
If you don't know the name of your Representative, you can find it here: https://www.oregonlegislature.gov/FindYourLegislator/leg-districts.html
