Immigration bills go to the House Floor

Dignity or Exploitation ?

WHAT FUTURE FOR FARMWORKER FAMILIES IN THE UNITED STATES? 

David Bacon, 

 

H-2A Leads a Race to the Bottom for Farmworkers 

…..

But the most far-reaching bill dealing with H-2A workers was introduced in Congress in 2019 by Zoe Lofgren, a 

Democrat from Silicon Valley, together with Dan Newhouse. The Farm Workforce Modernization Act of 2019 essentially ties legalization for undocumented farmworkers and guest worker programs together.161 This compromise bill would guarantee growers a labor supply at a price they want to pay, while at the same time providing a pathway to legal residence for many undocumented farmworkers. 

The House passed this bill, and it died in the Senate. Un- der a new Biden administration, the pressure from growers and Washington lobbyists will be intense to revive it as the centerpiece of its immigration agenda. Representative Raul Ruiz told the Los Angeles Times that the administration was developing a package of executive orders and Congressio- nal bills that would incorporate provisions from legislation already passed by the Democrat-controlled House of Rep- resentatives. Included was the Farm Workforce Modernization Act.162 

…..

Since half of current workers have no legal status, an even more predictable impact of the mandatory use of E-Verify would be to make it harder for employers to find workers they can legally hire. The half of the workforce that is currently undocumented would eventually shrink as people applied for green cards, gained legal status, and found better-paying jobs elsewhere. The other half of the workforce – people who are citizens or have legal immigration status – will shrink as well over time, particularly because the average age of farmworkers has increased from 28 in 2000 to 38 today.166 

The Farm Workforce Modernization Act had several provisions to make the H-2A program more attractive. One, suspending for one year the increase in the Adverse Effect Wage Rate, was already announced by President Trump the day before the election.167 After ten years, the AEWR would be evaluated and could be abolished altogether. The net 

…..

 

The bill did contain some pro-worker changes in the H-2A program. Ten thousand holders of H-2A visas per year would be able to transfer from the employer that recruited them to another employer, which is presently not allowed. H-2A workers would be covered by the Migrant and Seasonal Agricultural Workers Protection Act (AWPA), offering some protection from abuses. Employers could sponsor 40,000 farmworkers, including both undocumented and H-2A workers, for green cards each year. Many workers want residence status badly, but giving employers the power to petition also makes workers more vulnerable to threats and pressure. 

…..

The Farm Workforce Modernization Act itself was overtaken by election politics, but Republicans and centrist Democrats can be expected to reintroduce its main elements, putting before the Biden administration the basic question of the direction for U.S. immigration policy. The flow of many Mexican and Central American migrants across the border will either be increasingly imprisoned in a system of cheap and disposable labor by growers, or it will be integrated into families and communities able to fight for rights, legal status, unions, and a better standard of living. 

…….

Its in the report:  https://www.oaklandinstitute.org/dignity-or-exploitation

 

https://www.oaklandinstitute.org/sites/oaklandinstitute.org/files/dignity-exploitation.pdf

 

The bill, the Farm Workforce Modernization Act passed the Democratic controlled House in 2019.

It is on the House agenda now.

 

The Hill.

With Susannah Luthi.

IMMIGRATION ON THE MIND: It is a big week for immigration. The House is poised to vote on two immigration bills this week, both narrower pieces of legislation while Democrats weigh how ambitious to go with President Joe Biden’s comprehensive immigration plan. All of this is unfolding amid a growing debate about how to address the surging numbers of migrant children and families being detained at the U.S.-Mexico border. 

1) The Dream and Promise Act would provide a path to citizenship for Dreamers, young immigrants who were brought to the country as children and have remained in the country illegally. This bill also provides a path to citizenship for the immigrants living in the U.S. with Temporary Protected Status. Seven House Republicans supported this legislation last time around.

2) The second bill, the Farm Modernization Workforce Act, aims to provide a path to citizenship for farm workers who are living in the country illegally. Thirty-four Republicans supported this legislation last Congress.

Both bills passed the House last session but weren’t taken up in the Senate. Still, despite Dems’ narrow majority, the bills as they currently stand are unlikely to get the 60 needed votes to pass in the upper chamber. (This has also fueled talk of including key immigration provisions to Dems’ next use of the reconciliation process.) Meanwhile, Senate Judiciary Chairman Dick Durbin (D-Ill.) is talking with Republicans about a narrow bipartisan approach on Dreamers.

Please inform yourselves well.

 

 

Ethnic Studies

 

Safe Harbor for Refugees

 

The Reality Check: JOE BIDEN SHOULD ROLL BACK EXPLOITATIVE GUEST WORK...

The Reality Check: JOE BIDEN SHOULD ROLL BACK EXPLOITATIVE GUEST WORK...: JOE BIDEN SHOULD ROLL BACK EXPLOITATIVE GUEST WORKER PROGRAMS By David Bacon Jacobin, 3/9/20 https://jacobinmag.com/2021/03/biden-guest-work...

Refugees Welcomed Upon Arrival

 

The main stream press seems focused now on declaring a “crisis at the border.”. - the arrival of a few thousand refugees and asylum seekers.

Our response should be; There is no crisis ! Why Panic? 

As a nation we can accept and accommodate these new immigrants.  Many are fleeing catastrophes created by U.S. neoliberal capitalism and imperialism. 

The response should be; provide the refugees with a safe harbor, ( As required by international conventions the U.S. has endorsed. )

Safe harbor would be safety and an opportunity for a legal hearing on the application for asylum. 

Although ICE, the Border Patrol, and the Republican political machine see and declare a crisis, we should not feed into that narrative.

 

Nearly one in five essential workers in America is an immigrant. We are of every race and background, in every state, keeping America fed, clean, safe, and healthy. We are doctors, nurses, child care and home care workers. We are essential to America. We are immigrant women. Because ‘We The People’ includes ALL of us. This is our home. Immigrant Women Are Home. Learn More.

Hold ICE Accountable

 

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Mijente

Next up: Washington! Our compas from

La Resistencia

will be hosting their #EyesOnICE forum in front of the Northwest Detention Center in Tacoma this Sunday. Join in person or via livestream to hear testimonies from the people of Washington state who are exposing the harms they’ve experienced by ICE and are speaking out and organizing for change.

With La Resistencia’s EyesOnICE: People’s Tribunal, our gente are stepping into their power and speaking out. The time for justice is now -- we won’t be silenced any longer.

Sign up here: mijente.net/WAforum1

#InvestigateDHS #WeAreHome

* * *

Votes Needed for Immigration Reform

 

https://www.politico.com/news/2021/03/04/democrats-house-immigration-plan-473475

'Not quite ready yet': Democrats won’t take up Biden immigration plan this month

A dismal whip count came back this week showing House leaders don’t yet have the votes to pass the bill on the floor.

Rep. Tom Malinowski (D-N.J.), a swing-district Democrat, has been making the case to Biden’s Hill team that an e-verify provision should be part of the bill, just as it was in the bipartisan immigration bill in 2013 that fell just short of passage.

“Yes, I support what’s in the bill. I think we would be in a stronger position to get it enacted if we eventually ended up where, I think, the middle ground is,” Malinowski said. “I think for both solid political, practical reasons and moral reasons, those two things should go together.”

The biggest fear for many progressives, however, is what could happen to the bill to win over the party’s centrists, either in the House or when the bill crosses over to the Senate.

“We don’t want this bill to be watered down before it gets to the floor, which is sometimes what happens with immigration bills,” Jayapal said.

Immigration advocates have argued that failing to act on the issue could come back to haunt them politically, leaving Democrats vulnerable among their base in 2022.

Weekly Shift

The latest news in employment, labor and immigration politics and policy.

During a session at the House Democratic Caucus’s virtual retreat on Wednesday, advocates shared new polling conducted for the immigrant rights groups FWD.us and America’s Voice, which showed that 63 percent of voters would be “upset” if protections for undocumented immigrants didn’t pass. The online survey of 1,200 voters who participated in the 2020 election was conducted Feb. 20-26.

A clean Dream Act proposal received the highest support nationally with 72 percent of voters supporting it compared to 71 percent support for a bill providing citizenship to undocumented farmworkers and 66 percent support for citizenship for undocumented essential workers. The latter is a proposal that has been pushed by Rep. Joaquin Castro (D-Texas) alongside Sens. Elizabeth Warren (D-Mass.) and Alex Padilla (D-Calif.).

“Voters will be upset over inaction, especially the voters Democrats need to show up in the midterm elections,” stated the polling memo shared with House Democrats and obtained by POLITICO. “Republicans will not receive all or even most of the blame should the efforts to pass citizenship bills fail.”

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Close the Immigrant Detention Centers

 

For the last four years, immigrant communities have experienced Trump's never-ending racist and xenophobic attacks, including a massive expansion of the immigration detention system. As President Biden begins to undo these harms, he must prioritize dismantling the cruel immigration detention system that deprives the liberty of thousands of immigrants and people seeking asylum each year.

Join Detention Watch Network, in collaboration with communities across the country, as we demand that the Biden administration fulfill its commitment to restoring humanity to the immigration system by recognizing that detention has no place in a just and humane system. People navigating their immigration cases should be able to do so in community, not behind bars in detention. We call on the Biden administration to take bold action towards ending the use of detention entirely by shutting down and ending contracts for the following ten detention centers that are emblematic of how the immigration detention system as a whole is inherently abusive, unjust, and fatally flawed beyond repair.

1. Adelanto Detention Facility
2. Berks County Family Residential Center
3. South Texas Family Residential Center (Dilley)
4. Etowah County Jail
5. Farmville Detention Center
6. T. Don Hutto Residential Facility (Hutto)
7. Irwin County Detention Center
8. Karnes County Family Residential Center
9. Mesa Verde Detention Center
10. Otero County Processing Center

The facilities on this list represent every facility across the country where medical neglect is common, physical and sexual abuse are widely reported, basic necessities are lacking, food is rotten, access to counsel and support is restricted, and immigrants needlessly suffer. This list provides a roadmap, a #FirstTen to communities not cages.

SEND a letter to President Biden and DHS Secretary Alejandro Mayorkas and demand that he CLOSES the #FirstTen immigrant detention centers as a first step to abolish immigrant detention. #CommunitiesNotCages

Hundreds of Kids Being Held by Border Patrol

 More than 700 children who crossed from Mexico into the United States without their parents were in Border Patrol custody as of Sunday, according to an internal Customs and Border Protection document obtained by Axios.

Why it matters: The current backup is yet another sign of a brewing crisis for President Biden — and a worsening dilemma for these vulnerable children. Biden is finding it's easier to talk about preventing warehousing kids at the southern border than solving the problem.

• Making matters worse, border crossings usually peak in the spring, and it's only February.

Behind the scenes: Of the more than 700 kids waiting to be transferred to shelters overseen by the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services, more than 200 had been held in these Border Patrol stations for more than 48 hours.

• Nine had been detained for longer than the agreed-upon limit of 72 hours, according to the internal document, which timestamped the data current as of 8:15 a.m. on Feb. 21.

During Wednesday's White House media briefing, press secretary Jen Psaki acknowledged some kids had been held four or five days — or more.

• She blamed some of the delays on the bad weather that shut down Texas last week, saying some long-term shelters "did not have power and were not in a place where they had the capacity to take in these kids and do it safely."
• She also pushed back — hard — on an equivalency between the current and past administrations' handling of children, who generally come from countries in Central America, at the U.S.-Mexico border.
• While president, Donald Trump was criticized for separating children from their parents. That policy is no longer in place, although rising numbers of children arriving now are unaccompanied, meaning they are detained alone anyway.

What they're saying: "We have a couple of options: We can send them back home. ... We can quickly transfer them from CPB to these HHS-run facilities. ... We can put them with families and sponsors without any vetting," Psaki said. "We've chosen the middle option."

During the surge in 2019, government watchdogs found severe overcrowding and concerning sanitation, health and safety issues at the U.S. Customs and Border Patrol intake facilities, which are special concerns for children.

• CBP is only meant to have short-term custody of migrants before adults and families are transferred to the U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement agency and unaccompanied children are transferred to HHS.
• Nonetheless, in January, at least 179 migrant minors spent more than three days in CBP custody, as well as at least 48 kids in December, CBS News' Camilo Montoya-Galvez reported this week.

What to watch: Coronavirus protocols have also significantly lowered the number of children who can be held at the longer-term HHS shelters.

• The Biden administration has already been forced to open a temporary influx shelter in Texas for child migrants, which also has the capacity to add tent-like structures.

More than 400 migrant kids were referred to HHS shelters just on Tuesday, according to one administration official.

Matamoros Border Crossing Opened

 

Less than a week after beginning to process asylum cases of immigrants awaiting in Mexico the resolution of their cases under the Migrant Protection Protocols (MPP), the government of Joe Biden announced on Wednesday the opening of a second door to attend people living in the refugee camp located in Matamoros. Last week the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) began the entry of asylum seekers through the San Ysidro border crossing, in California, the first phase of a plan that aims to process more than 25,000 active cases of migrants that since the end January 2019, they have arrived at the border with Mexico in search of asylum, but were returned under the protection of the zero tolerance immigration policy imposed by the Donald Trump government.  Under the MPP, more than 70,000 migrants were returned to Mexican territory to await the resolution of their asylum cases in the US immigration courts. Of these, only 25,000 remain or are pending processing. Team work According to a DHS report, the opening of the second gate, at the Matamoros border crossing, the United States immigration authorities will have the support of the Government of Mexico and international humanitarian organizations, including the United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights. Refugees (UNHCR). 

Source: Univision

  

Quienes somos y qué queremos los Socialistas Democráticos

 

Quienes somos y qué queremos los Socialistas Democráticos

Start: Thursday, February 25, 2021 • 8:00 PM • Eastern Daylight Time (US & Canada) (GMT-04:00)

End: Thursday, February 25, 2021 • 9:30 PM • Eastern Daylight Time (US & Canada) (GMT-04:00)

Host Contact Info:  immigrantrights@dsacommittees.org 

El Grupo de Trabajo por los Derechos de los Inmigrantes de DSA los invita a un seminario web en español: "Quienes somos y qué queremos los Socialistas Democráticos."

Escuche a algunos de nuestros miembros sobre su trabajo en DSA y en sus comunidades.

Moderador: Blanca Estevez - Comité Político Nacional de DSA

Jorge Mujica, Organizador de trabajadores inmigrantes y de bajos ingresos con Arise Chicago. Arise Chicago crea asociaciones entre comunidades religiosas ytrabajadores para luchar contra la injusticia en el lugar de trabajo mediante la educación, la organización y la promoción de cambios en las políticas públicas. Miembro del Consejo Nacional de la Unión Nacional de Escritores y copresidente del IMWG de DSA.

Ald. Rossana Rodríguez - Concejal del Distrito 35 de Chicago y miembrx de DSA. Sus prioridades como Concejala incluyen proteger la asequibilidad del vecindario, apoyar a la población inmigrante de nuestro barrio y crear procesos más democráticos para que los residentes del barrio participen en las decisiones que afectan sus vidas.

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Join the Immigrants' Rights Working Group of Democratic Socialists of America for a Spanish webinar:  Quienes somos y qué queremos los Socialistas Democráticos.

Hear from some of our members about their work in DSA and their communities. 

Moderator: Blanca Estevez - DSA National Political Committee

Jorge Mujica,  Immigrant and low-income workers Organizer with Arise Chicago. Arise Chicago builds partnerships between faith communities and workers to fight workplace injustice through education, organizing, and advocating for public policy changes. Member of the National Council of the National Writers Union, and co chair of the IMWG of DSA. 

Ald. Rossana Rodriguez - Chicago 35th Ward Alderwoman and DSA member. Her priorities as Alderwoman include protecting neighborhood affordability, supporting our ward’s immigrant population, and creating more democratic processes so that ward residents are involved in the decisions that impact their lives.

Zoom Registration info in instructions and reply.

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DSA Immigrants' Rights Working Group

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Latino Anti Disinformation Lab Launched

A new $22 million “Latino Anti-Disinformation Lab” is being launched by Voto Latino and Media Matters for America, a Thursday media release announced.

News of the initiative was first reported on Wednesday by NBC News.

The Thursday release noted that the Latino Anti-Disinformation Lab will be chaired by Voto Latino co-founding President and CEO María Teresa Kumar, Media Matters for America President and CEO Angelo Carusone and former Democratic National Committee Chairman Tom Perez.

“The need for this initiative is clear,” the release noted. “In the months leading up to the 2020 general election, voters were subject to higher levels of mis- and disinformation than ever before. Spanish and English language voter fraud misinformation, fear-mongering tactics, and disinformation about COVID-19 spread throughout the media and on mainstream social platforms like Twitter, Facebook, Whatsapp, YouTube, and other online communities. This included a significant increase in false information targeting communities of color, disproportionately impacting Spanish-speaking audiences over the age of 40.”

The Latino Anti-Disinformation Lab is believed to be the largest investment ever to target disinformation in the Latino community as a means of voter outreach. A significant part of the lab will focus on the monitoring of Spanish-language media and online communities. According to the release, research produced by the media analysis will be used for more strategic efforts by Voto Latino to identify and communicate with at-risk Latino voters.

“For decades, disinformation has been a weapon that corrupt governments in failing states use against their own people,” Kumar said in the release. “But now that same weapon is aimed at the most vulnerable in the United States, exploiting some officials’ moral weakness and social media’s deliberate lawlessness to sow greater distrust of our critical institutions than ever before. The spread of lies around the COVID vaccine is proof positive that disinformation has become a life and death issue if not curbed and addressed.”

“The right-wing sphere has spent years building a misinformation machine to target the Latinx community, which has resulted in a rising tide of disinformation. Despite how overwhelming it may seem, it is both possible and absolutely necessary to confront misinformation head on. This partnership will provide an essential check on that rising tide of disinformation,” Carusone said.

Perez, the former DNC chair, is expected to lend his voice and support to the effort, the release said.

“This is the kind of lasting investment in communications infrastructure within the Latino community that is necessary to respond to the threat of misinformation as well as harness durable political and civic power,” Perez said.

 

Quienes Somos, ?

 

 THURSDAY, FEBRUARY 25, 2021 AT 5 PM PST – 6:30 PM PST

Quienes somos y qué queremos los Socialistas Democráticos

Free  · Online Event

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New Report Calls on the Biden Administration to Put an End to Close-to-Slavery Conditions of the H-2A Guest Worker Program

New Report Calls on the Biden Administration to Put an End to Close-to-Slavery Conditions of the H-2A Guest Worker Program

Biden Must Address the Detention System

*Mensaje Bilingüe/ Bilingual Message* Dear DWN community,  It’s been 27 days since President Joe Biden has taken office. While we are encouraged that the administration has been taking action on immigration, there is one critical priority that has yet to be addressed: the deadly and inhumane detention system.  Now, more than ever, it is important for us to come out strong and push the new administration to defund and dismantle a system that deprives thousands of our loved ones, neighbors, friends, coworkers and community members of their freedom. That’s why on Thursday, February 25, DWN, along with our members and allies, will be launching a unified effort to demand action from the Biden administration. Mark your calendars and get ready to join us when we make the announcement.  In the meantime, build up momentum and amplify the demands to abolish detention, halt all deportations and free them all! Here are some actions you can plug into:  #100DaysforFreedom  Biden’s 100-day deportation moratorium, which is temporarily on pause, still allows ICE to arrest people who have completed their time in jail and prison. This leaves the most vulnerable immigrants to be incarcerated again by ICE. Take action by joining the Asian Prisoner Support Committee and Asian Americans Advancing Justice – Asian Law Caucus in advocating for the release of people in detention. This is an ongoing action that occurs every Tuesday from 9am-5pm PST for the duration of the moratorium (by May 2, 2021). Visit the #100DaysforFreedom toolkit for action steps. Sign the petition: Demand DHS halt ALL deportations  Since the Biden administration has taken office, ICE has doubled down on deportations. The agency has deported hundreds of Black immigrants to countries in Africa and the Caribbean, including Cameroon, Angola, Haiti and Jamaica -- including over two dozen children deported to Haiti. ICE’s latest action further affirms the agency’s plans to inflict pain and suffering on Black and brown immigrants. Add your name today. Send a letter to DHS Secretary Alejandro Mayorkas and demand he CANCELS a Trump-era agreement with ICE. Act before tomorrow!  On the final day of the Trump administration, former acting DHS Deputy Secretary Ken Cuccinelli wrongfully signed an agreement with ICE’s union that essentially gives the union veto power over decisions made by DHS. The Department has until February 17 to dissolve the agreement. Send a letter. In resistance, Detention Watch Network