FAIR Legislative Update 19 May 2008

Senator Feinstein Adds AgJobs Amnesty to Iraq War Funding Bill

On Thursday, the Senate Appropriations Committee approved four separate immigration amendments to the Iraq War Funding bill. These amendments were a nod to various special interests, including the agribusiness and corporate lobbies, that have been pushing hard since the fall of last year's Bush-Kennedy Amnesty bill for piecemeal legislation to safeguard their sources of cheap labor.

The most ominous amendment adopted in the Senate Appropriations Committee was the "AgJobs" amendment offered by Senators Dianne Feinstein (D-CA) and Larry Craig (R-ID). Similar to legislation offered last year, the Feinstein-Craig amendment (called the Emergency Agricultural Relief Act), grants 5-year amnesty visas to approximately 1.35 million illegal alien agricultural workers, plus their spouses and children, by conferring on them so-called "emergency agricultural worker status" (EAW). To obtain EAW status, aliens must show they were employed for at least 150 days or earned at least $7,000 in the agricultural sector during the 48 months ending December 31, 2007. The alien worker must then pay a fee of $250 and will receive a biometric identification card. Once the alien obtains the emergency worker status, the alien, plus his spouse and children, "shall be considered to be an alien lawfully admitted for permanent residence" for all non-immigration purposes (See Sec. 102(a)). To maintain EAW status, an alien must work 100 days per year in an agricultural job. The Feinstein-Craig Amendment also expressly prohibits the prosecution of illegal alien applicants for Social Security crimes.

In addition to the 5-year amnesty, the Feinstein-Craig amendment also amends the existing H-2A agricultural guest worker program. These changes include Reducing impediments to employers seeking to import foreign agricultural labor;

• Reducing the administrative and legal oversight exercised by the Department of Labor over H-2A jobs;
• Freezing the wage standard for three years;
• Diminishing labor protections for U.S. and alien workers under the H-2A program;
• Creating an ongoing amnesty program for illegal aliens who qualify as sheepherders, goat herders and dairy workers.

The Feinstein-Craig Amendment passed on a 17-12 vote. To see how your Senators voted, click here.

The Senate Appropriations Committee also approved an amendment authored by Senator Barbara Mikulski (D-MD) that reinstates the returning worker exemption to the H-2B (non-agricultural) guest worker program, which expired last year. Under the exemption, an alien who worked in the U.S. during the past three years under the H-2B program, may return to the U.S. to work without counting towards the 66,000 cap. The exemption means an ever growing number of unskilled guest workers may enter the U.S. as H-2B workers. In 2006, for example, there were over 134,000 non-immigrant H-2B worker entries into the U.S., nearly one-third of whom were employed as landscapers and at least one-tenth of whom worked in the resort industry. (U.S. Department of Labor, Office of Foreign Labor Certification, Performance Report: March 28, 2005-September 30, 2006, September 17, 2007).

The Mikulski Amendment passed on a 23-6 vote. To see how your Senators voted, click here.

The Committee adopted two other amendments aimed at satisfying special interests. One authored by Senator Patty Murray (D-WA) increases the number of employment-based green cards available for multinational executives and "high-tech" workers by "recapturing" approximately 218,000 unused visas from as far back as 1994. Another, authored by Senator Patrick Leahy (D-VT) makes it easier for wealthy investors to obtain green cards by extending the Regional Center Pilot (EB-5) program for 5 more years. Created in 1992, the EB-5 program grants two-year conditional green cards to foreign investors who invest at least $500,000.00 in targeted areas and can demonstrate that at least 10 American jobs were created.

The Iraq War Funding Bill is expected to land on the Senate floor this week. Stay tuned to FAIR for more information…

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ICE Conducts Workplace Raid at Iowa Food Processing Plant

On Monday, Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) served search warrants and arrested over 390 individuals at the Agriprocessors meatpacking plant in Postville, Iowa. U.S. Attorney Matt Dummermuth called the raid "the largest operation of its type ever in Iowa," but would not comment about possible charges against plant managers. The raid followed a months-long investigation by ICE and DOJ into Agriprocessors, the largest kosher meat processing facility in the U.S. Most of the illegal aliens arrested were from Mexico and Guatemala, but some were also from Ukraine and Israel. (ICE Press Release, May 12, 2008)

The search warrant affidavit indicated widespread illegal activity was taking place in the plant, including methamphetamine production, employee abuse, and the production of false identities. (The Cedar Rapids Gazette, Search Warrants Detail Reasons for Postville Raid, May 13, 2008) One witness estimated that 80 percent of the foreign born workers in the plant were illegally present in the United States. Other witnesses reported that the plant's Human Resources Manager laughed when it was brought to her attention that three employees all had the same Social Security number. Yet another witness testified that he had observed a floor supervisor duct-tape the eyes of an undocumented Guatemalan worker and hit them with a meat hook. The worker did not want to report the incident in fear that they would lose their job. (Id. May 13, 2008)

After the raid, Agriprocessors released the following statement: "Our company takes the immigration laws seriously. We cooperated with the government in the enforcement action. We intend to continue to cooperate with the government in its investigation. Agriprocessors will also inquire further into the circumstances that led to today's events. We extend our heartfelt sympathies to the families whose lives were disrupted and wish them the best. We are deeply committed to meeting the needs of all of our customers and are operating again today." (The Cedar Rapids Gazette, Agriprocessors media statement, May 13, 2008)

Despite last week's raid, Agriprocessors is no stranger to the issue of illegal immigration. The company is in a long running struggle with the United Food and Commercial Workers Union (UFCW) to keep the union out. The Union claims that Agriproccesors refused to bargain with the UFCW after employees elected to have the union represent them in September of 2005. The UFCW filed an unfair labor practice complaint with the National Labor Relations Board (NLRB). In its defense to the complaint, Agriprocessors management asserted that the election should be declared null because a majority of the employees who voted in the election were illegal aliens. (347 NLRB No. 107) This argument was rejected both by the NLRB and the U.S. Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia on appeal. (Agri Processor Co. Inc. v. NLRB, 2008 U.S. App. LEXIS 101 (D.C. Cir. 2008))

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Washington Post Scrutinizes Health Care Provided to ICE Detainees

Last week, the Washington Post published a series of articles alleging that Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) delivered substandard and negligent medical care to detainees in their facilities. In this series, the Washington Post describes "a hidden world of flawed medical judgments, faulty administrative practices, neglectful guards, ill-trained technicians, sloppy record-keeping, lost medical files and dangerous staff shortages." (Washington Post, Careless Detention, A System of Neglect, May 11, 2008) To make its case, the paper chronicled the cases of individual detainees, claiming that 30 of the 83 detainee deaths over the last five years were "questionable." (Id., Interactive Map)

ICE responded to the Washington Post story and a similar story in the New York Times by calling the allegations "misleading and exaggerated." In an agency release, ICE explained that the medical facilities owned or contracted by them are required to be compliant with health care standards from the American Correctional Association, the National Commission on Correctional Health Care, the Joint Commission, and ICE National Detention Standards. The agency pointed out that it spent nearly $100 million in 2007 for the health care of the approximately 300,000 detainees and that each detainee receives comprehensive health screening, medical treatment and care management provided by the Division of Immigration Health Services of the Department of Health and Human Services, all at taxpayer's expense. (ICE, Detainee Health Care: The Rest of the Story, May 6. 2008)

ICE also provided statistical data that shows its facilities have a relatively low and declining mortality rate. For example, in 2005, ICE's mortality rate was 7.5 deaths per 100,000, compared to 540.5 per 100,000 among the general federal prison population. ICE also claims that through their new oversight procedures, they have decreased the mortality rate down to 4.3 per 100,000 in 2007. (Id. & Mortality Rates at ICE Detention Facilities, May 6, 2008)

Finally, ICE shot back at the Washington Post and New York Times for what it considered unfair reporting. ICE's statement read: "Despite ICE's best efforts to inform the media of the facts relating to its health care efforts, the New York Times and the Washington Post refused to acknowledge the increased funding for detainee health care or the decrease in mortality rates. This absence of true and unbiased reporting is unfortunate. The public deserves to know that their tax dollars are being used effectively and that we have a commitment to provide detainees with a safe and humane environment pending a decision on their case." (Id.) An ICE spokeswoman added, ""Every death in custody — any death in custody — is a regrettable, sad occurrence. It is not an indication of a broken system." (Associated Press, Lawmakers Want Better Treatment for Detainees, May 14, 2008)

Several lawmakers have responded to these claims of substandard care by introducing legislation. Earlier this month, House Immigration Subcommittee Chairwoman Zoë Lofgren (D-CA) introduced H.R. 5950, the Detainee Basic Medical Care Act of 2008. This bill requires the Department of Homeland Security "to establish procedures for the timely and effective delivery of medical and mental health care to all immigration detainees." A similar bill, S. 3008, was introduced in the Senate this month by Senator Robert Menendez (D-NJ).

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Increasing Violence in Mexico has Repercussions in the U.S.

News sources continue to report escalating violence in Mexico as more than 1,000 people have been killed this year alone in battles between drug gangs and government security forces. The violence has had a severe impact on local businesses, which are closing their doors with increasing frequency. This in turn, sends potential entrepreneurs looking to elsewhere for investment opportunities and displaced workers looking for other employment, often in the U.S. (Washington Post, Drug War Shutters Businesses on Mexico Border, May 15, 2008)

These reports suggest that the violence reflects growing lawlessness in Mexico's northern border towns as the drug gangs and cartels wage a campaign of terror on Mexican law enforcement. The Department of Homeland Security (DHS) recently reported that three Mexican police chiefs have asked for political asylum. (Washington Post, Violence in Mexico Spills Across U.S. Border, May 14, 2008) On such case is that of Puerto Palomas Police Chief, Javier Emilio Perez Ortega. The Washington Post reports that in the four months that Ortega served as police chief, drug traffickers threatened to kill him and his officers if they tried to block the flow of drugs into the U.S. Ortega's 10 man force, intimidated by the threats, resigned and left him without the manpower to keep law and order in his town. (Id.) The violence and lawlessness has also had repercussions across the border in Luna County, New Mexico. In January, a U.S. Border Patrol Agent was killed while chasing traffickers fleeing back to Mexico, and Mexican police have been taken to the United States to receive treatment in "heavily guarded" hospitals. The Luna County Sheriff has gone so far as to order a state highway closed after shootouts in Puerto Palomas. Puerto Palomas's population has dropped from 12,000 to 7500 in the wake of the violence. (Id.)

Last month, the U.S. State Department issued a travel alert for citizens traveling to Mexico, urging them to be "especially alert to safety and security concerns when visiting the border region." (See, State Department Travel Alert, April 14, 2008) The State Department explained that violence was increasing, due to "criminal activity fueled by a war between criminal organizations struggling for control of the lucrative narcotics trade continues along the U.S.-Mexico border." While the attacks are aimed primarily at members of drug trafficking organizations, Mexican police forces, criminal justice officials, and journalists, the State Department warned that "foreign visitors and residents, including Americans, have been among the victims of homicides and kidnappings in the border region." (Id.) This month, gunmen also assassinated Mexico's acting national police chief outside his home in Mexico City. The Washington Post suggests that the assassination will give new confidence to the drug cartels and embolden other anti-government groups. One Mexican sociologist and drug expert interviewed said this situation could snowball into an ungovernable situation. (Mexico's Police Chief is Killed In Brazen Attack by Gunmen, May 9, 2008)

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Recent FAIR Release

• Guide to State and Local Action to Deterring Illegal Immigration (May 14, 2008)

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Recent Floor Statements

• Rep. Walter Jones (R-NC) commented on End The Unjust Imprisonment Of U.S. Border Patrol Agents Compean And Ramos (May 13, 2008)
• Rep. Tom Tancredo (R-CO) commented on Illegal Immigration (May 13, 2008) 

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Feinstein Approved Amendment 17-12

Mikulski Approved Amendment 23-6

Source: CQ Weekly Report, May 19, 2008

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Guide to State and Local Action to Deterring Illegal Immigration 
May 14, 2008

Remittances to Mexico 
May 6, 2008

African Americans: the Forgotten Minority Updated! 
May 6, 2008

Anchor Baby: Part of the Immigration-Related American Lexicon 
April 24, 2008

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