Compromise immigration bill designed to stabilize the agricultural workforce is introduced.

As the latest Monterey County Crop Report was introduced on June 26 in Salinas, frustration over immigration and the lack of a viable guest worker program bubbled up and over the top. Farm workers shared they were living in fear and agricultural leaders said they didn't have enough people to plant and harvest crops.

"We've been working on this issue 15, 16, 17 years as part of a national coalition to advance immigration reform and we're getting nowhere," said Norm Groot, executive director of the Monterey County Farm Bureau. "We need 45,000 pairs of hands every year, so we're stuck in the middle...we're at the mercy of national policy."

National policy may finally be catching up. On Wednesday, Oct. 30, Rep. Zoe Lofgren, D-San Jose, along with Rep. Jimmy Panetta, D-Carmel Valley, and other representatives from both parties, announced the Farm Workforce Modernization Act. The compromise immigration bill could provide legal status for immigrant farmworkers nationwide, including an estimated 250,000 in California.

As a member of the House Judiciary Committee, Lofgren serves as chair of the subcommittee on Immigration and Citizenship. Nine months ago she pulled together leaders from Congress, as well as agricultural groups, unions and other stakeholders, to hammer out a compromise that, if passed, would allow qualified farmworkers to apply for a 5-year agricultural visa. It would also give them a path toward citizenship, if they choose to follow it.

Lack of a stable workforce is a serious problem for California's $50 billion agriculture industry, Lofgren said in a phone call with reporters on Wednesday. About half of all ag workers lack legal documentation to be in the U.S. With increased federal efforts to root out people here illegally, there is fear not only among workers but also farmers concerned "they will lose their workforce entirely," she said.

The bill also seeks to improve the H-2A visa program, which farmers have long complained is problematic. Besides being cumbersome to follow, the seasonal visa is not useful to dairy farmers and other owners of year-round operations, like a mushroom growing operation in North Monterey County.

Rep. Josh Harder, D-Modesto, said the importance of improving the visa program is of great interest to dairy farmers in his district, who have told him, "‘I voted for our president, I didn't vote for you. I don't have Democratic cows or Republican cows, I just have cows that need help.'"

"it was very smart to have all sides at the table," Panetta said of the effort to create a compromise bill.

In its current form the proposed act calls for creating a "stringent employment-based program," requiring applicants to show at least 180 days of agricultural employment in the preceding two years. They must also pass a background check.

Those who qualify are provided a five-year renewable agricultural work visa. If they work in agriculture all five years, they can renew for another five years. Those with some ag experience but aren't eligible for the renewable visa may apply for an H-2A visa.

Workers would be able to earn a green card, or Lawful Permanent Resident status, Lofgren said. Those who have worked in agriculture in the U.S. for at least 10 years before the bill's enactment would have to work four more years before applying. Those who have worked less than 10 years would have to work at least eight more years. Applicants would have to pay $1,000 at the start of the process.

Improvements to the H-2A program include reducing the time and cost for growers who use the program and streamlining the processing of visa petitions, among other changes.

The bill also creates a wage structure taken from a Trump Administration proposal to separate out wages depending on the position. Machine operators, for example, would earn more than crop workers, the majority of incoming H-2A workers. In addition, the bill would limit increases and decreases in wages over a 10 year period.

Also included are incentives for new farmworker housing, creating a temporary three-year visa for filling year-round labor needs, dedicating an additional 40,000 green cards a year for agricultural workers and establishing a mandatory nationwide electronic verification system of workers.

In all, 24 Democrats and 20 Republicans are co-sponsoring the bill. Nearly 250 agricultural groups and labor organizations have expressed support, according to a press release from Lofgren's office.

The plan for now is to push the bill through the House quickly. "We're going to move as fast as we can in an orderly way," she said