In the News

On Wednesday, Representative Dan Newhouse joined a bipartisan group of House members to introduce the Farm Workforce Modernization Act. Newhouse said the legislation is a compromised solution for the needs of American Farmers, adding the legislation will attempt to meet in the middle when it comes to the needs of agriculture and labor groups which have long disagreed on how best to fix the farm labor problem. The legislation would provide a way to legal status for undocumented farm workers who've been working at least two years on their jobs and are planning to continue.

House members sponsoring the Farm Workforce Modernization Act, a farm worker immigration bill, introduced it in the company of Arturo Rodriguez, president emeritus of the United Farm Workers and a range of farm owners and their lobbyists.

A bipartisan bill introduced in the House of Representatives Wednesday could give legal status and a path to citizenship to hundreds of thousands of unauthorized immigrants working in agriculture.

The legislation, the product of months of discussions, represents a rare moment of bipartisan agreement on one of the most contentious topics of the Trump administration, ultimately attracting 20 Republican cosponsors, according to a spokesperson for Rep. Jimmy Panetta (D-CA), who helped lead the negotiations.

Courtesy of Congressman Jimmy Panetta's Office:

U.S. Representatives Jimmy Panetta (D-CA-20), Zoe Lofgren (D-CA-19), Dan Newhouse (R-WA-04), Collin Peterson (D-MN-07), Mike Simpson (R-ID-02), Doug LaMalfa (R-CA-01), and Mario Diaz-Balart (R-FL-25) introduced the Farm Workforce Modernization Act, H.R. 4916, to provide a compromise solution for American agriculture. The bill was introduced with the strong bipartisan support of 24 Democratic and 21 Republican Members of Congress.

A new bipartisan bill introduced in Congress Wednesday would give undocumented farmworkers a pathway to permanent residence without first needing to leave the country.

If approved, the Farm Workforce Modernization Act (FWMA) would also change regulations surrounding H-2A temporary farmworkers, shifting how salaries are determined and adding new, temporary visas with a longer working period.

WASHINGTON — Lawmakers have struck a deal that would give legal status to hundreds of thousands of undocumented immigrant farmworkers in exchange for stronger employee verification in the agricultural sector, a bipartisan group will announce Wednesday.

The deal could reach the House floor as early as the end of November.

The United States' agricultural business is largely ran on the back of undocumented foreign labor. In fact, more than 50% of those employed in agriculture are undocumented. That means there are more than a million people living in the shadows but who a vital part of delivering food to American households.

Not only do they live in the shadows for fear of deportation but many are even too afraid to access much needed healthcare or to speak out against employee abuse.

Several Valley congressional representatives helped introduce a bipartisan bill Wednesday they say is geared toward providing a path to legal status for more than 250,000 undocumented California farm workers.

The Farm Workforce Modernization Act would update regulations for temporary workers, promise fair wages for farm workers and fund farm worker housing. The bill provides a path to legal status for workers who can prove they've worked in agriculture in the past and will continue working in ag in the future, according to a news release.