Appeals court rules against Obama's immigration plan

Posted November 11, 2015

A federal appeals court said that President Obama could not overhaul immigration rules by providing up to five million people with work permits and protection from deportation, according to The New York Times article available here.

A three-judge panel of the United States Court of Appeals for the Fifth Circuit, in New Orleans, ruled 2 to 1 against the appeal from the Obama administration.

The ruling is the latest set back to the president’s efforts to circumvent congressional inaction on immigration, reshaping the way immigration laws are enforced.

The White House said in a statement that it strongly disagreed with the court and that the departments of Justice and Homeland Security will review the ruling to determine the "next steps" in the case, according to USA Today.

"The Supreme Court and Congress have made clear that the federal government can set priorities in enforcing our immigration laws," the statement read. "This lawsuit is preventing people who have been part of our communities for years from working on the books, contributing to our economy by paying taxes on that work, and being held accountable."

The administration could ask for a re-hearing by the full 5th Circuit but the National Immigration Law Center urged an immediate Supreme Court appeal, according to CBS News.

"The most directly impacted are the 5 million U.S. citizen children whose parents would be eligible for temporary relief from deportation," Marielena Hincapie, executive director of the organization, said in a news release.

The 4.3 million undocumented immigrants deemed eligible for the program are at the mercy of the next president, making the panel's decision a major blow to Obama, who has hoped to overhaul the nation's immigration system before leaving office, according to USA Today.

"The most directly impacted are the five million U.S. citizen children whose parents would be eligible for temporary relief from deportation," said Marielena Hincapié, executive director of the National Immigration Law Center. "We now call on the Department of Justice to seek Supreme Court review immediately, where we are more likely to obtain justice for our communities."

Vilsack Pushes House to Pass Immigration Reform

Posted May 16, 2014

Secretary of Agriculture, Tom Vilsack, and the White House continue their push for a vote on immigration reform in the U.S. House of Representatives, according to an Agri-Pulse article available here.

Vilsack recently participated in a teleconference with Arturo Rodriguez, president of the United Farm Workers, and Manuel Cunha, president of the Nisei Farmers League, to “discuss the potential economic impact of immigration reform in California.”

Vilsack said there are over 81,000 farms in California that sell about $33.9 billion in agricultural products annually.  “There’s no more important state to agriculture than California,” Vilsack said.  “Some farms are no longer able to harvest their product because of a lack of workforce.”  An audio clip of Vilsack’s comments is available here.

To get the bill moved to conference with the Senate-passed legislation, S. 744, the House would need to vote on any immigration bill.  The Senate bill would “allow undocumented farm workers to become eligible for an immigrant visa status called a “blue card.”  Blue-card holders “could apply for lawful permanent resident status after five years if they have continued to work in agriculture, paid their taxes, and pay a fine.”

Rodriquez and Canhu called out Republican Representative Kevin McCarthy, representing the San Joaquin Valley, “on his lack of support so far for immigration reform,” according to an article by The Packer available here.  McCarthy is “majority whip for the House GOP, the third ranking Republican in the House, and is responsible for gathering support within the party for the legislation that will be voted on.”

Vilsack said the Senate immigration bill would increase California farm income by $500 million.  Vilsack also said that immigration reform would create job growth, boost Social Security revenue and reduce the national deficit, and called on House leaders to “get something passed” so the issues can be put to rest after the House and Senate bills are resolved in conference.

For more information on issues involving agricultural labor, please visit the National Agricultural Law Center’s website here.

Farm Bureau, Ag Groups Push House to Act on Immigration

Posted February 28, 2014

Over 600 groups, including 154 agricultural organizations are calling on House Speaker John Boehner (R-OH) to act on immigration reform, according to an article by Farm Futures available here.

In a letter to Speaker Boehner sent earlier this week, the groups said that failure to act is “not an option.”  “We cannot afford to be content and watch a dysfunctional immigration system work against our overall national interest.  In short, immigration reform is an essential element of a jobs agenda and economic growth.  It will add talent, innovation, investment, products, businesses, jobs and dynamism to our economy,” the letter continued.

The letter follows a recent social media campaign by the Partnership for a New American Economy, the Agricultural Workforce Coalition, the American Farm Bureau Federation and more than 70 other agricultural groups to push for immigration reforms.  The campaign is called #IFarmImmigration.

Kristi Boswell, AFBF farm labor specialist, said “The House needs to act this year…We can’t wait any longer.”

President Obama also pushed for immigration reform this year in the State of the Union address, according to an AgWeb article available here.

Boehner said he “made a pitch for immigration reform at the GOP retreat,” but was “outnumbered 3 to 1 in moving the issue forward.”

For more information on agricultural labor issues, please visit the National Agricultural Law Center’s website here.

Group Urges Congress for a New Approach to Food and Agricultural Policy

Posted February 7, 2014

Co-chairs of AGree, a food and agricultural policy group, are urging Congress to try a new approach to food and agricultural policy, according to a Roll Call article available here.

Drafting, negotiating, and passing the 2014 farm bill was a long, tense process.  While the bill includes several important achievements, AGree says it could have done more – “Food and agriculture systems in the United States and around the world face fundamental long-term challenges posed by resource scarcity, population growth, climate change, invasive pests, pathogens and diseases, rising consumer incomes in low-and middle-income countries, and shifts in relative economic power.”

AGree suggests “transformative restructuring” for food and agricultural policy with a Food, Farming and Healthy Environment Act which would contain “innovative and cost-effective solutions to tomorrow’s challenges.”  The Act would incorporate nutrition and food; environmental management and farming and ranching; local food systems and international trade; research and information systems; urban and rural interests; and certainty for workers with the importance of a skilled labor force.”

AGree will announce more specific recommendations in the coming months.

For more information on farm bills, please visit the National Agricultural Law Center’s website here.

Senator Feinstein Asks ICE to Stop Farm Audits

Posted September 9, 2013

Senator Dianne Feinstein (D-CA) asked that the Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) to discontinue its I-9 farm audits and focus on violent criminals instead of agricultural employers and workers, according to an article by the San Francisco Chronicle, available here.  

On Sept. 3, Sen. Feinstein wrote a letter to Janet Napolitano, the outgoing secretary of the Department of Homeland Security (DHS), voicing her concerns about the agricultural industry in California.  The letter is available here.  Feinstein highlighted the agricultural industry’s shortage of domestic workers saying: “Many farmers and growers in California informed me that their business and livelihood are at risk due to a shortage of legal harvesters, pickers, pruners, packers, and farm workers.  As you can image, with approximately 81,000 farms in California, I am very concerned that these audits will result in significant harm to the agricultural industry and the state’s overall economy.”  Feinstein continued:  “The utilization of I-9 audits against agricultural employers exacerbates this crisis…When employers being audited receive notice that certain employees have not provided proper work authorization documents, those workers must be terminated.”  Sen. Feinstein wrote a letter voicing similar concerns to John Morton, The Director of ICE, in June of 2012.  That letter is available here.

California has the largest agricultural industry in the United States, with a $37.5 billion business.  According to a government estimate, of the 1.2 million people employed in agriculture-related jobs in the US, “70 percent are undocumented.”

Virginia Kice, spokeswoman for ICE, said that ICE focuses on “sensible, effective immigration enforcement that prioritizes efforts first on those who present the greatest risk to the security of our communities, not sweeps and raids to target undocumented immigrants indiscriminately.”  Tom Nassif, president and CEO of Western Growers, said that farmers in California and Arizona are “20 percent short of labor” and that one “strawberry grower who is paying $30 to $31 an hour, offering pensions, health care and vacation time … still can’t find laborers.”  Rayne Pegg, federal policy manager for the California Farm Bureau, said that “as farmers approach the bulk of the harvest in the next several weeks, she expects about 30 percent fewer workers than in years past.”

Sens. Feinstein, Marco Rubio (R-FL), Michael Bennet (D-CO), and Orrin Hatch (R-UT), created the agricultural worker portion of the immigration reform bill that passed the Senate in June, according to an article by The Hill, available here.  The House has not acted on the legislation.  

Agriculture Industry Wants to Override Veto on North Carolina Immigration Bill

Posted August 20, 2013

In addition to the debate in Congress over immigration, the North Carolina legislature passed an immigration bill, which was recently vetoed by the state’s governor, Pat McCrory.  According a PR Newswire article, available here, the North Carolina Farm Bureau is garnering support for a veto override when the General Assembly reconvenes.   The NC Farm Bureau announced “it strongly supports NC Legislators taking bold action to override” Gov. McCrory’s veto of the RECLAIM NC Act (HB 786).  The bill passed the North Carolina House 85-28 and the North Carolina Senate 43-1 during the 2013 Legislative Session.  However, it was vetoed last week. 

The text of the bill is available here.

NC Farm Bureau President, Larry Wooten, stated that a recent report shows “the immense need expressed by our farmers for a more stable agricultural workforce.”  In addition, Wooten cited agricultural workforce survey which showed “more than 60 percent of surveyed farmers have had trouble hiring qualified domestic employees and that nearly one-third reported a loss of income in the past five years due to an insufficient supply of workers.”  He also stated that “one in five surveyed farmers indicated they would shut down their farm if E-Verify became mandatory without a workable guest worker program in place.”

According to a News Observer article, available here, the original bill “would have exempted all seasonal workers from E-Verify, but a late amendment reined that in by setting the exemption at up to nine months.”  Currently, employers are not required to screen workers through E-Verify if they are employed for less than 90 days in a year.  The current 90-day law will stay in place, unless the veto is overridden. 

North Carolina Department of Agriculture and Consumer Services Commissioner, Steve Troxler, believes the current 90-day exemption is not sufficient for most farmers because growing seasons are not limited to 90 days. 

House Speaker Thom Tillis blames Washington for “failing to address the nation’s immigration issues.”  In Congress, an immigration reform bill has passed the Senate, while House GOP leaders say “they’re not willing to put the bill up for the vote” according to a CBS News article, available here.  On the federal front of the immigration debate, The Hill reported today that Sen. Marco Rubio (R-FL) has “kept a low profile on the subject of immigration reform this month” while “others in the Senate Gang of Eight pressure the House to act.”

Ag Employer Violates Federal Labor Law, Damages Awarded to Workers

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Posted August 19, 2013

In Fulford v. Daughtry, No. 4:11-CV-103-FL., 2013 WL 3475292 (E.D.N.C. July 10, 2013), the United States District Court for the Eastern District of North Carolina awarded $4,400 in damages to the farm workers for their employers’ violation of the posting requirement under the Migrant and Seasonal Agricultural Workers Protection Act (AWPA).  For a copy of the decision, please contact the National Agricultural Law Center at nataglaw@uark.edu.  For more information on the AWPA, visit the Center’s Labor Reading Room here. 

Background

In March of 2010 several individuals worked for the defendants, planting broccoli on their farm.  Id. at *1.  On June 20, 2011, plaintiffs, eleven of the workers, filed a complaint alleging violations of the AWPA, 29 U.S.C. §§ 1801, et seq., and Title VII of the Civil Rights Act of 1964, as amended 42 U.S.C. §§ 2000e, et seq. (“Title VII”).  Id. Both parties moved for summary judgment, the motions being granted in part and denied in part.  Id. The court held that the defendants violated the AWPA’s posting requirement, 29 U.S.C. § 1831(b).  Id. On June 27, 2013, the parties filed supplemental briefings as to damages under the AWPA.  Id.  

Analysis and Holding

The court previously held that defendants violated the AWPA’s posting requirement for employers of seasonal agricultural workers, 29 U.S.C. § 1831(b).  Id.  The AWPA provides that the court “may award damages up to and including an amount equal to the amount of actual damages, or statutory damages of up to $500 per plaintiff per violation.”  Id. (citing 29 U.S.C. § 1854(c)(1)).   The amount of statutory damages is within the court’s discretion.  Id.  The courts, however, consider several factors known as the Beliz factors in determining those damages.  Id.  (citing Beliz v. W.H. McLoad & Sons Packing Co., 756 F.2d 1317, 1332 (5th Cir. 1985)). The factors considered include: “(1) the total award; (2) the nature and persistence of the violation; (3) the extent of the defendants’ culpability; (4) damage awards in similar cases; (5) the defendants’ ability to prevent future violations of the AWPA; (6) the substantive or technical nature of the violations; and (7) the circumstances of each case.” Id.  Additionally, the court noted that “it should not be cheaper for defendants to violate the AWPA than to comply with its requirements.”  Id. 

The court explained that the violations in this case were technical because the poster was not accessible to workers, but the information in the poster was distributed to them.  Id. at *2.  Defendants were experienced in hiring agricultural workers and had a poster with the required information, but they failed to post the notice in a “conspicuous location for those working in the fields.”  Id.  The court awarded plaintiffs $400 per plaintiff for the violation of the AWPA’s posting requirement, with a total award of $4,400. Id. at *2.

Stephen Colbert to Testify at Congressional Immigration Hearing

Stephen Colbert, host of Comedy Central's The Colbert Report, will testify before Congress today at a House Judiciary Committee hearing on immigration, "Protecting America's Harvest" according to CNN.

"Colbert will testify alongside United Farm Workers President Arturo S. Rodriguez to discuss the UFW's summer 'Take Our Jobs' campaign, in which the group invited U.S. citizens and legal residents to replace immigrant field laborers."

For more information on the United Farm Workers, click here.

The "Take Our Jobs" campaign was an effort to "debunk the theory that immigrant laborers are taking jobs away from U.S. citizens and documented workers.  Rodriguez appeared on The Colbert Report and Colbert agreed "to participate in the challenge after Rodriguez reported that only four people had signed up to work in the fields."

To read the CNN story, click here.

Posted: 09/24/2010

Farm Workers Challenge Unemployed Americans to Take Their Jobs

The United Farmer Workers (UFW), a farm worker union, has launched a "Take Our Jobs" campaign challenging Americans to take their "labor-intensive, low-paying farm jobs" as reported by CNN.

Amid anti-immigration sentiment, a recent Arizona state law that other states are looking to model, and high unemployment, UFW will connect applicants with farm jobs in their area.  At least 4,000 people have responded, but according to union president Arturo Rodriguez, "[o]nly a few dozen have really followed through with the process."  Applicants lose interest in the job once they realize that farm work is labor-intensive, outdoors in very hot temperatures, without benefits, that pays minimum wage or less.

USDA has estimated that there are one million farm workers in the United States.  Of those workers, 85% are immigrants and up to 70% are illegal, according to the Migrant Farm Worker Justice Project.

The Arizona law, now the subject of a lawsuit by the U.S. Department of Justice asks for an injunction to prevent the law from taking effect on July 29.  The Arizona law "makes it a crime to be an illegal immigrant in the state and requires officers to determine the immigration status of people they stop for another offense based on a 'reasonable suspicion' that they might be illegal immigrants" according to the New York Times.

UFW organizers will appear on the Colbert Show set for today, July 8, in an effort to gain public interest.

To read the CNN story, click here.
To read the UFW press release, click here.
To read the New York Times story, click here.

Posted: 07/08/2010

Without Graham, where does climate change legislation go?

Lyndsey Graham, the lone Republican Senator negotiating on the Senate version of climate change legislation has withdrawn his support for the bill, despite his efforts to come up with bipartisan, compromise legislation. Graham is taking this step because Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid is insisting on dealing with immigration reform before taking up climate change.

In Graham's opinion, the decision by the Majority Leader comes down to politics--trying to put Republican lawmakers on record on immigration reform could, and likely will, affect how the hispanic community votes in the upcoming election.

As CNN is reporting, Graham wrote in a letter he sent to business, religious, and conservation leaders who had been working with the South Carolina Senator on climate change that "'[m]oving forward on immigration--in this hurried, panicked manner--is nothing more than a cynical political ploy."'

Following Graham's announcement, the other two senators who had been working on the '"tri-partisan"' climate change bill, Senators John Kerry (MA) and Joseph Lieberman (CT) decided to delay today's introduction of the climate change legislation. The two are hopeful that Graham will soon return to working with them on the bill. However as the year plays out politically and the time frame for passing what could be a controversial bill, like climate change, gets smaller and election day gets closer, the chance that climate change legislation becomes law this year is less likely.

So, in essence the democratic leaders are stuck between trying to please two strong constituency groups in their party--hispanics and environmentalists.

To read the CNN article click here.
To learn more about current laws dealing with climate change, click here to visit the National Agricultural Law Center's Reading Room on Climate Change.
To learn more about current laws dealing with immigration/labor, click here to visit the National Agricultural Law Center's Reading Room on Labor.

Posted: 04/26/10