Lawmakers have forgotten the lessons of the previous amnesties, or they are hoping the American people have. Yesterday, a bipartisan group of House members introduced the Farm Workforce Modernization Act of 2019. Like the Immigration Reform and Control Act of 1986, the new bill claims it will only apply to a limited number of illegal-alien agricultural workers, and it promises tougher employment verifications in the future. These are the same broken promises politicians made when they passed amnesty back in 1986.
(Via Breitbart)
The “Farm Workforce Modernization Act of 2019” amnesty would create two huge streams of low-wage labor for farm companies and likely for meatpackers and other agricultural employers.
One stream would be from the population of one million existing farmworker illegal aliens who will be amnestied and redefined as “Certified Agricultural Workers” so they can get green cards and citizenship after several years — regardless of the “public charge” rule which bars welfare-reliant migrants from citizenship.
The second stream would come from illegal aliens who sign up to be legal H-2A visa farmworkers and from a treasure box of 40,000 green cards per year for employers to pay their lower-wage H-2A workers.
The bill also changes the existing H-2A farmworker visa program by setting a 3.25 percent cap on annual wage growth and by allowing some H-2A workers to work year-round for dairies or non-agriculture companies.
The “modernization act” will preserve the pre-modern, lower-tech, lower-productivity sectors in the agricultural economy by allowing dairy, fruit, and berry companies to avoid investment in labor-saving, productivity-boosting machinery.
In 1986, it was expected that 350,000 illegal aliens, who had no regard for our nation's laws, would qualify for the government amnesty. But with help from the courts and phony documents, the total number receiving amnesty ended up being closer to 3 million. The stronger employment verifications that were promised were subsequently removed, and word quickly spread that amnesty was being handed out like candy in the United States. Now, there are 22 million illegal aliens or more all waiting around for an amnesty bill just like the one introduced yesterday.
The bipartisan group of lawmakers probably figured the American public was too distracted with the impeachment circus and wouldn't notice an amnesty bill being slipped through the House. But not everyone on Twitter was asleep at the wheel.
New bill is a piece of work. Would amnesty illegals (& families) who claim to have worked in ag for 2 years, even if they're fugitives from deportation orders; & would give green cards after 4-10 year period of indenture. Mandates E-Verify, but only in ag. https://t.co/yCWNnpCsO4
— Mark Krikorian (@MarkSKrikorian) October 30, 2019
The name of this mass amnesty bill name should be changed to the Mandatory Farm Labor Act of 2019.
— FAIR (@FAIRImmigration) October 29, 2019
The agriculture industry is so desperate for cheap labor, even if it means the government forcing illegal aliens into indentured servitude. #aglaborflyin19 https://t.co/cND3cFi7rG
Defund #OpenBordersInc - this fragging attack on American workers and sovereignty brought to you by Big Agricultural and Big Amnesty forces in BOTH parties, Beltway swamp & forces inside the Trump tent. https://t.co/iYiflwksJF
— Michelle Malkin (@michellemalkin) October 30, 2019
To quote George W. Bush, who pushed amnesty in 2007, "fool me once, shame on -- shame on you. Fool me -- you can't get fooled again!"
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