As a bipartisan group of senators negotiate immigration reform behind closed
doors, there is word that something could pass as early as this summer.
Republicans are desperate to bring immigrants into their districts
as labor shortages grow worse and have indicated
they would vote on a bill this summer if an agreement can be reached.
There is one bill in particular that has a high likelihood
of getting passed, but only if Democrats agree to include border security measures.
So let's take a look at what Republicans are saying,
which bill could pass by summer and what Democrats must do
if they want to strike a deal.
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While the bipartisan immigration subcommittee met to discuss immigration
reform last week, border security emerged as a primary obstacle to passing a bill.
Senator John Cornyn later said to reporters: "We can't do anything
until we deal with the border crisis, until we kind of get over that obstacle
I think it's hard to get public support for doing these other things where
there is a lot of common ground." This is likely in response to the Biden
administration's decision to rescind Title 42 in the coming months.
A Trump era pandemic policy that allows quick expulsion of migrants at the border.
Another Republican
member of the Immigration Committee, Senator Thom Tillis, echoed the sentiment,
saying: "I don't think there's any way we could get consensus
if we're not addressing the border crossing issue and the border security."
It is common for Republicans to use border security as an excuse
to avoid working together on immigration reform of recent comments by other members
of the party indicate they may be serious about reaching a compromise.
So with all this talk of the border,
how could immigration reform pass by the summer, and what bill would Congress
most likely consider?
According to data published by the Bureau of Labor Statistics, the U.S.
labor market is the tightest it's ever been in over a decade, with only
0.5 unemployed people for every available job opening.
Normally, this gap would be filled by immigrants,
but there are currently 2 million fewer immigrants in the United States
than there would otherwise be without Trump
immigration policies and the COVID pandemic.
This pressure is particularly strong
in the agriculture community, which struggles to find American workers
willing to do low wage seasonal work that is physically demanding.
As a result, Republicans
are calling for employment visa recapture and guest worker visa reforms,
including H-2A seasonal visas and H-2B visas for non-agricultural work.
Senate Minority Whip John Thune said his home state
of South Dakota desperately needs more H-2B visas.
Republican Senator Lisa Murkowski said the H-1B visas are critically important
to the salmon industry and her state.
Republican Senator Charles Grassley said Iowa
has a great need for legalized employment, immigration.
And Republican Senator Rand Paul said he has a bill
that would double the amount of employment based visas.
One of the bills addressing the these issues is the Farm Workforce
Modernization Act, which passed the House in March of 2021
with 30 Republican votes, making it one of the most bipartisan
immigration proposals currently in Congress.
The bill would allow employers to hire workers on H-2A visas
for year round work and streamline the visa application process.
It would also provide a pathway to citizenship for the roughly 2.5 million
farm workers employed on U.S.
farms and protect those who sue
their employers Republican Senator Michael Crapo of Idaho is negotiating
a Senate version of the bill and hopes to introduce it in time for a vote
this summer before Congress goes on recess in August.
A lot of you have been saying
all this talk is
only because midterms
are around the corner, but the labor shortages are real,
and a lot of Republicans are pushing for reform.
So what do you think?
Is this all just talk of what will amount to nothing?
Or will Democrats
and Republicans come to an agreement on the border and work visas?
Leave me a comment and let me know.
And if you want to learn more about the bills currently under consideration
by the bipartisan immigration committee, I'll include a link to that video here.
I will also continue
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Click here to watch this video next and I'll see you there.