Bipartisan group of senators announce immigration agreement
Bipartisan group of senators announce immigration agreement
WASHINGTON -- A bipartisan group of senators announced May 17 that they had reached an agreement on comprehensive immigration reform that includes most of the provisions of the industry-supported AgJOBs bill: a guest worker program, employment verification system, and a system to address the current 12 million undocumented workers living in the United States.
"We commend these senators for working together in a bipartisan fashion to achieve a compromise on this very important, yet divisive issue," Autumn Veazey, United Fresh Produce Association's director of legislative affairs and associate counsel, said in a statement to its members. "While the Senate continues debating a final bill, we will closely scrutinize the details of the plan as it is so vital to fixing the labor shortages our industry faces."
Senate leaders expect the proposed agreement, called the Border Security & Immigration Reform Act, to be introduced on the Senate floor and voted on as early as May 21. If the bill passes the Senate, work would then shift to the House of Representatives to pass its own bill.
A final bill arrived at by conference between the House and Senate would then need to be approved before going to the president's desk to be signed into law.
"We commend these senators for working together in a bipartisan fashion to achieve a compromise on this very important, yet divisive issue," Autumn Veazey, United Fresh Produce Association's director of legislative affairs and associate counsel, said in a statement to its members. "While the Senate continues debating a final bill, we will closely scrutinize the details of the plan as it is so vital to fixing the labor shortages our industry faces."
Senate leaders expect the proposed agreement, called the Border Security & Immigration Reform Act, to be introduced on the Senate floor and voted on as early as May 21. If the bill passes the Senate, work would then shift to the House of Representatives to pass its own bill.
A final bill arrived at by conference between the House and Senate would then need to be approved before going to the president's desk to be signed into law.
