Top 5 Most Barbarous Immigration Proposals in Congress

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2. Underpaid. To pressure workers to return to their nation of origin, Goodlatte’s bill would withhold 10 percent of a farmworker’s paycheck upfront—a particularly cruel idea considering that these workers will now be required to pay for their own housing and transport. The money would be placed in a trust fund and can only be reclaimed by going to a U.S. Embassy in their country of origin within 120 days of the expiration of their visa, where they must prove they have been in complete compliance with the H-2C program. 

The bill essentially allows employers to sidestep the minimum wage: “Notwithstanding the Fair Labor Standards Act of 1938…all employers of H-2C workers shall withhold from the wages of the workers an amount equivalent to 10 percent of the wages of each worker and pay such withheld amount into the Trust Fund.” Due to an amendment introduced by Representative Jason Chaffetz (R-UT), unclaimed money in the trust fund will go to the Department of Homeland Security to fund the deportation of people who are in the country without documentation.

And even before the 10 percent is removed, the workers would be at a disadvantage because, according to Farmworker Justice, Goodlatte’s bill virtually guarantees even lower wages than those paid in what is already some of the lowest paid work in the United States. The bill requires only that employers pay the minimum wage or the “prevailing wage,” which is undefined, and reduces the “minimum work guarantee” from 75 percent to 50 percent of the hours promised in the initial offer.

3. Eliminating government oversight. Goodlatte’s bill would also ensure that legal protections would be exceedingly limited and government oversight of employment conditions would be minimal. Enforcement of farm worker protections would be shifted from the Department of Labor, which is designed for just this purpose, to the Department of Agriculture, which has no background in such practices.

In addition to making it harder for the government to regulate employer practices, the Goodlatte bill would also make it harder for workers to protect themselves through legal means. The Migrant and Seasonal Agricultural Worker Protection Act, which offers minimum protections to farmworkers, would not cover those enrolled in the H-2C program.  

Meanwhile, the Senate’s Border Security, Economic Opportunity and Immigration Reform Act appears to be the most progressive bill we can hope for from this Congress. After extensive negotiations between labor and business groups, it provides protections and a shorter path to citizenship for many agricultural workers than for many other groups. But the Democratic-controlled Senate’s proposal, while less forthrightly barbarous, is still full of unpromising proposals. 

4. Becoming a citizen will cost low-income workers a lot of money. The Senate bill includes a bunch of militarized border security measures, but it also provides a pathway to citizenship for those who go through a successful background check, provide biometric identification information, and have no felony convictions. Then they have to pay a lot of fines, processing fees and back taxes, while remaining outside the social safety net and continuing to bear their share of payroll and other taxes.

Let’s start with the upfront costs, which include an initial $1,000 fine (which can be paid in installments) and a processing fee of an amount not specified in the bill, which will get an immigrant Registered Provisional Immigrant (RPI) status. This lasts six years before they must apply again, at the cost of additional DHS processing fees. After another four years RPIs are finally allowed to apply for Legal Permanent Residency (LPR), which will incur them another $1,000 fine and more processing fees. Three years later they can apply for citizenship. The $1,000 fines must be paid per person (over 21) in the household and the fees will be applicable to those 16 and above, although the Department of Homeland Security has flexibility to limit the payment for families (if it so chooses).