For the last few weeks, NumbersUSA has been alerting you with stories and actions on your board about two massive amnesties being considered in the U.S. House of Representatives - despite the public’s growing opposition to the idea.
The American Dream and Promise Act (H.R. 6) and the Farm Workforce Modernization Act (H.R. 1603) are scheduled to be voted on this Thursday. Both bills passed the House during the previous Congress, and House Leaders are now using an obscure House rule to push through votes this week. Under House rules, legislation passed during the previous Congress can bypass committees and other regular orders and advance straight to the floor for a vote before April 1.
The American Dream and Promise Act (H.R. 6) would grant amnesty to approximately 2.9 million illegal aliens who claim to have entered the country at the age of 18 or younger and meet other requirements. It would also grant an amnesty to approximately 320,000 illegal aliens who received Temporary Protected Status (TPS).
The Farm Workforce Modernization Act (H.R. 1603) would grant amnesty to more than 1 million alien farmworkers and their family members. Just as troubling, it would also replace the existing agriculture guest worker program with a new one that amounts to what can only be described as indentured servitude. Farmers would be able to sponsor guest workers, and if they work a certain number of hours over a set period of time, workers may receive a green card.
Together, the two bills would grant amnesty to more than 5 million illegal aliens while doing nothing to prevent the kind of massive border surges that Border Patrol agents currently face.
In a disappointing turn of events, Rep. Dan Newhouse (R-Wash.) lead ten GOP cosponsors on the horrific farm amnesty, H.R. 1603.
The other Republicans supporting the farm amnesty include Reps. Elisa Stefanik (NY), Mark Amodei (NV), Mario Diaz-Balart (FL), Doug LaMalfa (CA), Cathy McMorris Rogers (WA), Mike Simpson (ID), Fred Upton (MI), David Valadao (CA), and Jeff Van Drew (NJ), a former Democrat who switched parties in 2019.
In particular, the farm amnesty bill would devastate rural towns by giving employers an unlimited supply of cheap H-2A visa workers, said Rosemary Jenks, Director of Government Relations at NumbersUSA. She added:
Once you give them amnesty, the [current illegal] farmworkers are going to leave agriculture. So the growers are going to have to replace that labor force. If the borders are open, they’ll just do it with more illegals. But if they have to use E-Verify [to ensure legal hiring], they’ll hire H-2As and pay them less.
So all wages across the industry will go down, or at least be stagnant, and the farm communities will basically empty out more than what has already happened. Towns will dry up because local wages for Americans will decline — and the visa workers will send most of their wages back to their home countries.
It will basically be the exacerbation of the rural-to-urban population shift that we’ve already been seeing [nationwide]. Businesses in those [rural] communities will shut down because there won’t be enough consumers. It means that [private-sector] services will diminish because there won’t be enough consumers. Tax receipts will tank, which is why [government-provided] services will decline. Drug use will increase.
NumbersUSA posted new pre-written actions to the action board so you can urge your Representative to oppose both amnesty bills. It is really that simple. It only takes a few minutes to help Americans and already present immigrants alike from the disastrous effects of never-ending amnesties with no additional enforcement. If you live in a district with a moderate Democrat or a Republican who supported either bill during the last Congress, you'll also begin to see customized actions on your Action Board.
