Bill Allows Illegal Immigrant Farmers to acquire a Green Card in the US
(Photo : Reuters)

According to a statement released by the House on Wednesday, the controversial bill on agriculture had been passed. This will help illegal immigrants in the United States of America acquire legal status in the country. This bill is in line with the important modernization of the sector's manpower. This bill is seen to cover a big-scale amnesty to undocumented immigrants in the country.

The "Farm Workforce Modernization Act" had acquired relevant support from both the Democrats and the Republicans. The bill offers an opportunity for undocumented immigrants who are working in the agriculture industry to attain a non-permanent 5.5 years of "Certified Agricultural Worker" legal status in the country. This privilege will be granted to those illegal immigrants who had significantly contributed to the agriculture sector of the US for 6 months in the past 2 years.

The status granted to these people is available for renewal without any time limits. The manpower, together with their married partner and offspring, under this program, are entitled to the privilege of acquiring legal status through the use of a green card. According to the law-making body of the United States of America, the privilege, however, will require them first to pay a fine amounting to $1,000 and an intense type of background investigation.

To apply for the green card, a worker must have contributed to the agriculture industry of the United States for a minimum of ten years and must again work for another 4 years. For those who had only worked in the sector for less than 10 years, they are required to work in the agricultural sector of the US for an additional 8 years to get their green card.

Upon the receipt of their green cards, these people are then free to choose any career from the different sectors of the country.

The bill also aims to update the H-2A Agriculture Visa Program by helping lessen processing time and the costs for those who are petitioning for visas to the country. It also orders the Department of Homeland Security to create a program to help provide the H-2A workforce the opportunity to shift to different jobs in the same industry if they can locate a new job in 2 months.

The sponsor of the bill, Representative Zoe Lofgren, had stated that the bill is a compromise that is worthy of being noted in history and it is a great sample of bipartisanship.

Lofgren had described the bill as a form of compromise. She had expressed that the bill was not how she would've constructed it if it wasn't for the stabilization of the country's workforce. She said that there are a lot of illegal immigrants working in the farms of the United States of America for years and are living daily with the fear of deportation and detainment. She also said that these farmers need to acquire a non-permanent and renewable agricultural visa for their sake and also for their employers. 

She expresses the help of the bill in stabilizing the H-2A program of the government by simplifying the requirements of the program and the stabilization of the wages of the manpower working in the agricultural sector.