“Blue Card” for Undocumented Farmworkers

Agriculture industry in the United States is in danger. Trump administration’s immigration enforcement policies has created a shortage of farmworkers that don’t show up to work out of fear of being deported. There have been detentions in New York, Pennsylvania and Oregon and other states. This poses not only a big problem for agriculture but also in the poultry and meat processing plants and all the food industry in general.

For this reason, Democratic Senators Dianne Feinstein and Kamala Harris of California, Michael Bennet of Colorado, Mazie Hirono of Hawaii, and Patrick Leahy of Vermont have introduced the Agricultural Worker Program Act of 2017 (S. 1034). The bill would protect undocumented immigrants with a history of work in U.S. agriculture from deportation and provide them with a path to long-term legal residence and citizenship.

“The people who feed us should have an opportunity to work here legally,” Senator Feinstein declared. She is hoping that with this bill thousands of undocumented immigrants that have can prove 100 days of employment in U.S. agriculture over the last two years, feel encouraged to apply for a “blue card.”

The way this “blue card” will work for the eligible workers is once they work 100 days a year for each of the next five years or 150 days for each of the next three years, they could then apply for a green card or permanent legal resident status. After the standard period of five years and if they meet all other requirements, they will be then eligible to apply for a full citizenship. In addition, a “blue card” spouse and children would be also eligible for these benefits.

Paul Wolfe, senior policy specialist for the National Sustainable Coalition said, “I think it’s a great starting point, it starts the conversation and could bring parties to the table to talk about a comprehensive package. We’ve been hearing pretty terrible and scary things from our members about what’s going on in agricultural and migrant communities.” The more advocacy groups support the bill, the sooner this issue will be resolved and workers finally will be protected.