Immigration Negotiations in Senate Ongoing

The “Gang of Eight” Senators continue to work to finalize details of comprehensive immigration reform. There continues to be few public details on the larger package, such as the worker verification process or the employer sanctions.  However, the future temporary worker visa program continues to have a unique and arbitrary restriction on the construction industry’s use of a future guestworker program.  In fact, it appears that the construction industry may even be further carved out if the program allows construction occupations that are ineligible for construction companies to be eligible in other industries. The timeline for a final deal and legislative language appears to have slipped into next week at the earliest. AGC continues to lobby that the construction industry needs the same opportunity as other industries to utilize a temporary worker visa program when U.S. workers are not available, along with our other priorities in immigration reform. Yesterday, AGC sent a letter to the U.S. Senate that highlighted our concerns with the current negotiations. Also, AGC joined six national trade associations – representing all aspects of the commercial and residential construction industries – in a statement last week that raised the industry’s concerns. AGC also signed onto a multi-industry letter expressing similar concerns. Please visit AGC’s Legislative Action Center to send a letter to your Senators on opposing any effort to restrict construction from the temporary guest worker visa program. For more information, please contact Jim Young at (202) 547-0133 or youngj@agc.org.