With Government Shutdown and Stalemate Over, is Immigration Overhaul Next?

The timeline for action and debate of immigration reform had been sidelined by the House of Representatives as they worked on the debt ceiling and government shutdown. With yesterday’s passage of a budget deal, there is a possibility that some members of Congress will turn their attention back to immigration. President Obama spoke about pivoting the discussion to immigration before he had even signed the budget deal bill. Since the Senate passed a comprehensive immigration earlier in the summer, Republican leaders have reiterated that they would not simply debate and vote on the Senate’s version of overhauling the nation’s immigration laws. Instead, they outlined a process that includes debating smaller pieces of legislation addressing specific parts of reform and then have them progress through the committees of jurisdiction before the full house would act. To date, the House Judiciary Committee has approved the following legislation: making E-Verify mandatory for employers; a bill that would raise the number of visas for high-skilled workers; a new agricultural guest worker program; and an interior enforcement bill. The House Homeland Security Committee also passed a bipartisan border security bill.  Missing from the work of the committees so far is a bill creating a guestworker program for low skilled workers – especially important for industries such as construction – and legislation addressing the current undocumented individuals already in the country, which is among the more controversial components of reform. AGC is hopeful that attention may again be placed on immigration reform. The current system is broken and provides little opportunity for legal immigration. The Senate bill met many of AGC’s priorities for reform, including strengthening national security, creating a fair and efficient employment verification system, addressing the current undocumented population along with the patchwork of state and local laws and a new visa system for temporary workers to meet future workforce shortages. With the exception of the new visa system for temporary workers including a restriction for construction employers from fully utilizing the system, the bill sets a good framework for reform. With immigration reform looking to heat up again, it is important that AGC members take the time to meet and speak with their Representatives on the need to pass immigration reform. Go to AGC’s Legislative Action Center to write a letter to your members, attend town hall meetings or make in person visits. For more information, please contact Jim Young at (202) 547-0133 or youngj@agc.org.