(NAFB) — Senator Bob Menendez of New Jersey and Representative Linda Sanchez of California, both Democrats, introduced President Biden’s immigration proposal into their respective chambers.
The Hagstrom Report says both members of Congress say the bill will “create an earned pathway to citizenship for all 11 million undocumented immigrants, providing Dreamers, Temporary Protective Status holders, and some farm workers with an expedited three-year path to citizenship.” It also gives all other undocumented immigrants who pass background checks and pay taxes an eight-year path to citizenship without fear of deportation.
National Milk Producers Federation President and CEO Jim Mulhern praised everyone involved with moving the legislation forward. However, he says, “Reforms to the immigration system must include changes crucial for the dairy workforce.” Reforms the NMPF wants to see include extending legal protections to current workers and their families that they’ve earned and enables dairy farmers to use a guest worker program to supplement their domestic workforce when they need to.
Democratic Representative Jim Costa of California is a co-sponsor of the legislation. “I want to see this pass for the hardworking immigrants that have an earned path to citizenship,” he says. “For too long, we have talked about reform without taking any serious action.”
(From the National Association of Farm Broadcasters)