immigration

Ag Secretary Sonny Perdue said labor is always among the top three issues he hears about from farmers across the country.  He says the USDA is are hopeful that some sort of legal, agricultural workforce, can be included in immigration debate.  At...

A longtime activist for illegal immigrants in the Northwest says she herself is now facing deportation.  Maru Mora-Villalpando, a native of Mexico City who has been in the U.S. for more than 25 years, said Tuesday that U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement has given her a notice to appear before an immigration judge.  ...

A complete overhaul of the American agricultural guest worker program is a major part of a House of Representatives’ plan to fix DACA.  DACA is currently tied up in an immigration reform battle on Capitol Hill.   Virginia Republican Bob Goodlatte, as well as three other Republicans, recently introduced the “Securing America’s Future Act.”  The bill has several provisio...

Representative Dan Newhouse says while many of the details have yet to be worked out, legislation introduced by Representative Bob Goodlatte is an important first step to address ag’s labor shortage.  The Republican from Virginia introduced the American Guestworker Act, or AG Act, which replacing the H-2A program with a new, flexible and market-driven guestworker program designed to meet the needs

A committee vote is planned for Wednesday for the agriculture guestworker revamp bill in the House of Representatives.  Virginia Republican Representative Bob Goodlatte introduced the bill Monday, and vowed to push for a “tight timetable.”  According to...

Representative Dan Newhouse joined Republicans and Democrats last week, asking the Department of Homeland Security to extend the renewal deadline for DACA beneficiaries.  The Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals program has come under pressure after the Trump Administration said Congress has six months to address DACA or make it law.  Ne...

Virginia Republican Representative Bob Goodlatte will introduce a bill next week that would replace the H-2A guest worker program.  The bill is titled the Agricultural Guestworker Act and would replace the program that many in agriculture use to find labor.  ...

Congress has six month to come up with a permanent fix to DACA.  It remains unclear at this point what kind of impact this decision by the Trump administration could have on the agriculture community, nationally or locally.  Representative Dan Newhouse told the Washington Ag Network while the DACA decision won’t impact many current workers, it could start a conversation leading to a long term immi

The clock is ticking on the Deferred Action of Childhood Arrivals, better known as DACA.  Earlier this month, the Trump Administration announced Congress had six months to address DACA and come up with a permanent fix.  According to local immigration attorney Aliya Alisheva the current administration claims President Obama did not follow the proper rule making process when DACA went on the books i

The dairy industry is one of many that depend on immigrant labor to do all the work necessary to get a product to market, but the industry can’t use the H-2A visa program, and the jobs aren’t considered high-skilled to use other programs.   Bo...