The greater agriculture industry has long looked to immigrant workers to fill its labor needs, but it has been a long time since any meaningful immigration reform has been made by the U.S. government.
However, one bipartisan placeholder bill has been proposed in the U.S. House of Representatives that could offer hope that something could be done in the not-too-distant future.
Christian Richter, principal for The Policy Group, spoke of the proposed Dignity Act during the Poultry Market Intelligence Forum on January 28 during the International Production & Processing Expo (IPPE) in Atlanta, Georgia.
Richter said currently in Congress, members of the two main political parties have not been able to sit together and solve some “very, very challenging problems that we have.”
One of those is how to address immigration properly – something that has not been done in 40 years.
But the Dignity Act is now moving through Congress. It was proposed by Reps. Maria Elvira Salazar, R-Florida, and Veronica Escobar, D-Texas.
Richter describes it as a “placeholder bill,” meaning it is legislation that serves as a starting point for discussion and negotiation, rather than something expected to pass immediately in its current form.
“It’s not going to get passed this year, but it goes to show you that people can have conversations on issues that Americans really care about and want taken care of right now,” Richter said. “It’s a way to sort of find some middle ground on who should come in and how we should give people status. … They're trying to sort of thread the needle.”
Richter said as of now, 18 Democrats are on board with it and 17 Republicans, he said. The Dignity Act also has support from key business associations, including one of which Richter serves on the labor committee.
One thing that gives Richter optimism that the Dignity Act could gain traction is when you look at the ideological scores of both of its key proponents. Salazar ranks near the middle ideologically among Democrats and Escobar is near the center among Republicans.
