<p style="text-indent:0px; line-height:12px;"><span style="font-weight:bold;line-height:130%"> Washington, D.C.</span><hr class="legacyRuler"><hr class="legacyRuler"><hr class="invisible minimal-padding">By ANUK Staff<hr class="legacyRuler"><hr class="legacyRuler"><hr class="invisible minimal-padding">4.12.13</p><hr class="legacyRuler"><hr class="invisible minimal-padding"><p>On Tuesday, a bipartisan group of senators will roll out a comprehensive immigration reform bill.<img src="https://cdn.andnowuknow.com/legacyWriterImages/washingto-dc.jpg" alt="images 0411130" /> The eight senators - four Democrats and four Republicans – are expected to introduce their bill, reportedly including a measure that would put 11 million people living illegally in the United States on a path to citizenship - if Senate Democrats stick with plans to hold a Judiciary Committee hearing on the bill on Wednesday, as reported by Reuters.<hr class="legacyRuler"><hr class="legacyRuler"><hr class="invisible minimal-padding">The legislation faces a more receptive environment after a deal was struck behind closed doors on wages for foreign farm laborers working in the United States. Senator Dianne Feinstein added that the deal also would place a limit on visas for such workers.<hr class="legacyRuler"><hr class="legacyRuler"><hr class="invisible minimal-padding">"We have an agreement on wages and the visa cap," Feinstein said. The deal followed a six-hour negotiating session on Wednesday, she said.<hr class="legacyRuler"><hr class="legacyRuler"><hr class="invisible minimal-padding">Until Tuesday, senators and staff will scramble to finish drafting the bill that intends to further tighten security along the southwestern border with Mexico and pave the way for more foreign high-skilled scientists, mathematicians and engineers to work for high-tech firms in the United States.<hr class="legacyRuler"><hr class="legacyRuler"><hr class="invisible minimal-padding">Lower-skilled foreigners also would be available to U.S. companies in search of cheap labor, but under tight controls.<hr class="legacyRuler"><hr class="legacyRuler"><hr class="invisible minimal-padding">Many agricultural employers complain that the current H-2A guest worker program sets wages too high compared to pay scales in rural areas and is inefficient when growers need to recruit enough workers in a timely manner.<hr class="legacyRuler"><hr class="legacyRuler"><hr class="invisible minimal-padding">Wages can account for one-third of the cost of growing fruits and vegetables. The United Farmer Workers union has warned against unduly low wages that would make it hard for farm workers to support their families and could undercut wages in rural communities.<hr class="legacyRuler"><hr class="legacyRuler"><hr class="invisible minimal-padding">The farm worker portion of the bill was seen as the last major bit to be negotiated before senators could introduce their legislation.<hr class="legacyRuler"><hr class="legacyRuler"><hr class="invisible minimal-padding">Even at this late stage, negotiations were continuing on bits of the farm worker section of the bill and other miscellaneous matters, according to lawmakers and congressional aides.<hr class="legacyRuler"><hr class="legacyRuler"><hr class="invisible minimal-padding">Of the 1.1 million workers in agriculture, the government estimates that at least half are undocumented.<hr class="legacyRuler"><hr class="legacyRuler"><hr class="invisible minimal-padding">The immigration bill, which will attempt a comprehensive update of U.S. policy for the first time since 1986, will try to end years of illegal hiring of foreign workers amid labor shortages in some sectors.<hr class="legacyRuler"><hr class="legacyRuler"><hr class="invisible minimal-padding">The legal status for the tens of thousands of farm workers who entered the United States without documents represents a key issue.<hr class="legacyRuler"><hr class="legacyRuler"><hr class="invisible minimal-padding">According to the United Farm Workers union, undocumented workers should be given permanent resident status and the opportunity for citizenship. The Agriculture Workforce Coalition, representing employers, has suggested that legalization be tied to a commitment to work in agriculture for a specified number of months.<hr class="legacyRuler"><hr class="legacyRuler"><hr class="invisible minimal-padding">Farm labor reform has two major parts - a decision on how to treat workers in the country illegally and revamping of the guest worker program. Employers want a new program to replace the H-2A program, which they say makes it difficult to recruit enough workers in a timely manner and sets wages too high. The union has warned against formulas that would depress wages.<hr class="legacyRuler"><hr class="legacyRuler"><hr class="invisible minimal-padding">One proposal discussed by senators would allow up to 200,000 visas for new agricultural workers during the initial period of a new immigration law. That would be in addition to visas to cover the current number of H-2A workers, which has been 55,000-75,000 annually, according to an official familiar with the talks. After 2020, the Agriculture Department would set the cap on visas.<hr class="legacyRuler"><hr class="legacyRuler"><hr class="invisible minimal-padding">Republican Senator Lindsey Graham of South Carolina, said he had "never felt more optimistic" about an immigration bill moving forward in the Senate.</p><hr class="legacyRuler"><hr class="invisible minimal-padding"><p><a class="btn btn-sm btn-primary col-lg-12" style="white-space: normal;" href="http://www.reuters.com/article/2013/04/11/us-usa-immigration-idUSBRE93A00W20130411" target="_new">Immigration Report</a></p><hr class="legacyRuler"><hr class="invisible minimal-padding">
