Senate Passes Immigration Bill, But the House Has Yet to Vote

Members of the green and golf industries considered it a victory when Senate passed a comprehensive immigration bill May 25, but conceded there is still work to do as they push to get the House of Representatives on board.

The measure, which would establish a new guest worker program and create a process for legal status for immigrants, was approved 62-36, with a majority of the yea votes coming from Democrats.

The American Nursery and Landscape Association credits senators including Lindsay Graham and Edward Kennedy, among others, for supporting the bill, says Craig Regelbrugge, senior director of government relations for ANLA. Senate Majority Leader Bill Frist was instrumental, he adds.

“Senator Frist really came around throughout process from being on opposite side of the spectrum to standing side by side with us,” he says. “From his actions and his statements, to working with Minority Leader Harry Reid, to his closing statements on floor yesterday, he signified he is fundamentally with reform at end of day and he realized this is where we need to be.”

Regelbrugge notes the hardcore opposition seemed to come from Republican senators of Southern states, including Sen. Jeff Sessions of Alabama and Sen. David Vitter of Louisiana.

The bill may also face opposition in the House, notes John Farner, director of legislative relations for ANLA. The House previously passed an enforcement-only immigration bill which was much different from what Senate passed. “We’re basically starting from scratch in the House,” he says.

There is hope, though, because some of the representatives have been discussing the need for a guest worker program, and Farner sees that as a viable place to start the discussions.

If a finalized bill were to come before the elections later this year, it wouldn’t happen for a while, Regelbrugge warns. “There’s reason to be proud of where we are, although we still have a difficult battle line just ahead,” he says.

Some senators are already talking to house members about the bill, says Tom Delaney, director of governmental affairs for the Professional Landcare Network. “We hope the bill will stay the way it is in the Senate, but the House bill is so different,” he says. “It didn’t have many of the same components.”

Some of the key components of Senate’s bill include:

• A new temporary worker program, in addition to the programs that already exist. The program would allow immigrants to work year-round for a limited amount of time. It was originally proposed to include 325,000 workers in the program, but that number changed to 200,000 by the time the measure was passed.
• A broad based legalization program for immigrants who can prove they have been in the country for a specified amount of time. Those who can prove they have been in the country for more than 5 years would be eligible to become a legal resident. Those who have been in the country for two to five years would have to check in regularly at a port of entry to have their status updated. These workers’ status in the guest worker programs would not be affected. Those who have been in the country for less than two years would have to leave the U.S. and reapply for a work visa.
• An extension to the provision of the H-2B program that says those who are already working in the program would not count toward the cap of 66,000 workers permitted in the program. The current exemption sunsets in September. The new provision would extend it until 2009. Some have been advocating for attaching this extension on a bill that would move more quickly through Congress because it may not go into effect by September otherwise, Delaney says.
• A requirement for employers to use an electronic identification system to distinguish legal and illegal employees.