Proposal eases some restrictions on agriculture industry, while requiring farmers to verify workers’ status

by the El Reportero’s wire services

A bipartisan group of lawmakers agreed on a deal easing restrictions on foreign agricultural workers, including a path to citizenship for the more than one million farmworkers estimated to be in the U.S. illegally.

However, in exchange, the agricultural sector will be required to verify the legal status of their workers.

The legislation announced Wednesday by Reps. Zoe Lofgren (D., Calif) and Dan Newhouse (R., Wash.) has the support of 24 Democrats and 20 Republicans in the House. It marks a rare moment of bipartisan cooperation, particularly on immigration, where Republicans have generally not supported a citizenship path for any undocumented immigrants, and Democrats are increasingly loath to support new enforcement measures.

The bill could reach the House floor as soon as late November, a House Democratic aide said. But its fate is less certain in the Senate.

The administration has issued regulations loosening restrictions on foreign agricultural workers. Farmers participating in the seasonal guest-worker program are no longer required to take out classified ads in newspapers seeking workers. Instead, they are only required to post job notices online, which is cheaper. The administration also allows farmers to pay most foreign workers less than the minimum required for domestic employees.

The accord also would provide a path to citizenship for the more than one million farmworkers estimated to be already living in the U.S. illegally. Farmworkers who can show they have spent at least three months in the previous two years working in agriculture can apply for a new five-year visa, which would require continued work in the sector for the visa’s duration.

Workers who have lived in the country for at least 10 years could apply for a green card if they work four more years in the industry. If a farmworker has been in the industry for less than 10 years, they must put in an additional eight years to become eligible for a green card. Green-card holders are eligible to become U.S. citizens, typically after five years.

Source: Wall Street Journal.

President of Panama meets López Obrador in Mexico

The president of Panama, Laurentino Cortizo Cohen, will meet this Wednesday with his host of Mexico Andrés Manuel López Obrador at the National Palace.

The president of Panama arrived at the capital last night and was greeted at the Benito Juárez International Airport by the Undersecretary for Latin America and the Caribbean of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, Maximiliano Reyes Zuñiga.

This noon Cortizo will go to the National Palace where an official welcoming ceremony will take place. At the end of the ceremony, he will meet with President López Obrador and around 13:30 there will be a lunch in honor of the visitor from Panama.

The Panamanian president expressed in social networks that with his visit he seeks to establish bonds of mutual cooperation and attract investment that translates into more jobs for his fellow citizens.

Mexico optimistic with trade agreement with the U.S. and Canada

President Andrés Manuel López Obrador assessed the approval of the Trade Agreement between Mexico, the United States and Canada (T-MEC) as beneficial for Mexican economy.

The economic integration of these three countries in North America will favor foreign investment, said the head of state, highlighting in the national case, the increase in domestic consumption and oil production.

Before the press gathered at the National Palace, López Obrador mentioned his government’s strategy to boost development, create jobs and welfare, as well as strengthen the popular economy.

He offered details of the progress of the works at the Santa Lucia airport and the Isthmus corridor, in addition to the increase in oil production.

During his speech, he highlighted the definition of private initiative projects, as well as the arrival in the country of foreign investment and foreign trade, ‘which is coming in as never before’, which in the third quarter of the year was the largest in history.

Together with members of the negotiating party, López Obrador said that the treaty ‘is a good agreement for the three countries’ and highlighted the ambitious nature of the tripartite exchange in environmental matters.