Agricultural Personnel Management Program
University of California

AgJOBS-2003 and Related Bills

Identical companion versions of the Agricultural Job Opportunity Benefits and Security Act of 2003, "AgJOBS," were introduced in the U.S. Senate and House of Representatives on September 23, 2003, but did not come up for a vote in the 2003-04 Congressional session.  While not without opponents, these AgJOBSs bills were strongly supported by a large, unusually diverse coalition of interest groups.  Senators Craig (R) and Kennedy (D) were the initial sponsors of S.1645, and Representatives Berman (D) and Cannon (R) of H.R.3142.  By Fall 2004, more than 100 co-sponsors had joined them in the House and 62 in the Senate.  Similarly named bills in 1998, 1999, and 2000 also were considered at length in Congress but ultimately not adopted. 

Other bills introduced during the 2003-04 would have provided for legalization of certain persons or changes in work visa rules, but none was as agriculture-specific and broadly endorsed as AgJOBS.  Its two basic components were (1) provisions for many people who have worked in agriculture without authorization to obtain a temporary legal status and eventually earn permanent legal status, and (2) reforms of the existing H-2A agricultural work visa program.  New legislation offering these provisions is likely to be introduced early in the 2005-06 Congress. 

The legislation

  • S. 1645
  • H.R. 3142

    • Summaries, analyses, and position statements

  • American Immigration Lawyers Association  -- Legal Immigration (pdf, 2/04) -- AgJOBS Packet (pdf, 4/04)
  • California Farm Bureau Federation
  • The Equal Justice Center 
  • Farmworker Justice Fund, Inc.  
  • Federation for American Immigration Reform
  • Immigration Daily


    • News about AgJOBS
       [coming]

    News stories about other legalization and agricultural work visa proposals

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