Might this immigration measure find success?

WE have written any number of times about the unwillingness of Congress to deal with immigration reform, one of the most polarizing issues in Washington. Yet there is a glimmer of hope that some movement — just a little — is possible.

Rep. Steve Russell, R-Choctaw, says he is optimistic that a guest worker bill could make it to the president’s desk. The legislation would make 450,000 visas available each year for foreign workers in the farming and food-processing industries, and replace the H-2A system that critics say is cumbersome, costly and loaded with red tape.

“It’s defined, it’s narrow in scope,” Russell said of the new bill during a recent meeting with The Oklahoman’s editorial board. And, he said, it meets a need.

“I don’t care who you are, there’s not a Republican or Democrat business owner out there who won’t tell you, ‘Yeah, we have a labor shortage in this country,’” Russell said.

That’s certainly a problem in the agricultural sector, where a shortage of workers can result in crops going unpicked and wasted — and has led some growers to move their operations to Mexico. A California celery farmer noted to NPR this spring that “a foreign-born worker is going to be harvesting your fruits and vegetables,” so the choice is whether that happens here or elsewhere.

Under the Ag and Legal Workforce Act, by Rep. Bob Goodlatte, R-Va., workers would be eligible for three-year visas, but would be required to return to their home country for about two months each year to remain eligible. The bill has several other stipulations, including mandates that employers use the E-Verify system for new hires and that they promptly report any workers who abandon their jobs.

Russell points to the Bracero Program, in use from 1942 to 1964, as an example of what a guest worker system can look like. It allowed credentialed workers from Mexico to enter and leave this country, and succeeded.

“We don’t have to allow people to come here and become citizens to pick strawberries,” Russell said. “We should also recognize that not everybody wants to come here and live here. They may want to come and pick strawberries and then go back.”

That’s what this new bill addresses. Goodlatte’s office says the measure is supported by more than 200 agricultural groups, including the American Farm Bureau Federation. Russell says he believes it can pass, and that a vote in the House could happen by the end of September.

This effort is separate from the issue of sweeping immigration reform, which has been stuck in neutral for years. Russell believes two primary concerns — securing the border and finding a solution for those in the Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals program, or DACA — could win approval in Congress, but not if several other proposals are attached.

“I’m optimistic we can get to those solutions,” he said, “because they affect every single district of every single member of Congress.”

That hasn’t seemed to matter yet, but it’s necessary to keep trying. Perhaps the guest worker bill will succeed and help to move the needle in the right direction.