The Senate Judiciary Committee yesterday held its third day of votes on amendments to the bipartisan immigration bill and kept the bill largely unchanged after dispatching dozens of proposed amendments.  Thursday’s committee session revolved largely around  E-Verify tracking system that is meant to prevent the employment of illegal immigrants.  Enforcement was also at issue–how to prevent immigrants from remaining in the United States after having entered illegally or overstaying their visas.

The committee adopted 16 of the 26 proposed changes it considered, including requirements that the Department of Homeland Security notify individuals when their names are run through the E-Verify system and language permitting immigrant workers seeking permanent status the right to receive a pay stub to prove employment and avoid potential fraud.

Through three days of deliberations, the committee  has considered about one-third of the 300 amendments that have been filed on the bill.

Meanwhile, yesterday, Chris Gaddis, chief human resources officer at JBS USA, testified before the House Judiciary Subcommittee on Immigration Policy and Enforcement as it weighs H.R5. 1773, the Agricultural Guestworker Act of 2013.  The bill would create a non-immigrant H-2C work visa program for agricultural workers.  Gaddis voiced his support for an immigration bill that would impact agriculture labor and said he was in favor of the updated definition of “agricultural labor or services” in the current bill.  He pointed out that those legal definitions were last revised in the 1930s or 1950s.

Gaddis testified  on behalf of JBS USA  as well  as the Food Manufacturers Immigration Coalition, which includes the National Chicken Council, the National Turkey Federation, the National Cattlemen’s Beef Association, the National Pork Producers Council,  the North American Meat Association, and the American Meat Institute.

He discussed the bill’s proposed 36-month uninterrupted stay for qualified workers, saying that these workers fill permanent, non-seasonal jobs and that 36 months would allow companies to see a return on the average $12,000 to $15,000 they spend training a new employee over the course of four to eight months.

Gaddis asked the committee to reconsider a requirement in the bill that employees return to their country of origin for six months between employment terms, as well as the 18-month limit on subsequent employment term and a prohibition on these workers bringing along spouses and minor children.

“The companies in our coalition do not want to be associated with a program that could facilitate or allow improper treatment of foreign or domestic workers,” Gaddis said in support of provisions that would mandate equivalent wages, benefits, and working conditions for foreign and domestic workers, guarantee that at least half of the work in an H-2C contract be provided regardless of other economic factors, and specify that H-2C workers would be able to move between U.S. employers within the agricultural labor and services category.