Agricultural Worker Program Act of 2017
Latest action. Referred to the subcommitteeA smaller panel inside a standing committee with jurisdiction over a slice of its subject matter. Most hearings and the first markup usually happen here.Read the full definition (opens a new tab) on Immigration and Border Security.
Agricultural Worker Program Act of 2017
This bill authorizes the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) to confer blue card status upon an alien who: (1) has performed specified periods of U.S. agricultural employment or is a qualifying alien's spouse or child, (2) has been physically present in the United States for a qualifying period, (3) applied for such status during the application period, (4) is not ineligible under specified grounds for such status, (5) has passed security and law enforcement clearances, and (6) has paid the required fees and penalties.
Blue card status is limited to eight years.
A blue card alien (individual) may: (1) work in the United States, and (2) travel from and return to the United States, including commuting to the United States from a foreign residence.
DHS shall adjust an individual's blue card status to lawful permanent resident status if the individual: (1) performs a specified period of qualifying agricultural employment, (2) applies before the expiration of his or her blue card status, and (3) pays a required fine and satisfies any federal tax liability. The bill also provides for status adjustment of such an individual's qualifying spouse and child.
The bill enumerates: (1) grounds for revocation of blue card status or denial of permanent resident status, (2) protections for aliens apprehended before or during the application period or in removal proceedings, and (3) employer protections.
Such an individual: (1) is ineligible for any federal means-tested benefit, and (2) may correct certain social security records.
DHS shall report to Congress, after six months and annually for the next eight years, on the blue card program.
Written by analysts at the Congressional Research Service and published on Congress.gov, not by Civibrief. Summarized at the "Introduced in House" stage on May 25, 2017. It describes the bill, it is not the legal text.
Where is it in the process, and what happens next?
4 steps remain before this bill could become law.
The record's latest action, on July 11, 2017: Referred to the Subcommittee on Immigration and Border Security.
- Clearing the committees it was referred to, and being scheduled for a floor vote
- Passage by the House
- Passage by the Senate
- The President's signature. If the President vetoes it, two-thirds of both chambers must vote to override.
How likely is it to become law?
Civibrief does not forecast outcomes and this page has no opinion about this one. What the record supports is a base rate, which is a fact about the whole pile, not a prediction about this measure.
In the 115th Congress (2017-18), 442 of the 11,421 bills and joint resolutions introduced became law, about 3.9 percent. That count covers every measure at every stage, including the many that never left committee.
This one is not there yet: 4 steps are still outstanding, listed above.
Has anyone actually voted on it?
No. No roll call in this Congress cites this measure. That is the ordinary outcome: most measures never reach a recorded floor vote, and a committee ends most of them simply by not acting.
A vote is not the only thing that happens to a measure. Hearings, markups, and referrals are all recorded actions, and none of them is a vote of the full chamber.
Who is behind it?
LUIS GUTIERREZ (D-IL) introduced it on May 25, 2017, and 72 members have since signed on as cosponsors.
They are 72 Democrats.
Cosponsoring is a formal signature on the text. It is not a commitment to vote for the measure, it does not bind anyone's party, and a long list of cosponsors is a measure of attention rather than of prospects.
How long has it been in play?
It was introduced on May 25, 2017, 3395 days ago. The most recent recorded action was 3348 days ago, on July 11, 2017.
Measures do not carry over. Anything the 115th Congress has not finished by January 3, 2019 dies when the term ends, and has to be introduced again from the start in the next Congress.
Every answer above is assembled from this measure's own record on Congress.gov and from published counts of what Congress has passed before. Civibrief does not predict outcomes and takes no position on any measure.
Vote history
- HouseIn committee, no floor vote yet
- SenateAwaits House passage
- PresidentAwaits both chambers