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ANLA Aims to Help Restart Immigration Debate06-16-09 | News

ANLA Aims to Help Restart Immigration Debate

Bob Dolibois said the No. 1 issue the past eight years has been immigrant and guest worker reform. ANLA knew that the plant industry would grow and that the Republican party would put pressure on employers of immigrants.

The American Nursery and Landscape Association (ANLA) joined a coalition of national organizations to formally launch Reform Immigration FOR America, a united national effort to aggressively pursue legislative and executive action on comprehensive immigration reform. The coalition brings together a broad range of stakeholders that include employers, worker advocates, cultural organizations, unions and religious organizations.

ANLA executive vice president Bob Dolibois said, ?EUR??,,????'?????<

Dolibois was joined by Benjamin Jealous, president of the National Association for the Advancement of Colored People, Washington Bureau and executive leaders from organizations including Service Employees International Union, National Council of La Raza, the Center for American Progress, the National Hispanic Christian Leadership Conference.

Currently Senate Bill 1038 has been rolled into a comprehensive immigration reform bill. ?EUR??,,????'?????<

The committee would discuss legislation regarding both AgJobs and H2B. AgJobs is a modified current seasonal worker program for the agricultural and nursery industry. H2B is a seasonal worker program for six month stints, with a cap of 33,000 workers per half year. In the past an exemption was made that a returning worker from the past three years would not count toward the 33,000 total. That exemption expired two years ago, according to Dolibois.

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