House passes bipartisan bill to grant legal status to undocumented farmworkers
18 March 2021
The House voted 247-174 on Thursday to pass a bipartisan bill that would allow an estimated 1 million undocumented farmworkers and their children to gain legal status through continued employment.
Why it matters: Farmworkers and crop hands were designated essential workers during the pandemic. The bill would allow them to apply for legal status after working in agriculture for at least 180 days over two years.
The big picture: The Farm Workforce Modernization Act is part of Democrats' first push this year to overhaul the country's immigration laws.
- Lawmakers are also considering a bill to create a path to citizenship for Dreamers, immigrants brought into the country illegally as children and who grew up in the U.S.
What they're saying: "Farmworkers are getting infected and dying from COVID at a much higher rate than the general public. They are literally dying to feed you ... we must protect and secure our food supply chain," Rep. Raul Ruiz (D-Calif.), chairman of the Congressional Hispanic Caucus, said in a statement to reporters on Thursday.
- "Without the immigrant farmworkers, the undocumented immigrant farmworkers, we couldn't grow our crops or feed our people," House Judiciary Chair Jerry Nadler (D-N.Y.) said.
Context: The Biden administration faces a growing crisis at the border with the arrival of hundreds of undocumented children, most fleeing violence and extreme poverty in Central America.
What to watch: Reps. Dan Newhouse of Washington and Mike Simpson of Idaho on Thursday are among the 12 Republican co-sponsors in the House. The bill's future in the Senate, however, is uncertain.
Transcripts show George Floyd told police "I can't breathe" over 20 times
Section2Newly released transcripts of bodycam footage from the Minneapolis Police Department show that George Floyd told officers he could not breathe more than 20 times in the moments leading up to his death.
Why it matters: Floyd's killing sparked a national wave of Black Lives Matter protests and an ongoing reckoning over systemic racism in the United States. The transcripts "offer one the most thorough and dramatic accounts" before Floyd's death, The New York Times writes.
The state of play: The transcripts were released as former officer Thomas Lane seeks to have the charges that he aided in Floyd's death thrown out in court, per the Times. He is one of four officers who have been charged.
- The filings also include a 60-page transcript of an interview with Lane. He said he "felt maybe that something was going on" when asked if he believed that Floyd was having a medical emergency at the time.
What the transcripts say:
- Floyd told the officers he was claustrophobic as they tried to get him into the squad car.
- The transcripts also show Floyd saying, "Momma, I love you. Tell my kids I love them. I'm dead."
- Former officer Derek Chauvin, who had his knee on Floyd's neck for over eight minutes, told Floyd, "Then stop talking, stop yelling, it takes a heck of a lot of oxygen to talk."
Read the transcripts via DocumentCloud.