Summary: The House of Representatives is expected to vote on two amnesty bills this week. The first, the American Dream and Promise Act (H.R.6), would confer amnesty to a minimum of two million illegal immigrants with some estimates going as high as 4.5 million. The second bill, the Farm Workforce Modernization Act (H.R. 1603), would provide another pathway to citizenship for hundreds of thousands of illegal immigrant agriculture workers.

Issue Analysis and Implications
Both bills come amid a full-blown border crisis stemming from a series of harmful executive actions enacted by the Biden administration.

The American Dream and Promise Act of 2021 (H.R. 6)

• The bill confers status to every illegal immigrant granted temporary status under the unlawful DACA executive order enacted by President Obama in 2014. A report from 2018 showed that nearly 1 in 10 DACA recipients have a criminal history.
• The bill extends status to every illegal immigrant who has entered and remained in the U.S. since January 1, 2021.
• The bill’s exemptions for conferring legal status regarding criminal activity only exclude illegal immigrants who have been convicted of a felony offense or three misdemeanor offenses with waivers for some convictions if they occurred 5 years before enactment.
• The bill would increase federal welfare spending for illegal immigrants (including Medicaid and food stamps) by a minimum of $30 billion within the next decade.

The Farm Workforce Modernization Act of 2021 (H.R. 1603)

• The bill grants broad amnesty to hundreds of thousands of illegal immigrants and their families who have worked in agriculture as Certified Agriculture Workers (CAW).
• The bill implements a form of indentured servitude, requiring those with CAW status to work in agriculture for 4-8 years depending on their previous unlawful work history.
• With nearly 10 million Americans remaining outside the labor force due to the ongoing pandemic and lockdowns, the bill prioritizes cheap foreign labor over work-eligible American citizens.

Conclusion: Both pieces of legislation are harmful to American families and American workers. They offer few protections against criminal illegal aliens, serve as a magnet for future waves of illegal immigration, endanger communities by further empowering violent drug cartels who maintain operational control of our southern border, and box out American workers to the benefit of the corporate K Street lobby in Washington D.C.