House Passes Two Amnesty Bills – How Did Your Representative Vote?

On March 18, the House of Representatives passed two FAIR-opposed mass amnesty bills that would put nearly over four million illegal aliens on a path to citizenship. The House did this in the midst of a worsening border crisis that Congressional Democrats and the Biden administration refuses to acknowledge. These bills now head to the Senate, where they face an uncertain future.

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

The first bill is H.R. 6, the American Dream and Promise Act. Congress passed this bill by a vote of 228-197. All Democrats and 9 Republicans voted in favor. In the 116th Congress, the American Dream and Promise Act was 237-187 with 7 Republican “Yea” votes. The following Republicans voted for H.R. 6:

  • Don Bacon (NE-02)
  • David Valadao (CA-21)
  • Fred Upton (MI-06)
  • Maria Elvira Salazar (FL-27)
  • Dan Newhouse (WA-04)
  • Fitzpatrick (PA-01)
  • Chris Smith (NJ-04)
  • Carlos Gimenez (FL-26)
  • Mario Diaz-Balart (FL-25)

This legislation grants a pathway to citizenship to around 3 million illegal aliens who are already in the country—which is well beyond the 700,000 or so active Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals (DACA) recipients. The bill also provides a pathway to citizenship to hundreds of thousands of migrants under temporary relief and humanitarian programs, including Temporary Protected Status (TPS) and Deferred Enforced Departure (DED). It also does not contain any immigration enforcement provisions to address the current crisis on the southern border.

Farm Workforce Modernization Act (H.R. 1603)

The second bill is H.R. 1603, the Farm Workforce Modernization Act. Congress passed this amnesty by a vote of 247-174. Only one Democrat voted against this bill, Rep. Jared Golden of Maine. Disappointingly, 30 Republicans voted in favor of this legislation – a four vote decrease compared to the 116th Congress:

  • Mark Amodei (NV-02)
  • Jim Baird (IN-04)
  • Cliff Bentz (OR-02)
  • Mike Bost (IL-12)
  • Rodney Davis (IL-13)
  • Mario Diaz-Balart (FL-25)
  • Brian Fitzpatrick (PA-01)
  • Andrew Garbarino (NY-02)
  • Carlos Gimenez (FL-26)
  • Anthony Gonzalez (OH-16)
  • Jaime Herrera Beutler (WA-03)
  • Chris Jacobs (NY-27)
  • Dave Joyce (OH-14)
  • John Katko (NY-24)
  • Doug LaMalfa (CA-01)
  • Peter Meijer (MI-03)
  • Dan Newhouse (WA-04)
  • Devin Nunes (CA-22)
  • Tom Reed (NY-23)
  • Cathy McMorris Rodgers (WA-05)
  • Maria Elvira Salazar (FL-27)
  • Mike Simpson (ID-02)
  • Chris Smith (NJ-04)
  • Lloyd Smucker (PA-11)
  • Elise Stefanik (NY-21)
  • Claudia Tenney (NY-22)
  • G.T. Thompson (PA-15)
  • Fred Upton (MI-06)
  • David Valadao (CA-21)
  • Jeff Van Drew (NJ-02)

The Farm Workforce Modernization Act would amnesty approximately 1.5 million illegal alien farmworkers, expand the H-2A guestworker program as unemployment remains high, add 40,000 green cards to the EB-3 category, and mandate E-Verify across the agriculture sector. Despite the catchy title, the bill does nothing to actually modernize America’s agricultural workforce. That would require automating many of these jobs using advanced technology and programs designed to give farmers access to those innovations. Further, the framework for improving legal farm labor already exists – fix problems within the current H-2A program. This, and encouraging the adoption of labor- and cost-saving automated harvesting technologies, represents true modernization. Another senseless amnesty at the worst possible time does not.

It’s worth noting that both bills are terrible policy even under the best of circumstances. Passing them in the midst of a full-blown border crisis driven by the Biden administration is an affront to the integrity of our system, as well as to the safety and security of the American people.

Over the coming weeks, FAIR will urge Senate Republicans to hold firm and oppose both these amnesty bills if they are brought to the floor in the upper chamber. As Dan Stein reminded them, “The border crisis is raging, and the American people are watching – address the crisis, do not exacerbate it.”