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As the Biden administration completed its first year, a flurry of news reports highlighted the bipartisan disappointment with its record on immigration. While liberals objected to the continuation of some of former President TrumpDonald TrumpTrump: 'RINO' Graham 'wrong' on pardoning Jan. 6 rioters Jan. 6 panel probing Trump's role in effort to seize voting machines: report Overnight Energy & Environment Virginia panel votes down Wheeler MOREs policies, such asclosing the U.S. borders, conservatives alleged that President BidenJoe BidenBriahna Joy Gray: Biden's Supreme Court promise 'bare minimum' gesture to Black voters House GOP leader says State of the Union attendance could be capped: report Record enrollment numbers send a clear message about health care affordability, access MORE has embraced open borders.

The criticisms directed at Biden are not entirely fair. Consider the immigration situation that he inherited in January 2021. Trump had dedicated four years to restrictive immigration measures like no president in modern U.S. history. To that end, policy after policy was put into place. Reversing course in a massive federal bureaucracy is not something that can be done overnight or even in a year.

Additionally, four years of tough measures and verbal attacks on immigrants did not solve the nations immigration problems, but arguably, made them worse. The Trump administrations efforts ensured that the longstanding and serious immigration problems remained for the new administration: Approximately11 million undocumented migrantslived in the country before and after the Trump presidency.

With the election of Biden, hope sprang eternal among immigrants rights activists. The truth of the matter is the Biden administration has dismantled some harsh Trump immigration policies. Gone are the Muslim ban and immigration raids on7-Eleven convenience storesand state courthouses. Vitriol about immigrants no longer comes from the White House and the Biden administration has brought rationality to the discussion of federal immigration policy. In that vein,Vice President Kamala HarrisKamala HarrisSen. Lujn suffers stroke, expected to make a full recovery Congress, not Biden, should be held accountable for immigration reform Biden to relaunch 'cancer moonshot' effort at Wednesday event MOREhasstarted a discussionof long-term solutions to stem migration flows from Central America.

The administration has also faced resistance in its efforts to change the direction on immigration. For example, the courts have rejected attempts to reopen to new applicants theDeferred Action for Childhood Arrivals(DACA) policy, which provides relief to undocumented young people, or to dismantle theRemain in Mexico policyrequiring asylum seekers to wait in Mexico while their claims are being decided. Republicans have adamantly fought against any effort by the Biden administration to moderate the harsh measures embraced by Trump.

That said, if one is truly interested in immigration change, the appropriate measuring stick is not what Biden did in year one but what Congress has failed to do for decades pass meaningful immigration reform. Democrats and Republicans repeatedly claim that the current immigration system is broken but have done absolutely nothing to fix it. Presidents Bush, Obama and Biden have been unable to move Congress to pass reform legislation. Early in Bidens term, theU.S. Citizenship Actwas introduced in Congress. The bill, backed by the president, has languished in Congress.

Reform is long overdue. The comprehensive U.S. immigration law, theImmigration and Nationality Act of 1952, was forged at the height of the Cold War and designed to exclude and deport communists. Although amended on many occasions, it focuses more on keeping people out than letting people in. Economic and humanitarian concerns, not fears of the spread of communism, must be the touchstone for the immigration laws of the 21st century.

Immigration solutions need long-term blueprints most appropriately written by Congress, not quick fixes by a president. For example, economic development and building political institutions in Central America that diminish migration pressure take time and congressional appropriations. Effective efforts cannot realistically be achieved in one year by a new president.

The bottom line is that the nations immigration issues can only be effectively addressed if Congress engages in the serious and difficult task of formulating long-term solutions and approaches that outlast any president. In a time of political discontent, that is no small feat.

But, there are much-needed reforms that Congress could make to the U.S. immigration system. To start, Congress could provide a path to durable legal immigration status for DACA and Temporary Protected Status (TPS) recipients, as well as for other undocumented immigrants.

Lawmakers can work to restructure the immigration court system, which is poorly funded, inadequately staffed, lacks independence, and has abacklog of more than 1.5 million cases.The visa system needs reforms to eliminate visa backlogs and to allow for sufficient admission of immigrants to satisfy U.S. labor and family reunification needs.

Congress needs to create a system that is fair to immigrants and allows for effective enforcement, not a misguided border wall on the U.S./Mexico border, which will cause more deaths but not halt migration.

And finally, thedehumanizing term "alien,"which has helped to obscure and rationalize the treatment of people inconsistent with our constitutional values, needs to be removed from U.S. immigration laws.

Congress will, at some point, meaningfully address immigration reform. The sooner it does, the sooner the nation will begin the process of moving forward. One president can only be reasonably expected to do so much.

KevinR.Johnsonis dean and Mabie/Apallas professor of Public Interest Law and Chicanx Studies at the University of California, Davis, School of Law.

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Congress, not Biden, should be held accountable for immigration reform - The Hill

The strain of the labor pool facing agriculture is evident, especially with help wanted signs everywhere. Even as technology becomes a greater part of agriculture, much of dairy farming remains labor-intensive. Earlier this week at the International Dairy Foods Association (IDFA) Dairy Forum in Palm Springs, Calif., its President and CEO, Michael Dykes made the prediction that Congress will pass immigration reform in the next five years.

Labor issues are multifaceted, and Dykes noted that the U.S. has the lowest population growth rate in history over the last decade. More people [are] dying, and we have fewer people being born in the developing world, he stated. We have a people issue. Sustainability, health and wellness with research, many of these things we can fix with money, but we cant create more people.

Chief Operating Officer with Agri-Placement Services, Luis Carcamo, concurs with Dykes. These are exactly the reasons many of us in the dairy sector have been citing every time we submit comments to a government agency or when we have the opportunity to plead our case to staffers in Capitol Hill, he states.

Dykes shared with the IDFA audience that, were going to have to have people that are working, which means were going to need a system of legal immigration.

He also continued stating that he does not think Senate Minority Leader, Mitch McConnell, R-Ky., or Sen Joe Manchin, D-W. Va., will deliver immigration reform, but is optimistic that the next generation of politicians will step up.

While Agri-Placement Services, an employer placement company that serves dairy farms in 16 different states, doesnt share quite the optimism that Dykes does on seeing a comprehensive immigration reform. I think the best chance we had was with the Farm Workforce Modernization Act and that doesnt seem to be coming back to life, Carcamo remarks.

Future Labor Advice

Carcamo says that if he has his way, he would find an opportunity to amend the seasonality requirements for H-2A visas, which would allow dairy farmers and others working in year-round sectors to supplement their domestic workforce.

Agri-Placement Services has a separate entity that serves as an H-2A Labor Contractor and Carcamo notes it has gone very well. Were currently working directly with the Ministry of Labor from Barbados to source the workers and we employ them on concord grape farms in western New York, he shared. Since we're acting as a labor contractor and therefore, we are the employer, we take care of all paperwork and logistics. All the producers need to do is tell us when and where they need the workers. I wish we could do the same for dairy.

National Milk Producers Federation (NMPF) strongly supports efforts to pass agriculture labor reform that provides permanent legal status to current workers and their families and gives dairy farmers access to a workable guestworker program.

With acute labor shortages in rural areas and no guestworker program available that works for the year-round dairy industry, dairy farmers are in a workforce crisis. Dairy producers typically offer higher wages and benefits than many other parts of the ag sector. But many still struggle to find employees because the domestic workers just arent there, making immigrant workers increasingly important to farmer success, Claudia Larson, senior director of government relations with NMPF says. A recent study estimates that immigrant labor accounts for over half of the dairy workforce and nearly 80 percent of the U.S. milk supply. A real solution to dairys workforce challenges must both provide legal status to current employees and their families, and it also needs to give dairy farmers access to a workable guestworker program.

The 2015 study by Texas A&M AgriLife Research, The Economic Impact of Immigrant Labor on U.S. Dairy Farms, shared that if the U.S. dairy industry lost its foreign-born workforce, it would nearly double retail milk price and cost the total U.S. economy more than $32 billion.

Future Leaders Needed

Carcamo also notes the need to keep engaging with elected officials to find a way to expand H-2A. Plus we need to keep working with sending countries to develop new paradigms of circular labor mobility.

Dykes echoed the same message to the IDFA Dairy Forum and challenged his membership, stating, You guys are going to lead this. Youre going to step up. Youre going to be bold, and youre going to do the things that you know are in the best interest of this industry.

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Predictions for the Future of Immigration Reform - Dairy Herd Management

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Rep. Lance Gooden, R-Texas, on Wednesday introduced legislation to remove federal funding from U.S. nonprofit organizations that help facilitate illegal entry into the United States.

The Stop Federal Funding for Human Trafficking and Smuggling Act would direct the head of the Office of Management and Budget (OMB) to require federal contracts and grants to be contingent on organizations certifying that they are not involved in either human trafficking or human smuggling, fraud or bribery at the U.S. border.

REP. GOODEN, IN BORDER VISIT, SLAMS SECRECY BEHIND ORGANIZED OPERATION TO MOVE MIGRANTS INTO US

If that certification is not done, then the funding must be repaid to the government. It would apply to any nonprofit awarded federal funding or that has a contract or award with the federal government. The legislation is co-sponsored by House Republican Conference Chairwoman Elise Stefanik, R-N.Y., House Budget Committee ranking member Jason Smith, R-Mo., and 19 other House Republicans.

The bill comes as part of Goodens own investigations into what he sees as a secretive and "very organized" operation to bring illegal migrants into the U.S. and facilitate their transport across the country as part of what he described as an "invasion."

"The Biden administration is working with nonprofits, U.S. corporations, and international agencies to operate an illegal immigration network that spans from South America to every community in the United States," Gooden said in a statement. "Taxpayer dollars should not be subsiding a mass invasion of our country and it is time to put a stop to this corrupt operation."

The bill has the support of groups including Citizens for Renewing America and the Federation for American Immigration Reform.

"As President Trump's budget director, I saw first-hand how taxpayer money goes to fund activities that are immoral and deeply offensive to the American people," Russ Vought, president of Citizens for Renewing America and former White House OMB director, said in a statement.

"Many NGOs openly encourage the flaunting of our border and immigration laws, providing 'how-to' guidance on how to come to the United States illegally, and then reward such activity by facilitating and funding housing, food, utilities, and legal support. The net effect of these activities either directly promotes or provides cover for human trafficking operations, and the exploitation of men, women, and children at the border under the guise of helping migrants," he said. "I support Rep. Gooden's efforts to make sure groups that facilitate these activities are no longer funded with the hard-earned tax dollars supplied by the forgotten men and women of America."

Last year, Gooden obtained a packet given to migrants that included flight information, copies of the Notice to Appear from Customs and Border Protection (CBP), a list of pro bono legal service providers, maps of major cities in the U.S. and information and legal assistance in Spanish.

It also included a letter from the nonprofit to be handed to TSA officials, urging them to be allowed onto a flight with the limited ID they have that the letter says should be adequate for them to be searched in the Secure Flight program.

BORDER PATROL AGENTS GET INTO HEATED EXCHANGE WITH LEADERSHIP DURING MAYORKAS VISIT, LEAKED VIDEO SHOWS

"It seems very organized and premeditated and I would like to know who is behind the funding for this organization. Is the state of California mismanaging federal funds? Are private entities funding this? Are foreign organizations funding these private entities?" Gooden said to Fox News at the time.

Rep. Lance Gooden, R-Texas, visits the southern border in San Diego. (Rep. Lance Gooden's office)

Gooden has also pushed the State Department on information about a program to issue travel loans to refugees, warning that it gives nongovernmental organizations a "vested financial interest" in pushing the U.S. to bring in more refugees. His inquiries also revealed that the Transportation Security Administration (TSA) is allowing illegal immigrants to use civil immigration arrest warrants to board planes.

The legislation comes as the crisis at the southern border which saw approximately 1.7 million migrant encounters in FY 2021 and more than 178,000 migrants in December alone seems set to continue in 2022.

Republicans have been blaming the Biden administration for the crisis, particularly its ending of Trump-era border protections and reduced interior enforcement priorities. The Biden administration has put the increase in numbers down to a combination of the Trump administrations ending of legal asylum pathways and also "root causes" like violence and poverty in Central America.

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In leaked audio of a meeting between Border Patrol agents and Homeland Security Secretary Alejandro Mayorkas, the DHS chief admitted that the job for them was getting harder.

"The job has not gotten any easier over the last few months, and it was very, very difficult throughout 2021," Mayorkas told the agents, according to Townhall. "I know apprehending families and kids is not what you signed up to do. And now we got a composition that is changing even more with Cubans, Venezuelans, Nicaraguans, and the like, it just gets more difficult,"

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Rep. Gooden introduces bill to defund nonprofits that facilitate illegal immigration - Fox News

Hanford salon owner Adam Medeiros has joined a long list of candidates seeking the congressional office currently held by Rep. David Valadao, R-Hanford.

Medeiros describes himself as a Christian Republican who is focused on supporting law enforcement, water storage and immigration reform. He was inspired to run for office after Valadaos vote to impeach then-President Donald Trump for incitement of insurrection following the Jan. 6 riot at the U.S. Capitol.

I know our current representative, and I know its a tough job, but I just dont think they are representing the people that elected them, Medeiros said of Valadao in a phone interview with The Californian. The vote to impeach Donald Trump I just dont believe our representative acted to represent the people.

Valadao has said his vote to impeach, which ultimately fell 10 votes short of a guilty verdict, was a vote of conscience. But Medeiros insisted the conservative district Valadao represents largely supported acquitting Trump.

Medeiros moved to the United States from the the Azores islands, which are governed by Portugal, when he was 2 years old. He says he supports legal immigration, but wants to clamp down on the open borders he claims are harming the country.

Although he added hes not a fan of Trumps personality, he supports his economic and foreign policies. Under President Joe Biden, Medeiros characterized Washington as forcing socialist policies onto Americans.

I really feel the need to get to Washington is really to push back on the socialist agenda that they are literally shoving down our throats, he said. Theyve taken away so many of our liberties and our rights that weve got to put a stop to it.

The new 22nd Congressional District includes much of Bakersfield and northwest Kern County, along with parts of southern Tulare and Kings counties. Several candidates have already announced their intention to take on Valadao, including Assemblyman Rudy Salas, D-Bakersfield, Delano Mayor Bryan Osorio and Fresno businessman Chris Mathys.

The district has flip-flopped between Republican and Democrat control for the last three elections, all of which have been close races. It is considered a must-win district by both political parties, who are gearing up for another close election.

You can reach Sam Morgen at 661-395-7415. You may also follow him on Twitter @smorgenTBC.

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Hanford salon owner Adam Medeiros adds name to list of candidates taking on Valadao - The Bakersfield Californian

HEALTH CARE

Johnson & Johnson hired Brick Street Strategy to lobby on medical supply chain issues and business process reform. Mike Copher, former Republican staff director for the House Veterans Affairs Committee, will work on the account.

The Pharmaceutical Care Management Association hired Bose Public Affairs Group to lobby on drug pricing issues. David Crane, former domestic policy adviser to former Senate Majority Leader Trent Lott (R-Miss.), will work on the account.

The Federation of American Hospitals hired Invariant LLC to increase awareness about the private hospital trade group in Congress. Katie Wise, former legislative director for Rep. Vern BuchananVernon Gale BuchananMORE (R-Fla.), will work on the account.

TECHNOLOGY

Verizon Communications Inc. hired Capitol Counsel LLC to lobby on spectrum, broadband infrastructure and corporate taxation. Jeffrey Carroll, former Democratic staff director for the House Energy and Commerce Committee, will work on the account.

Intel Corp. hired Locke Lord LLP to lobby on free trade legislation, immigration reform and other issues. Sarah Feldpausch, former policy adviser at the Department of Education, will work on the account.

FINANCIAL SERVICES

BlackRock Inc. hired Daly Consulting Group to lobby on financial services issues. Justin Daly, former Republican senior counsel for the House Financial Services Committee, will work on the account.

AARP Inc. hired LXR Group to lobby on banking, consumer finance, capital marks and other financial services issues. Michael Canning, former senior policy adviser for former Rep. Brad Miller (D-N.C.), will work on the account.

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