By ELIZABETH VARIN Staff Writer
IMPERIAL VALLEY PRESS

Guest workers, sponsored immigrants and more border economic development are in the works with three bills introduced by a local legislator.

Assemblyman V. Manuel Pérez, D-Coachella, announced last week that he had introduced a three-bill package that he said would assist sectors that strongly rely on the immigrant work force to sustain their economic strengths.

"Unauthorized workers in California are contributing to the state's economic vitality in key sectors, yet federal inaction on comprehensive immigration policy consigns these workers to the shadows and creates uncertainty for the businesses that rely on them," he said in a press statement. "As the state with the largest unauthorized worker population, California can help lead the way on this issue by advancing relevant policy that reflects our state's economic and social realities. This package of three bills takes a very practical approach."

The first of the three bills, Agricultural Jobs and Industry Stabilization Act, creates a guest worker program, administered by the state's Employment Development Department, according to a press release from Pérez's office. Current undocumented workers in the agriculture and service sectors and their immediate family members would be authorized to remain in California as legal residents provided they meet specified criteria.

This program would be paid for with fees charged to those participating. The bill requires an analysis to be done in the third year of the program to determine whether it had resulted in any displacements of employable U.S. citizens in the specified industries.

The second bill establishes a state equivalent of the North American Development Bank to facilitate and finance economic and infrastructure projects in the California and Mexico border region. The goal of the California Bi-National Economic Development and Infrastructure Bank Bill would be to improve the infrastructure for moving goods across the border as well as the economy of the California-Mexico border region. That, in-turn, will result in immediate and long-term benefits to the people of California.

Economic stability in the border region also serves as a practical approach for minimizing and discouraging the unauthorized flow of individuals into California, according to the press release. The bill creates a tool to support the investment of private and federal dollars in projects that facilitate trade and economic growth, while not using state General Fund money.

The final bill in the package creates a state version of the federal law related to sponsored immigrant workers. California High Skilled Workers Retention Act of 2012 would authorize the state Employment Development Department to develop a state program that allows high skilled workers that meet specified criteria to be sponsored by businesses to work legally in California under the status of resident immigrant. The program would be administered by EDD and paid for with fees from the sponsored businesses.

The bills seek to stabilize major industries in California that maintain hundreds of thousands of jobs and generate billions of dollars in revenue annually in the state, according to the press release.

"The three measures represent a first step," Pérez said. "There is much more to do, but rather than wait for federal action on this matter, these proposals set us on a path for a responsible and compassionate approach that supports the California economy and California families."

Copyright © 2012, Imperial Valley Press