Oversight Project Visiting Fellow for Deportation Studies Scott Mechkowski Exposes Washington’s Amnesty Push, From the 1986 Playbook to a Farm Bill “Amnesty in Overalls”
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
November 13, 2026
Washington, D.C.–The Oversight Project's Visiting Fellow for Deportation Studies, Scott Mechkowski, spent the past week warning that Washington is trying to sell the country another amnesty. He made the case in a Daily Caller op-ed on the failures of the 1986 amnesty, and in a viral post on X exposing a provision in H.R. 9535 that would give H-2A visas to illegal aliens already working on American farms.
In the Daily Caller on November 11, Mechkowski responded to President Trump's 60 Minutes remarks about working with the incoming Democratic Congress on legal status for illegal aliens who have been in the country for 10 to 15 years. The last time a "deal" was made, it actually delivered 2.7 million green cards, while the promise of border security and employer penalties never materialized. The problem got worse as the illegal alien population has grown ever since the 1986 deal was made.
California is the proof. California accounted for 55% of Immigration Reform and Control Act applicants. It voted Republican for president in every election from 1968 through 1988 and has voted Democratic in every election since 1992. The American Business Immigration Coalition sent a memo the day after the election urging legal status for millions, naming Rep. Maria Salazar's Dignity Act as a priority. Salazar said the President's description matches her bill. Legal status for people who broke the law is amnesty, whether Washington calls it a pathway, a work permit, or a temporary pass.
On X, Mechkowski pointed to the Congressional Research Service's own summary of H.R. 9535, the “Securing Agriculture's Workforce Act.” The bill is sponsored by House Agriculture Chairman Glenn Thompson and has 61 cosponsors, 52 of them Republicans. According to that summary, it “establishes an H-2A visa pathway for current unauthorized agricultural workers who otherwise meet requirements.” Mechkowski noted that the 1986 law's Special Agricultural Worker program was riddled with fraud, with applicants claiming farm work they never did. A visa for people already here illegally is not that.
H.R. 9535 doesn't just skip the crackdown. It shields the employers. According to the bill text:
- An employer who keeps an illegal worker on the payroll while that worker applies for the new visa is not violating federal law. The bill says "it shall not be a violation."
- Employment records an employer hands over "may not be used in a civil or criminal prosecution or investigation of that employer," and that includes the tax code.
- An employer who provides the paperwork "shall not be subject to civil and criminal liability" for employing unauthorized aliens.
- The bill does not require E-verify.
“So the workers get waivers for illegal entry and fraud, and the businesses that hired them get immunity,” Mechkowski wrote. “My career taught me the jobs magnet is what keeps people coming. This bill doesn't shut it off. It rewards everyone who used it. Pass E-Verify. Then we can talk about farm labor.”
Oversight Project Visiting Fellow for Deportation Studies Scott Mechkowski gave this statement:
“Forty years ago this month, Washington promised the American people a one-time amnesty and real enforcement. We got the amnesty. The enforcement never showed up, and I spent my career dealing with what came after. Now the same crowd is back with the same pitch in a new pair of overalls. We're not falling for it twice.”
Oversight Project President Mike Howell gave this statement:
“The stooges of the corrupt special interest lobbies that profit from illegal alien labor, while you pay all the other costs to your country, are going to do their best to sneak any form of amnesty, whether it be legislative or limiting enforcement. It's up to us to stay on high alert. Scott’s on the job and he has been exposing these shenanigans in real time. Americans still are screaming for their immigration laws to be enforced at scale. We stand with them and call on these industry players and their politicians to start coming up with plans to run their businesses legally. With corruption top of mind for many voters, we will be closely tracking how these industries interact with politicians.”
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“We Already Tried This Deal. It Was Called 1986.”
https://x.com/ScottMechkowski/status/2120531997374202342
https://x.com/ScottMechkowski/status/2120879298303361276