While no legislative action is expected this year, the debate over federal immigration reform is heating up, with the White House pushing the DREAM Act, saying it won’t aggressively seek to deport young people illegally in the U.S., and a coalition of interests banding together to oppose a House bill to force all U.S. employers to use the computerized E-Verify system to determine the citizenship status of existing and prospective employees. “Save America’s Food & Economy (SAFE) is a new coalition of community activists, farmers and ranchers and politicians across the country opposed to HR 2164, a bill by Rep. Lamar Smith (R, TX) that would mandate all U.S. businesses, including farms and ranches, use the electronic E-Verify database at the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) to determine the legal status of employees. The SAFE group says the bill must be changed to accommodate “experienced migrant guest workers,” who make up more than 80% of the ag workforce. SAFE said, “We need a sensible solution that protects our economy, our domestic food supply and the skilled men and women who make our food system the most efficient, safe and healthy food supply in the world.” The group cites action in Georgia where the state requires a similar mandatory verification system, which SAFE said cost the ag community 75% of its workforce and $300 million in revenue. On the DREAM Act side of the debate, in a letter to Sen. Richard Durbin (D, IL), DREAM Act champion, DHS Secretary Janet Napolitano said the Administration will not seek to deport young people brought into the country illegally by their parents, a message greeted by immigration reform advocates. She said DHS will form a taskforce to review deportations on a case-by-case basis, but added her policy “will not provide categorical relief for any group…and does not alleviate the need for passage of the DREAM Act, or for larger reforms to our immigration laws.” Under the DREAM Act, which failed in the last Congress, citizenship would be granted to the older children of illegal immigrants as long as those children are enrolled in college or join the military. The deportation issue is a hot one on both sides of the immigration question, with reformers saying the Obama Administration has raised deportations to record levels, and critics contending messages like the one from Napolitano are the equivalent of “amnesty” for illegals. Sen. Majority Leader Harry Reid (D, NV) said the Administration policy reflects a priority on deporting “foreign drug traffickers and violent criminals” over routine illegal arrests. Also under fire from reform advocates is the practice under which local law enforcement is required to inform DHS when an illegal immigrant is arrested so identities and citizenship status can be checked against the department database.