Farmworker group to lobby Congress to back AgJOBS act

By ROSA RAMIREZ
Staff Writer

While agricultural workers in northwest Volusia County said they live in constant fear of immigration raids, being fired from their jobs, and getting stopped by police while driving because they're here illegally, they say they're not alone in their worries.

"Employers have a lot to lose . . . maybe even more than us," said 46-year-old Cristobal Garcia, who said he himself has documents but many of his co-workers don't.

A dozen members of the Farm Worker Association of Florida, including two from the Pierson area, will spend today through Thursday in the nation's capital lobbying Congress to overhaul immigration rules for agricultural laborers.

The group plans to tell lawmakers to support the Agriculture Jobs Opportunity and Benefits Act of 2007, commonly known as AgJOBS, because not supporting it would ultimately hurt the agricultural industry in the state.

"The government and the bosses need to know how much migrants help this country," said Pascuala Avellaneda, one of the members of the association who will be in Washington this week. "Who's going to be left to do all that work?"

Marcos Crisanto, who heads the Pierson office of the association, estimates there are between 130,000 and 150,000 farmworkers toiling in Florida's ferneries, orange, tomato and dairy farms. Of those, some 70 percent are illegal immigrants.

If passed, AgJOBS would allow longtime illegal immigrant farmworkers to adjust their immigration status and eventually apply for U.S. citizenship, after paying a fine and meeting certain requirements.

"This is something that's important to many, including employers," said Crisanto.

Steven Camarota, director of research for the Washington, D.C.-based Center for Immigration Studies that advocates for strict immigration rules, said any proposal permitting illegal immigrants to stay in the country has a slim chance of getting enough votes to pass.

"There isn't much appetite in Congress for legalization for those in the country illegally," he said. "Does it have a chance of passing? Absolutely. Does it have a good chance of passing? Absolutely not."

He said the proposal lacks the support from other industries, such as restaurants, hotels and construction, which also rely on illegal foreign workers and have traditionally backed immigration laws that would allow some to become legal.

"They don't get anything out of AgJOBS. Sure, it's more modest and likely to get more support. But you also peel off the political coalition," Camarota said.

But Robert Williams, director of the Migrant Farmworker Justice Program, who supports AgJOBS, doesn't think that's so.

Of the immigration bills that have been introduced, AgJOBS has the most bipartisan support "as a practical solution with respect to this one sector," he said.

Williams said Florida stands to get hurt the most if Congress focuses mostly on immigration enforcement without giving agricultural workers an opportunity to change their immigration status.

"Any proposed crackdown on illegal immigration can incredibly disrupt the agricultural industry. Florida has the most to lose," Williams said.

Avellaneda, 72, said she's going on behalf of thousands of farmworkers in Florida who don't have documents -- or a voice.

"Thanks to God, I was able to get papers. But many people here have not. Being united is what's going to make us strong," said the former fern cutter.

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