Thread: Agriculture secretary talks immigration at Anaheim trade sho

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Agriculture secretary talks immigration at Anaheim trade show


By GILLIAN FLACCUS, Associated Press Writer


Last Updated: March 3, 2006, 04:01:02 PM PST


ANAHEIM, Calif. (AP) - Agriculture Secretary Mike Johanns said Friday that he would oppose any bill that offers amnesty to illegal immigrants despite a farm labor shortage that threatens the harvest of seasonal crops.
Johanns said any immigration reform package should include a provision that would allow migrant workers to come to the United States temporarily to help alleviate the shortage of seasonal farm hands.

The secretary was in town to speak at a convention of the American Soybean Association and the National Corn Growers Association at the Anaheim Convention Center.

The Senate Judiciary Committee is currently debating national immigration reform and has several competing bills before it. One, sponsored by Sen. Arlen Specter, R-Pa., would allow illegal workers now in the United States to obtain a three-year work visa that could be renewed one time for another three years.

"From my interest as Secretary of Agriculture, we just simply have a need for seasonal labor," Johanns told reporters after his keynote speech. The question, he said, is "how we factor that into a bill so these individuals can be identified and documented and have some ease in terms of providing that labor to the industry."

Johanns added that without adequate seasonal labor, "there's literally a risk that, especially with fruits and vegetables, we won't be able to harvest them."

The secretary has previously spoken about the need for a temporary guest worker program to alleviate the burden on seasonal growers, who often can't find enough employees to harvest their crops.

At a January speech to the National Council of Agricultural Employers, Johanns said there had been a drop in hired farm labor in California during peak harvest times for the past three years. He also touted President Bush's proposed temporary worker program as a "very streamlined and efficient pipeline to a labor supply" for American farmers.

Tim Chelling, spokesman for the Irvine-based Western Growers, said he was pleased to see Johanns promoting some kind of temporary worker program. Chelling said up to 20 percent of illegal immigrants work in agriculture.

"Throughout the year, we've been warning of a shortage," he said. "If you had a guest worker program, you would go a long way toward solving this potentially devastating crisis."

http://www.signonsandiego.com

Agriculture secretary presses Bush's immigration plan


By Olivia Munoz
ASSOCIATED PRESS

9:15 p.m. June 8, 2006

FRESNO – U.S. Agriculture Secretary Mike Johanns came to this Central California farming hub Thursday to tout President Bush's proposed guest worker program, which he said would help identify the estimated 11 million undocumented immigrants in this country and improve their working conditions.
“Temporary workers are vital to agriculture. But we want to know who these workers are and where they come from,” Johanns told growers and other agriculture leaders.

Bush's immigration plan – which includes the guest worker program, tighter border security and a path to citizenship for undocumented immigrants already in the country – has failed to win over a block of conservative Congress members.

“We don't believe in this notion that if you're here, all of a sudden all is forgiven,” Johanns said. “But someway, somehow we have to deal with this.”

A guest worker program would let employees speak up about working conditions without fear of losing their job or deportation, he said.

Johanns previously has spoken about the need for such a program to alleviate the burden on seasonal growers, who often can't find enough employees to harvest crops.

California leads the nation in many crops, many of them labor intensive, and up to half of all farmworkers do not have legal status, he noted.

“This is a state where the immigration issue can really be highlighted,” he said.