Senate begins immigration reform debate
Issue Date: May 23, 2007

By Kate Campbell
Assistant Editor


Watsonville strawberry grower Elia Vasquez, who is a member of CFBF's Labor Advisory Committee, responded to reporters' questions following a packed press conference last week on Capitol Hill. As the U.S. Senate starts debating immigration reform legislation this week, California farmers and ranchers continue to press members of Congress for a viable temporary worker program. A procedural vote to move to full debate in the Senate passed on Monday evening.

Now the hard work of ironing out differences in bill language can proceed, with the goal being passage of a Senate bill that can be reconciled with a future House bill. Experts say the road to a final bill that President Bush will sign is likely to be rocky.

These deliberations are taking place this week as a 30-member delegation of California Farm Bureau Federation officers and county managers is in Washington, D.C. making congressional office visits to discuss a number of issues vital to the state's agriculture sector. The need for immigration reform is at the top of the list of concerns.

Last week a team of CFBF leaders also were in the Capitol. They joined a high-level group of 150 representatives from a wide range of national agricultural groups to press for reforms. The CFBF team helped blitz Congress by participating in more than 15 face-to-face meetings with key congressional leaders.

"Momentum for immigration reform is mounting," said CFBF President Doug Mosebar, "but details remain to be worked out, and we know there will be many long days ahead.

"We're doing everything we can to show our representatives how reform will help family farmers, farm employees and consumers while enhancing the security of our nation," he said. "Having a plentiful, affordable, domestic food supply aids our national security. And there's nothing more basic to keeping food production in the United States than making sure farmers can hire enough people to care for and harvest their crops."

Watsonville strawberry farmer Elia Vasquez, who is a member of CFBF's Labor Advisory Committee, told a packed press conference on Capitol Hill last week: "Congress holds in its hands the ability to keep farms like ours in business by supporting immigration reform and the AgJOBS component.

"With a small operation like ours, there's no margin for error," she stressed. "If we can't harvest our crops when its time, our product and our paycheck is lost. We simply cannot survive on the hope that enough workers will show up. We need help with securing a reliable workforce and we need that help now."

Vasquez said strawberry harvesting began a few weeks ago in the Watsonville area and "from what I'm seeing and from talking to my neighbors, the labor supply is as tight as it has ever been. And realize this lack of workers is before the labor demand for harvests of other crops--cherries, apricots, peaches, plums, vegetables, melons--has begun.

She said it is an accepted fact that the United States does not have enough workers to harvest labor-intensive specialty crops.

In a statement issued last week, President Bush said, "Our immigration system is badly in need of reform. The bipartisan solution senators agreed to last week requires us to meet important goals in addressing border security and enhancing interior and worksite enforcement. Once those goals are met, the plan would create a temporary worker program to address the needs of our growing economy and take pressure off the border."

By singling out specific provisions for agriculture in a comprehensive immigration-reform plan, Mosebar said the Senate and the Bush administration have shown they understand the crucial role that immigrant workers play in providing safe, affordable food for American consumers.

One day after senators announced the historic agreement on comprehensive immigration reform, Sens. Dianne Feinstein, D-Calif., and Larry Craig, R-ID, unveiled details of the agricultural workers program included in the package, which is very similar to the AgJOBS legislation the pair introduced earlier this year.

"Immigration is one of the most difficult areas in which to legislate, because feelings run deep on both sides of the issue," Feinstein said. "Compromise is the only way we are going to get a bill.

"This legislation is not perfect," she said, "but I believe it is a good beginning. It is a work in progress. It is subject to change. Any bill has to be bipartisan, and if we cannot get Republican votes, we cannot pass a bill.

Although the bill language now covers more than 300 pages, Feinstein said provisions in the Senate immigration reform proposal would:

Strengthen the international borders through additional border patrol agents, building border fences and enhancing surveillance technology.
Provide a path to earn legal status for the millions of undocumented persons in the country, which is estimated to be 10 to 12 million, including 2 to 3 million in California.
Enhance the ability of the government to fight against document fraud by including a provision to increase penalties for passport fraud.
Create a strong employment verification system to crack down on illegal employment.
Give young people an opportunity for an education through the Dream Act.
Provide a stable and consistent workforce for agriculture, through the AgJOBS program, which is included in the bill.
The agricultural workers program in the bill is fundamentally the same as the AgJOBS program that growers and workers have negotiated on a bi-partisan basis during the past 10 years, and for which Sens. Feinstein and Craig have been fighting.

If Congress fails to pass legislation that addresses the nation's broken immigration system, political experts warn that because 2008 is a presidential election year and 2009 will bring a change in administration, it could be several years before Congress will visit the issue again.

"The American people have rightly demanded that Congress solve the national problem of immigration, and the bill announced this week is a serious effort to do just that," Craig said. "The legislation contains provisions that will promote our economy, improve our national security, and deal fairly with both citizens and non-citizens alike.

"In particular, California agriculture should be pleased with the inclusion of the AgJOBS legislation that has been introduced by Sen. Feinstein and myself in the Senate, and Congressman Berman and others in the House. More than any other industry, the future of U.S. agriculture is tied to the outcome of this immigration debate.

"The people who harvest our crops are skilled workers whose knowledge and care form a vital link in the food supply," he said. "An improved temporary-worker program benefits the hard-working people who come to our country in search of jobs, and allows farmers and ranchers to be assured that the people they hire have entered the country legally to pursue those jobs."

After listening to the debate from both sides on the proposed legislation last weekend and then conferring with Farm Bureau contacts in Washington D.C., this week, CFBF Director David Schwabauer said, "I'm cautiously optimistic that we may be able to get a bill out of the Senate and start down the long path to passage of reform legislation in the House.

"After being in the Capitol last week, I can't stress enough the importance of dialog with our representatives and keeping the message before them," said Schwabauer, who is a Ventura County lemon grower. "We need a workable plan to maintain our labor supply and help ensure consumers have a safe, affordable, consistently reliable food supply produced here in America."

Schwabauer said the biggest thing farmers can do now is call their congressional representative, "better yet, go to your local representative's office and stress how important passage of immigration reform is to you, agriculture and our nation."

Steps to passage of immigration reform
Passage of national immigration reform legislation is in the best position it has been in for years. Political experts caution, however, that there's still a long road ahead before proposed changes become law and temporary workers are available for agricultural work.

May 17--After lengthy negotiations an agreement was reached between the Bush administration and a bipartisan group of U.S. senators.

May 21--Exact terms of debate on immigration legislation are agreed to by the Senate on a vote of 69-23.

May 26--The Senate is expected to begin debate and act on a bill, probably within two weeks.

July--The House is expected to take up its version of immigration legislation sometime during the month. While the House will create its own bill, what happens in the Senate will likely have a strong influence on the House version.

End of July--The House will likely complete its work before taking a monthlong recess in August.

August-September--Assuming the House is successful in passing an immigration bill, the Senate and House bills go to a joint conference committee where differences will be resolved. Then mutually agreed-to language goes back to the House and Senate for final approval.

September-October--The bill is sent on to the president for his signature and, if signed, becomes law.

Late 2007--Work begins on writing regulations to enact the new law, a process that can take many months.

(Kate Campbell is a reporter for Ag Alert. She may be contacted at kcampbell@cfbf.com.)

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