Immigration enters farm bill debate via guest-worker plan
BY MICHAEL DOYLE
McClatchy Newspapers

WASHINGTON - Farmers, immigrants and their Capitol Hill allies are hoping to graft an agricultural guest-worker plan onto the multibillion-dollar farm bill.

Sen. Dianne Feinstein, D.-Calif., hasn't yet decided whether to push the controversial guest-worker measure when the Senate considers the farm bill next week. Behind the scenes, though, proponents are counting votes and lobbying furiously.

"Now we're getting down to the nitty-gritty, where real hard decisions have to be made," said Dan Haley, a lobbyist for the California Strawberry Commission and other farm groups. "We can't wait around."

Tactically, this is a tough call. The decisions made in coming days will shape the $288 billion farm bill, the future of 1.5 million illegal immigrants and the immigration political landscape for months or years to come.

Haley insisted "we can eke out" a victory if the Senate votes on the guest-worker plan. Others have doubts; no one takes this fight for granted.

On Wednesday, for instance, the Mexican American Legal Defense and Educational Fund electronically urged members to contact lawmakers in support of guest-worker revisions. The alert asserted that the Senate "is expected to vote" on the proposal. In reality, the guest-worker amendment remains in flux.

"I just don't know if the votes are there to pass it; you have to do the vote count," said Rep. Dennis Cardoza, D-Calif., the chairman of the House horticulture and organic agriculture subcommittee. "The farm bill is a pretty complicated piece of legislation as it is."
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