Have your barf bag and/or blood pressue medication handy. And, consider the source of this propaganda..see who the writer is at the bottom of the article. Think this pablum is an honest and unbiased account?
---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Immigration reform could save Washington's farm industry

Published September 20, 2007
http://www.theolympian.com/opinion/story/223294.html

When visiting my wife's family in Eastern Washington, I admire the richness and vastness of our farmlands. During growing season, I often stop along rural highways just to watch the hub of activity from the fields.

Watching this makes me appreciate how labor intensive farm work is. Whether listening to my family of farmers in the Columbia Basin, talking with seasonal workers or learning about the extensive labor involved to get crops from seed to store, I am all the more appreciative when I bite into a crisp apple or enjoy that steaming baked potato.

Washington state's agricultural industry is our biggest employer. Our farmers produce more than 300 agricultural products which creates more than 160,000 agriculture- related jobs.

A couple of fresh produce items you are beginning to see in the grocery store are Washington-grown apples and potatoes.

Washington state yields between 10 billion and 12 billion apples every year — our state's largest crop. Apples are handpicked, and during the peak of harvest, the industry employs from 35,000 to 40,000 pickers.

Potatoes are the state's second largest crop. Did you know that Washington state potatoes lead french fry production and that Washington exports one third of all U.S. potatoes? So much for that Idaho russet!

About 87 percent of Washington potatoes are processed into fries, hash browns or dehydrated mashed potatoes. Our state potato growers generate $3.4 billion annually for the state economy and provide more than 20,000 jobs.

One of Washington's well established potato growers, Dan Elmore, shares his concerns over the shortage of farm laborers. Right now, his cold storage operation, the backbone of the consumer potato supply chain, is still looking for additional help and "We haven't even entered the peak of harvest," he said.

Elmore, who also grows Washington apples, indicated some apple producers lost part of their crop last year because of a lack of farm workers. This year the problem is more prevalent.

On a recent trip through Eastern Washington, I noticed a lot more farms displaying "help wanted" signs. There is a real sense of crisis about this year's harvest.

Simplot in Moses Lake, one of the area's largest potato growers-processors, has had to extend recruitment efforts into other states in order to supplement its dwindling pool of seasonal laborers. Not surprisingly, some farmers have to rely on others — primarily undocumented workers.

These workers are more vulnerable to neglect and even abuse because of their illegal status. Immigration and Naturalization Service raids net hundreds of illegal workers this time of year. A recent raid in Mason County left a very young child separated from her mother, who was deported.

Other farmers have picked up entire operations and moved to Mexico. A readily available workforce and lower wages are a major reason that more time-honored American farmers continue to move operations to Mexico.

The failure to provide immigration reform — a guest-worker program and special legal status for illegal farm workers — means that more growers might have to leave their crops in the field or move their operations to a foreign country. Farmers and consumers will increasingly pay the price for a U.S. immigration policy that seems to be beyond repair.

We must continue to demand our government pass a comprehensive immigration law that works. Can we find a solution that will support farm workers but will not leave our farmers in the dust?

Felix Negron, a member of The Olympian's Diversity Panel, is a commissioner with the Washington State Commission on Hispanic Affairs. He can be reached at flnegron@hotmail.com.