No Quick Fix for Immigration Reform
3/5/2010
By Catherine Merlo


In small San Joaquin Valley farming communities, such as Buttonwillow, Calif., illegal immigration is a fact of life.

Buttonwillow’s flat sprawling fields and orchards draw hundreds of farm workers each year. They come—somehow, someway—from Mexico and El Salvador to work cotton, tomatoes, corn, onions, carrots, cabbage, wheat, pistachios and almonds.

Despite the seemingly legal documents presented to farmers, this foreign-born workforce is likely 75% unauthorized.

That’s the reality of the hired farm labor force across the U.S. today, says Craig Regelbrugge, co-chair of the Agriculture Coalition for Immigration Reform.

Regelbrugge is among those leading the charge for immigration reform and an overhaul of the guest-worker program.

“No issue is as fundamental to the survivalâ€