Sen. Bill Nelson
SH-716, United States Senate
Washington, DC 20510

Dear Senator Nelson:

I am writing to respectfully ask you to oppose any efforts to attach the AgJOBS amnesty to the farm bill next week.

While I question the need or the advisability of large-scale foreign agricultural worker importation, I support efforts to drive all such hiring through legal programs that are designed to minimize the negative effect on our American native and legal immigrant agricultural workers. Happily, this program already exists through the H-2A visa. Unhappily, your colleagues are either unaware of this Federal program or truly are as callous towards American workers as their support for the AgJOBS indicates.

It is a shame that U.S. senators would ignore the existence of this program (and the plight of agricultural workers who labor for sub-standard wages), but that is exactly what some of your colleagues are doing by attempting to pass this AgJOBS amnesty.

It is time for the 1.5 million or more illegal agricultural workers to go home. To the extent legal U.S. residents can't be found to replace them, we should handle that through the existing legal foreign worker program.

Farmers who have routinely broken immigration laws by hiring illegal aliens often argue that they don't want legal workers because they are used to the illegal ones they have been using for a long time. Even that wish can be handled through the existing program. If the illegals go home, the farmers can specifically recruit their former illegal workers through H-2A. But those workers would then have to be paid legal rates and they would have to abide by the rules, including going back home regularly.

I actually believe that most farmers oppose amnesty and would prefer to hire a legal workforce. Many of these farmers complain that the H-2A program is simply too burdensome. We should take their concerns seriously and support reforms that would make the H-2A faster, more dependable and remove any outdated requirements. I strongly caution you, however, to be suspicious of any lobbyists who promote amnesty but show little interest in reforming the H-2A program. Those lobbyists only represent the interests of open-border groups and robber barons.

If you want to help farmers, support H-2A reforms. Do not support amnesty. I will be following up with you to be sure you make the right choice.
Phone me if you would like to talk about this,


P.S. I think you sealed your political fate on this one.... We get the message that you are pro amnesty.... pro give away, pro benifits...for Illegal Aliens ... We will be Pro get rid of your pathetic carrear as Soon as you are up for re-election. Then you can go do the livin la-vida loca on your dime. Work on your resume; you are toast!!!!

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