Thread: Bipartisan push revives farmworker bill

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Bipartisan push revives farmworker bill
Senators reintroduce agriculture jobs act that would overhaul guest worker program, enable undocumented workers to become legal residents

By Laura Layden

Sunday, February 11, 2007

After more than seven years of fighting a losing battle, supporters of the Agricultural Job Opportunity, Benefits and Security Act finally may claim victory.

A group of senators reintroduced the bill, dubbed AgJobs, in January. It would overhaul the H-2A guest worker program and give experienced, undocumented farmworkers the chance to become legal residents in the United States.

The Senate approved the legislation last May, but Republicans blocked it from getting a vote in the House.

“I think clearly the change in leadership in the House and Senate has created a more fertile environment for moving AgJobs forward,” said Mike Stuart, president of the Florida Fruit & Vegetable Association, one of the largest agricultural trade groups for the state’s growers. “We are working with the sponsors in both houses to move it forward as quickly as possible.”

The bill has widespread support from agricultural groups, farmworker advocates and religious organizations across the country.

“This is not a situation where one side of the equation is pushing something,” Stuart said. “We’ve got a diverse, bipartisan coalition working together on this.”

Although support for AgJobs has grown, it still has its share of opponents, who argue it will only serve to reward workers who have violated the law and encourage more illegal workers to enter the United States.

Advocates have long pushed the bill as a way to provide a more stable, secure and safe work force for the U.S. agriculture industry. They say it would ensure that growers have enough workers to pick their crops, enable the government to track the farmworkers coming into the country and protect workers from abuses, such as smuggling and slavery.

“The majority of the agricultural work force is undocumented. This would give them the opportunity to come out of the shadows and to earn legal status, which would enable workers to be in a better position generally,” said Adrienne DerVartanian, staff attorney and policy analyst for the Washington, D.C.-based advocacy group Farmworker Justice.

U.S. senators Dianne Feinstein, D-Calif.; Larry Craig, R-Idaho; Edward Kennedy, D-Mass.; Mel Martinez, R-Fla.; Barbara Boxer, D-Calif., and George Voinovich, R-Ohio, reintroduced the legislation in January.

( I'm calling George in the morning )

“Florida’s citrus industry is the state’s second-largest, employing over 76,000 people and providing $8.5 billion in economic impact,” Martinez said in a news announcement. “Last year alone, over one third of Florida’s orange crop went left unpicked due to labor shortages. We must do a better job of ensuring the engines of our state’s economy, like the agricultural industry, have the legal avenue they need to ensure (they have enough) workers to get the job done.”

Sponsors of a companion bill in the House include Florida Reps. Allen Boyd, Lincoln Diaz-Balart and Adam Putnam, a citrus grower and third-highest-ranking House Republican.

The bill has two parts.

It creates a program to identify undocumented agricultural workers and legalize those who have worked in the U.S. for at least two years. It makes the H-2A program more workable by eliminating labor certification requirements and making it easier for farmworkers to get visas, advocates say.

“The best way to look at the program is that right now there are about 60,000 workers that enter the United States,” said Stuart of the Florida Fruit & Vegetable Association. “That number could increase by tenfold over a period of time, and the logistics of the program were never intended for that type of volume.”

Although they say it’s cumbersome and inefficient, more U.S. growers have increasingly turned to the H-2A program to get workers, as enforcement at the U.S.-Mexican border has tightened and as U.S. employers are increasingly targeted for employing illegal workers.

While congressional leaders have discussed broader immigration reforms, AgJobs supporters say legislation is needed specifically to deal with agricultural workers.

Estimates put the number of illegal workers in agriculture at more than 1 million.

In California alone, there are nearly a million undocumented workers harvesting crops, with as much as 90 percent of the farm labor payroll going to these workers, according to Feinstein.

Last year, California growers reported their harvesting crews were reduced by as much as 20 percent, she said.

“The costs are in the stratosphere: if the labor shortage continues, it means $3 billion a year in the short term and as much as $4.1 billion a year in the long term — just in California,” Feinstein said in a news release, explaining her support for AgJobs.

Among the organizations fighting AgJobs is NumbersUSA, a nonprofit group based in Washington, D.C., that describes itself as an “immigration-reduction organization.” The group believes the legislation will only encourage illegal immigration.

“When you have a program like AgJobs, you can’t be assured workers will go home when the job is done,” said Caroline Espinosa, spokeswoman for NumbersUSA.

The legislation would increase national security risks, not reduce them, she said.

Already, the government can’t handle the applications it receives for the guest worker program, and background checks aren’t being conducted properly, Espinosa said. ( The FBI is back logged over 100,000 back ground checks, some over a year )

If amnesty is granted, H-2A is no longer just a guest worker program, she points out.

The group also argues that once illegal workers are granted amnesty, many will leave agriculture for higher-paying jobs, actually creating less stability in the work force and depressing wages.

AgJobs also will cost taxpayers a lot of money, because once workers are legal they’ll qualify for public benefits, such as health care, increasing costs for everyone, Espinosa said.

Last year, the Senate approved AgJobs as part of a comprehensive immigration reform bill. That gives supporters added confidence it will win congressional approval this year, with the change in priorities that have come with a shift to a Democratic majority.

Some of the major “obstructionists” are no longer in the position of power in the House, such as Rep. James Sensenbrenner, R-Wis., said DerVartanian, with Farmworker Justice.

“There are a few senators and representatives who may like to see changes to the bill,” she said. “But we believe there is majority support for the bill.”

The legislation has been tweaked slightly since last year and advocates believe it may have enough support this year to gain approval on its own.

Feinstein has suggested that AgJobs could become a “pilot project” for broader immigration reform.

Supporters hope for a vote before Congress recesses in August, before the presidential politics really heat up ahead of the 2008 election.

A look at AgJobs

-- The guest worker program known as H-2A would get an overhaul, making it easier for U.S. growers to bring in foreign workers.

-- Undocumented workers could earn legal status if they show they’ve worked in U.S. agriculture for at least 150 days during the past two years.

-- Workers would first get “blue cards,” giving them temporary legal residency. The U.S. government would give out no more than 1.5 million of the cards over five years, at which time the program sunsets.

-- Agricultural workers with blue cards could travel in and outside of the United States. Their spouses and children could get blue cards, too, giving them the same travel freedom.

-- To get green cards, blue card holders would have to work at least another three years in U.S. agriculture.

-- Before applying for green cards, farmworkers would have to pay a $500 fine, show they’ve paid their taxes and that they haven’t been convicted of any serious crime.

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Source: U.S. Sen. Dianne Feinstein’s Web site, www.feinstein.senate.gov

A segment of the agricultural sector has been hiring illegal alien workers ever since 1986. They know and have known exactly what they are doing.
Their entire business model is based on illegal activity, and they do not deserve our sympathy.

Instead of getting an Ag Jobs law to reward them, many farm owners should be prosecuted for knowingly hiring illegal workers.

If they claim that they can't get native workers to work cheaply enough for their farms to be viable, that just shows that they either need to automate or that the business is not viable in the United States. Let Mexico and other countries grow the fruit and that way there will be more jobs in those countries. That in turn will reduce illegal immigration.

So, when these new guest workers leave the field to obtain a construction job....I guess the farmers will continually cry for more guest workers!

I agree, every country should grow or raise their own food, why pass it around the world???

“Florida’s citrus industry is the state’s second-largest, employing over 76,000 people and providing $8.5 billion in economic impact,” Martinez said in a news announcement. “Last year alone, over one third of Florida’s orange crop went left unpicked due to labor shortages. We must do a better job of ensuring the engines of our state’s economy, like the agricultural industry, have the legal avenue they need to ensure (they have enough) workers to get the job done.”

This is absolute bull manure and the illegal immigrant lover Martinez knows it!

Originally Posted by moosetracks

So, when these new guest workers leave the field to obtain a construction job....I guess the farmers will continually cry for more guest workers!

I agree, every country should grow or raise their own food, why pass it around the world???

Actually, I'm saying we should import the fruit from Mexico or Chile. Anywhere that can grow it cost-effectively. This will provide those countries with economic activity so they can develop. It appears that this industry is simply not viable in the United States under its current business model- unless they rely on imported low-cost labor, which is stupid because such labor is subsidized by the taxpayers whenever a medical problem occurs etc.