Thread: Groups say employer sanctions law will hurt farmers, etc.

Farmers still whining and wailing:
Groups say employer sanctions law will hurt farmers, consumers
Eric Graf
Cronkite News Service
Nov. 19, 2007 06:23 PM

Farmers will have an even tougher time finding legal workers and consumers will face higher prices for produce when Arizona's employer sanctions law, intended to punish businesses that knowingly hire illegal immigrants, takes effect Jan. 1, groups representing Arizona's agriculture industry say.

Farmers who rely on Mexican workers entering the country legally to provide seasonal help worry that additional background checks at the border will cause many of those workers to stay home, said Joe Sigg, director of government relations for the Arizona Farm Bureau.

In Yuma County, where most of the nation's winter lettuce is grown, buses bring in more than 20,000 documented workers from Mexico, Sigg said.

"We already see workers who are authorized that get discouraged waiting in line to come over and choose not to," Sigg said.

"If any of those workers are new to the payroll, their documents have to pass through the new system, and how the system responds to that remains to be seen," Sigg said.

As of Jan. 1, all Arizona employers will have to use a federal program that matches new employees with their Social Security numbers to determine their eligibility to work in the United States. The law states that if a business knowingly hires illegal workers twice, the state can permanently revoke the company's licenses.

Even without the new law, farmers are having trouble finding help, representatives of farm groups said.

"Last year, in my opinion, was the first year a shortage in labor drove up price," said John Boelts, president of the Yuma County Farm Bureau. "Was it an anomaly? It's a sign of things to come."

The Arizona Farm Bureau, a non-governmental organization of farmers, is among the groups suing in federal court to block the law.

While farmers generally are reluctant to discuss the use of undocumented labor, it is part of farming, said Steve Husman, the director of campus agricultural centers at the University of Arizona's Cooperative Extension.

"There's no question that a portion of the agriculture workforce in Arizona and California are undocumented," Husman said.

Husman said undocumented workers play a bigger role in Yuma County because that area requires more individuals to pick crops, as opposed to more mechanized processes for harvesting a crop such as cotton.

Agriculture accounts for around $1.3 billion in sales annually in Yuma County, according to the Arizona Department of Agriculture. Yuma supplies more than 90 percent of the nation's lettuce from November to April, according the Arizona Farm Bureau.

The law is one more challenge facing agriculture in Arizona, where a tough market for workers increases the likelihood that farmers will move their operations to Mexico, said Kevin Rodgers, president of the Arizona Farm Bureau.

"There may be a point soon where it's cheaper to bring (a crop) from south of Yuma instead of growing it in Yuma," Rodgers said.

While Rodgers' group opposes the new law, it still supports immigration reforms such as more work visas, he said.

"We're hoping the feds step up to give us some sort of worker program," Rodgers said. "Our fear is there are just not enough people to do these jobs."

The federal government needs to create a path for foreign workers to come into the country in a legal way, said Ed Hermes, a spokesman for the Arizona Department of Agriculture.

"We have a choice: Import labor or export agriculture," Hermes said.
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House Bill 2779 (Fair and Legal Employment Act)

Provisions

Would prohibit employers from knowingly or intentionally hiring undocumented workers.

Starting Jan. 1, would require all employers to run their employees through the Basic Pilot Program to determine their legal status. Use of the program would act as a sort of immunity for employers facing prosecution under the law.

Would form an eight-member committee to study employer-sanctions laws in Arizona and whether they are fairly enforced. A committee report would be due to the governor, speaker of the House and Senate president by the end of 2008.

Penalties

1st offense: Businesses caught "knowingly" employing an undocumented worker would lose their license for up to 10 days. Those caught "intentionally" hiring an undocumented worker would lose their license for at least 10 days.

The court would order that the employment of all undocumented workers at the business be terminated, and require the employer to sign an affidavit stating that the workers were fired and they will not hire such workers in the future. Employers would be placed on probation for three years (five, for "intentional" violations)

2nd offense (while on probation): Permanent revocation of the business license.

Enforcement

Investigations would be conducted based on complaints against employers.

If the complaint was shown to be valid, the investigator would be required to notify U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement and local law enforcement.

From the state's 2007-08 General Fund, the bill would provide $100,000 to the Arizona Attorney General's Office, and $2.4 million to be distributed to county prosecutors.


Napolitano on employer sanctions

Since early 2006, Gov. Janet Napolitano has repeatedly advocated a set of enforceable regulations to penalize employers of illegal labor.

"We need employer sanctions that really work so that when we enforce a new law, we have something that's in force and enforceable."

- Feb. 25, 2007; National Public Radio

"I have told you repeatedly that I am willing to work with you to develop comprehensive immigration reform that provides not only real sanctions against illegal hiring but also the resources our local law enforcement needs to play a meaningful role."

- June 6, 2006; veto letter explaining her rejection of House Bill 2577, which included employer sanctions

"People come here because they want work and employers here are willing to hire them. Those who continue to intentionally hire illegal immigrants should face substantial fines and penalties."

- Jan. 9, 2006; State of the State address

- Matthew Benson

http://www.azcentral.com/news/articles/ ... 19-ON.html

From one side of the mouth we hear that no fence or penalty will keep out the illegals, so we should live with the situation. From the other side of the mouth we hear that increased security at checkpoints will prevent the legals from coming. Huh?

Cry me a river!!

Originally Posted by gofer

Cry me a river!!

Don't just threaten to move to Mexico,DO IT ! The sooner you greedy farmers move to Mexico the sooner we can stop giving you millionaire AgraBusinesses welfare thru farm subsidy payments.

We can use that money to help small local growers to grow our food and it will taste better too,knowing Patriots grew the food instead of whining greedy traitors !!

Adios Cucarachas !!