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Will immigration reform drain labor pool?
Some insist we can't reward people for breaking law; others wonder who will be left to do the work



Doug Abrahms
Gannett News Service
October 18, 2005

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Suzanne Powell has not seen a labor shortage at her Coachella farm, but she is concerned that new immigration restrictions could reduce the pool of workers available.
"The labor issue is going to have to be fixed," said Powell, senior vice president of Peter Rabbit Farms, which grows carrots, lettuce and grapes. "There's got to be a compromise that people can be here and legally have a job."

The U.S. Senate will make another stab at reforming immigration policy today as the Judiciary Committee starts work on a bill that seeks to stem the flow of illegal immigrants crossing the Mexican border.

The big rift is whether to reform immigration laws to provide limited legal status for most of the estimated 10 million to 12 million illegal immigrants currently living in the United States and then step up border security. Others want to ramp up enforcement of current laws, which could cause labor problems for U.S. farming, construction and hotel industries.

Economic drain?

Tim Donnelly, who heads Minuteman Corps of California, said that illegal immigrants, who use government services including schools and hospitals, cause economic problems. The Minuteman Project uses volunteers sitting at the border reporting illegal crossings or activity to the U.S. Border Patrol.
The other major issue is whether immigrants who broke the law to enter the country should now be given legal status, he said.

"Either we are a nation of laws or we are not," said Donnelly, who was patrolling the border Friday in Boulevard, Calif., which is about 140 miles south of Indio. "If we don't have laws, I won't start paying my taxes.

"Anything that has the term immigration reform in Washington makes me deeply suspicious," said Donnelly, who owns his business in Twin Peaks, Calif.

Rep. Mary Bono, R-Palm Springs, said she supports legislation that would require illegal immigrants to go home and secure identification cards before returning to the United States to work. A bill sponsored by Sens. John McCain, R-Ariz., and Edward Kennedy, D-Mass., would allow illegal immigrants to remain in the country after completing a background check and paying a fine.


"It certainly doesn't make sense to reward people who have broken the law," Bono said. "This is the first time in my over seven years in Congress that Congress is getting very serious about (immigration reform)."
No one knows exactly how many illegal immigrants live in the United States.

The U.S. Census Bureau estimates that of about 1.8 million people living in Riverside County, about 233,000 aren't citizens. Some have legal status while others do not.

Key to economy

The region's building industry relies on immigrant labor, and that has become a limiting factor in the growth of the construction sector, said Ed Kibbey, executive director of the California Building Industry Association's Desert Chapter.
"We can only build the number of houses that we can find qualified workers to build them," he said. "Here in the Coachella Valley, we've been unable to meet that demand."

Construction workers provide legal documents to their employers proving their right to work in the United States as required by law, Kibbey said, but some paperwork is forged. Strict enforcement of current immigration laws without some sort of reform would be a serious problem to the building industry, he said.

Blaine Carian, vice president of Desert Fresh Inc. in Coachella, said farmers need a guest-worker program. The farm company, which employs up to 900 people harvesting grapes and lemons, can't get enough willing workers even though many jobs pay more than $9 an hour.

"If you have a guest-worker program, people move back and forth," he said. "Right now, what happens is people who are here illegally are afraid to go back."

David Greene, who founded a Palm Springs group that has helped tens of thousands of immigrants obtain legal status since 1987, said U.S. policies have accepted high numbers of illegal immigrants because of all the jobs that needed to be filled.

"The number (of illegal immigrants) keeps growing because the economic need is there," said Greene of the Coachella Valley Immigration Service and Assistance Inc. "We need these people. Quit calling them criminals."

Greene, who supports legal status for those working in the United States and who are not criminals, says he is constantly asked by local Hispanics about immigration reform in Congress.

"The Hispanic community that I talk to is very anxious for things to happen," he said. "I think there's an awful lot of pent-up frustration."

Powell of Peter Rabbit Farms said there must be a balance between homeland security and economic growth. Her company hires up to 1,000 workers in high season, she said. All are paid more than the minimum wage, and they all have legal documents, although some may be false, she said.

"People need to look very, very hard at where their homes come from, where their food comes from," she said. "If somebody wants to come to this country and legally work and learn a trade, they should have an opportunity to do it."