Canada has a "Seasonal Agricultural Worker Program (SAWP)" which does not lead to Canadian residency or citizenship. The Canadian government also fully guarantees the wages, housing, and insurance (public and private) benefits of these workers while they are employed in Canada. "SAWP" includes employment of seasonal workers from Mexico in addition to workers primarily from former members of the British Commonwealth in the Caribbean. Each of these foreign governments themselves selects the workers who will participate in the program. "SAWP" provides for the transportation of these seasonal workers both to Canada and back to their home countries.

Canada's "Seasonal Agricultural Worker Program (SAWP)" is described at www.hrsdc.gc.ca on the homepage of "Human Resources and Social Development Canada" on the official website of the Government of Canada. "SAWP" "allows the organized entry of foreign workers to work in agricultural labourer occupations.....": we never read about "Canadian crops rotting in the fields", or of Canadian farmers "not being able to compete on world markets"!

As soon as Congress's "Fourth of July break" is over, we have been warned that Sen. Larry Craig (R-ID) and the "California Powers That Be" are ready to do a "full court press" to reintroduce and quickly pass the "AG-JOBS" amnesty legislation which was also contained as part of S. 1348/S. 1639.

H.R. 371, the "Agricultural Job Opportunities, Benefits, and Security (AG-JOBS) Act of 2007" introduced by Rep. Howard Berman (CA-28th) on 1/12/2007 would give U.S. residential amnesty to ANY person who has "worked in agriculture" here for "at least 863 hours or l50 work days", or less than one summer's work! The companion bill in the Senate is S. 237, introduced first by Sen. Dianne Feinstein of CA. on 1/10/207.
Among the co-sponsors of S. 237 are Sens. BOXER, CRAIG, KENNEDY, SPECTER, CLINTON, HAGEL, MARTINEZ (FL), SALAZAR (CO), and Voinovich.

But "SAWP" demonstrates it is NOT NECESSARY that we give U.S. residency or citizenship to temporary workers exclusively in agriculture in order to provide U.S. farmers with a steady supply of reliable workers, and also to fully protect the rights of these foreign workers while they are employed here: Canada already does it!

In preparing ourselves to combat the upcoming push for yet another agricultural worker amnesty, I suggest we point to Canada's successful "Seasonal Agricultural Worker Program (SAWP)" to prove that granting residency/citizenship is evidentally not necessary to establish and administrate a successful national temporary agricultural program! Instead, we could use Canada's "SAWP" as a successful model to revise our current H-2A Visas U.S. "Temporary Worker Program for Agriculture" for the benefit of both U.S. farmers and those whom they need to employ.