Thread: SEE WHAT OUR FARMERS HAVE TO SAY ABOUT THE IMMIGRATION

LETS SEE WHAT THE FARMERS HAVE TO SAY ABOUT THE IMMIGRATION PROBLEMS HERE it might not be what you think :

http://www.pfb.com/government-affairs/t ... -swan.html

http://southeastfarmpress.com/mag/farmi ... ys_senate/

http://www.cfbf.com/issues/ImmigrationReform.cfm

AND I HAVE 170 OTHERS

Chambliss says Senate Judiciary immigration bill would hurt farmers
Apr 19, 2006 12:00 PM, By

Forrest Laws Farm Press Editorial Staff
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Saxby Chambliss says the agricultural guest worker program language reported out by the Senate Judiciary Committee March 27 will "punish" farmers who have been abiding by the law and utilizing the H-2A program, the current, temporary guest worker program.

Not only that, it would create a new "blue card" program that would enable current or future aliens to enter the United States, work for a farmer or rancher for a short time and then move on to other, "less back-breaking" forms of employment, the chairman of the Senate Agriculture Committee said.

Speaking during the Senate debate on immigration reform legislation, Chambliss said Congress must ensure that a "legal process for hiring foreign workers is put into place and strictly adhered to." But it must also address the problem of the estimated 11.5 million non-citizens who are currently in the country illegally.

"The immigration problem in our country is out of control and must be solved," he said. "Our top priority in this immigration reform debate is to provide for real and comprehensive border security. We must also address in a responsible manner the presence of an enormous illegal population currently in our country."

The Georgia Republican said he believes the reform legislation passed by the Judiciary Committee on a 12-6 vote would provide a path to permanent citizenship for all currently illegal immigrants working in agriculture.

"This is not what Georgians or the American people want," he said. "When this debate reaches the Senate floor, I plan to offer an amendment providing an alternative that will address the needs of agriculture in a more responsible way." (The Senate held two debates on the bill the week of March 27 and was scheduled to take it up again April 3.)

Chambliss said the magnitude of the flow of illegal immigrants into the United States has been "astounding." The U.S. Border Patrol arrested 1.2 million illegal immigrants in 2005, but hundreds of thousands more are believed to have entered the country unlawfully because the Border Patrol didn't have the resources to stop them.

"We can address this problem and we will, by providing more Border Patrol agents, better infrastructure, additional checkpoints and the use of the latest technology available," he said, adding that Congress must also deal with the magnet that is drawing so many to the United States — the promise of a job.

"Most illegal immigrants in the United States do not come to this country to cause us harm but rather came to earn a better life for themselves and their families," he said. "We can address this problem, and we will by mandating employer sanctions for those who flaunt the rule of law and continue to hire illegal workers and by providing tamper-proof documentation to those who are authorized to work in the United States."

Chambliss said he doesn't think the legislation passed by the Judiciary Committee should be called a guest worker bill. "It is more appropriately named a citizen-worker bill because it provides a clear new path to citizenship for aliens who are currently in the United States illegally."

In a statement released by his office, Chambliss said his immigration reform proposal would:

Provide a mechanism for addressing the presence of undocumented agricultural workers in the United States without creating a potential work stoppage on the nation's farms or providing a new path to citizenship.

Ensure stringent protections for American workers are in place. Crack down on employers who hire illegal workers. "If Congress provides employers with a viable migrant worker program to obtain a reliable legal workforce, we should not tolerate and hold accountable employers who hire illegal aliens," he said.

"Employers who knowingly violate the law by hiring unauthorized workers are hampering America's efforts to secure the border."
Require the Department of Homeland Security to provide each H2A worker with a tamper and counterfeit-proof document with biometric identifiers and requires the H2A employer to verify the work authorization of all domestic workers.

Ensure that foreign workers' ties to their country of nationality remain strong, mandates limits to a foreign worker's continuous stay in the U.S. without returning to his/her country of nationality for specified periods, but allows employers to extend work periods as necessary to ensure that crops are planted, cultivated and harvested in a timely manner.

Require the U.S. Department of Labor to increase the number of random audits and investigations of program users to ensure compliance with US workplace laws and regulations.

`New immigration reform legislation passed by the House last year deals only with tightening security of U.S. borders and includes no provisions for providing temporary or permanent guest worker programs.

An American Farm Bureau Federation study predicts the failure to include a comprehensive guest worker program in any new or reformed immigration law would cost the U.S. farm sector $9 billion annually overall and up to $5 billion a year in net farm income.

The study says the U.S. fruit and vegetable sector would disappear because those producers — who are especially depend on hired labor — would no longer be able to compete with growers in central and South America.

The Farm Bureau says that about 3 million persons now work in U.S. agriculture with about 2 million drawn from farm families and 1 million hired from off the farm. "Although no one knows the precise figure, estimates say half or more of agriculture's hired labor force of 1 million is not authorized to work in the United States," a Farm Bureau spokesman said.

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While I can agree that migrant workers have been a part of the farming industry is true, I feel that the main reason these farmers are now having a hard time getting workers is that the migrants/illegals that have come here are finding it better to seek permanent employment with construction companies, landscaping companies, etc..

So the ones who used to come, do farm work, then move on or back to their countries, are now seeking a permanent and more lucrative way to live here. They don't just want to be here for the farm work anymore, they want the whole American dream, without being Americans.

Sure the farmers are having a hard time, but it is not us or the government causing the shortage of willing workers, it is the migrant/illegals desire for an easier way.

Originally Posted by AmericanElizabeth

While I can agree that migrant workers have been a part of the farming industry is true, I feel that the main reason these farmers are now having a hard time getting workers is that the migrants/illegals that have come here are finding it better to seek permanent employment with construction companies, landscaping companies, etc..

So the ones who used to come, do farm work, then move on or back to their countries, are now seeking a permanent and more lucrative way to live here. They don't just want to be here for the farm work anymore, they want the whole American dream, without being Americans.

Sure the farmers are having a hard time, but it is not us or the government causing the shortage of willing workers, it is the migrant/illegals desire for an easier way.

i agree

Originally Posted by AmericanElizabeth

While I can agree that migrant workers have been a part of the farming industry is true, I feel that the main reason these farmers are now having a hard time getting workers is that the migrants/illegals that have come here are finding it better to seek permanent employment with construction companies, landscaping companies, etc..

So the ones who used to come, do farm work, then move on or back to their countries, are now seeking a permanent and more lucrative way to live here. They don't just want to be here for the farm work anymore, they want the whole American dream, without being Americans.

Sure the farmers are having a hard time, but it is not us or the government causing the shortage of willing workers, it is the migrant/illegals desire for an easier way.

I have to say that of all the comments I have heard on this issue with regard to the farmers that are crying for help, you have just explained it!
I could not agree more with your statement! Good call AmericanElizabeth!

Think about it $60 a day to work in the fields
$150 a day to hang drywall
Both are hard work.
And both are self employment
Both allow freedom of crime and both aren’t watched closely enough for someone to get caught for being a soon to be dearly deported.

While I can agree that migrant workers have been a part of the farming industry is true, I feel that the main reason these farmers are now having a hard time getting workers is that the migrants/illegals that have come here are finding it better to seek permanent employment with construction companies, landscaping companies, etc..

So the ones who used to come, do farm work, then move on or back to their countries, are now seeking a permanent and more lucrative way to live here. They don't just want to be here for the farm work anymore, they want the whole American dream, without being Americans.

Sure the farmers are having a hard time, but it is not us or the government causing the shortage of willing workers, it is the migrant/illegals desire for an easier way.
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I agree with what you just said too, AE. That is the reason.

BTW, did anyone see on TV today that they had prisoners from the jail working to help after the tornadoes in Florida?

They could also be sent to pick the fruit too.

Originally Posted by LegalUSCitizen

While I can agree that migrant workers have been a part of the farming industry is true, I feel that the main reason these farmers are now having a hard time getting workers is that the migrants/illegals that have come here are finding it better to seek permanent employment with construction companies, landscaping companies, etc..

So the ones who used to come, do farm work, then move on or back to their countries, are now seeking a permanent and more lucrative way to live here. They don't just want to be here for the farm work anymore, they want the whole American dream, without being Americans.

Sure the farmers are having a hard time, but it is not us or the government causing the shortage of willing workers, it is the migrant/illegals desire for an easier way.
_________________

I agree with what you just said too, AE. That is the reason.

BTW, did anyone see on TV today that they had prisoners from the jail working to help after the tornadoes in Florida?

They could also be sent to pick the fruit too.

i been saying that for years

if you think about it the guys doing the picking are already bad guys (fed law breakers)
but,ill bet it will tak a ten page report to see just how to send jail birds to work the farms and a nother ten page report to read the first ten pags
just get it done

See, if we started having federal prisoners, or state, then the ACLU would be in the middle saying it was something like "inhumane" or "forced labor".

My own uncle, who had been a bachelor, who also had a bad drinking problem, did migrant farm work for ages. He would go to work picking apples in Hood River, Oregon, and then up to Wenatchee as well. They always had cabins for these men.

Aplle and pear picking is still something that has to be done by hand, you really cannot just shake them off the tree's, it will ruin market fruit, they'll bruise. As for who is picking them now, well, there are illegals in these places, but I think that our states need to lift the rules on kids working, and then farmers could employ the teens, keep them busy and out of trouble, plus teach them a lot of work ethic and responsibility.

Liz, you first comment is exactly the way I`ve always looked at it. I was raised on a dairy farm.

I was thinking, For tree fruit and other crops, they could come up with a large vacuum with a speed control which at a low speed would pull off the ripest fruit first. Padded inner walls flexible bisstles thruogh out the inside and crossing the passage way to reduce or slow down the incoming fruit.