Labor specialist lays out history, hope for immigration reform
Labor specialist lays out history, hope for immigration reform
SALINAS, CA -- The push for immigration reform has taken center stage on the U.S. national scene, and all that activity suggests a political willpower to make reform happen.
That was the message -- with qualifications and some reservations -- expressed by Howard Rosenberg, cooperative extension specialist in agricultural labor management for the Department of Agricultural & Resource Economics at the University of California at Berkeley.
Dr. Rosenberg spoke to an audience made up largely of the Salinas Valley agricultural community at a May 10 luncheon at the National Steinbeck Center, here, at its final Ag Forum luncheon series for the year.
Relating to agriculture, Dr. Rosenberg referred to the tussle over immigration reform as a "food fight." But unlike past legislative attempts at immigration reform, agriculture now has been joined by a host of other industries that rely heavily on illegal immigrants in the workforce.
Mr. Rosenberg said that there are two main legislative issues that are the focus of the political debate. The first is how to sustain food and fiber production in the United States, and the second is deciding which accommodations should be made for unauthorized workers.
Since January 2005, Congress had put together more than two dozen bills for consideration that would affect the agricultural labor supply, Mr. Rosenberg said.
The Agricultural Jobs, Opportunity, Benefits & Security Act of 2005, better known as AgJOBS, H.R. 884/S. 359, is one bill in the mix. The legislation has two components. First, the bill would create an earned adjustment program for undocumented farmworkers who would be eligible to apply for temporary immigration status based on their past work experience and who could adjust to permanent resident status upon satisfaction of the program's prospective agricultural work requirement. The spouse and minor children may adjust to permanent resident status once the farmworker does so. Second, the bill would reform the existing H-2A foreign agricultural guestworker program by reducing much of the red tape of which farm employers have long complained, while at the same time preserving and enhancing key labor protections for the guestworkers.
Following Mr. Rosenberg's talk, Alec Arago, district director for Rep. Sam Farr (D-CA), said that the Senate would decide on pending immigration reform legislation "in the next two or three months." If no bill is passed, the effort will be taken up in Congress next year.
That was the message -- with qualifications and some reservations -- expressed by Howard Rosenberg, cooperative extension specialist in agricultural labor management for the Department of Agricultural & Resource Economics at the University of California at Berkeley.
Dr. Rosenberg spoke to an audience made up largely of the Salinas Valley agricultural community at a May 10 luncheon at the National Steinbeck Center, here, at its final Ag Forum luncheon series for the year.
Relating to agriculture, Dr. Rosenberg referred to the tussle over immigration reform as a "food fight." But unlike past legislative attempts at immigration reform, agriculture now has been joined by a host of other industries that rely heavily on illegal immigrants in the workforce.
Mr. Rosenberg said that there are two main legislative issues that are the focus of the political debate. The first is how to sustain food and fiber production in the United States, and the second is deciding which accommodations should be made for unauthorized workers.
Since January 2005, Congress had put together more than two dozen bills for consideration that would affect the agricultural labor supply, Mr. Rosenberg said.
The Agricultural Jobs, Opportunity, Benefits & Security Act of 2005, better known as AgJOBS, H.R. 884/S. 359, is one bill in the mix. The legislation has two components. First, the bill would create an earned adjustment program for undocumented farmworkers who would be eligible to apply for temporary immigration status based on their past work experience and who could adjust to permanent resident status upon satisfaction of the program's prospective agricultural work requirement. The spouse and minor children may adjust to permanent resident status once the farmworker does so. Second, the bill would reform the existing H-2A foreign agricultural guestworker program by reducing much of the red tape of which farm employers have long complained, while at the same time preserving and enhancing key labor protections for the guestworkers.
Following Mr. Rosenberg's talk, Alec Arago, district director for Rep. Sam Farr (D-CA), said that the Senate would decide on pending immigration reform legislation "in the next two or three months." If no bill is passed, the effort will be taken up in Congress next year.
