Ag groups pick critical window to lobby on immigration reform
Ag groups pick critical window to lobby on immigration reform
WASHINGTON -- With the future of immigration reform hanging by a thread, 160 growers and producers descended on Congress May 16 to warn of the dire circumstances to an industry unable to find a legal workforce.
"There are consequences to you, the country, if Congress does nothing," warned Monte Lake, a legal advisor to the Agriculture Coalition for Immigration Reform and an attorney with McGuiness & Williams.
Mr. Lake said that agricultural lobbyists should make Congress understand the impact of job losses if businesses fail due to labor problems.
He said that the labor crisis could only worsen with enforcement-only approaches that do not take into account the agricultural industry's unique dependence on workers who often lack legal status.
With the swipe of a card, a new electronic verification technology could end up confirming only legal workers in the workforce. This means growers will lose 70 percent of their workforce at the front gate, he said. "Electronic verification will not be business as usual," he said.
Morning speakers briefed the 160 agriculture business leaders representing 24 states who had signed up to visit more than 100 lawmakers on Capitol Hill. The immigration reform fly-in was organized by the United Fresh Produce Association, the U.S. Apple Association, Western Growers Association and the Society of American Florists.
The day before, the groups held a press conference with immigration reform advocates U.S. Sens. Diane Feinstein (D-CA) and Larry Craig (R-ID). The timing could not have been better. The Senate was still brokering compromise legislation that may be debated as early as May 21. If a compromise could not be reached, Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid (D-NV) said that he might consider resuscitating last year's comprehensive reform bill.
"We don't have any new people coming in, and we have a technological noose closing," said Mike Gempler, chairman of the National Council of Agriculture Employers. If Congress does not move now, companies will lose market share and lose production to foreign producers, he said.
Maureen Torrey Marshall, past chairman of United Fresh, said that her business decisions have hinged on whether Congress would help agricultural companies create a stable and legal workforce.
"If there is no solution, I don't know if I'll be here farming next year," she said. Plans to build a new packing facility have been on hold, she added, because "I don't feel like it's safe to build it yet."
Ms. Torrey Marshall of Elba, NY-based Torrey Farms testified at a May 10 House Small Business Committee on the potential economic impact of failing to find a solution to the labor crisis.
"We are the largest employer in our town and among the largest in Genesee County with payroll over $10 million a year with our farm entities," she said. Without a solution, much of the food production will move to Canada, Mexico, South America and China, and a series of jobs dependent on farming will be lost as well, she said.
First, Congress needs to reform the 50-year-old H-2A program to make it workable. Second, trained, law-abiding workers need to have the chance of continuing to work and become permanent residents, she said.
The federal H-2A guest worker program "is cumbersome, bureaucratic and offers no flexibility," Phil Glaize, a Virginia apple grower, said at the May 15 press conference.
"You must designate the arrival and departure date of your workers long before you know when you might actually need them," Mr. Glaize said. "Harvesting fruit is not a precise science; without being able to change the scheduled workers, growers can easily end up with apples needing to be harvested when the workers are not available."
Western Growers Association President Tom Nassif warned that foreign worker issues must be fixed this year.
"The last best chance for immigration reform in the foreseeable future is upon us," he said. "If Congress does not move on this critical issue, this country will have lost its best opportunity to fix our broken immigration policy for at least several years."
U.S. Rep. Chris Cannon (R-UT) said that he is hoping for an immigration reform bill to survive the committee process by end of July, with both chambers ironing out differences during the August recess.
"If there is no bill by September, the issue is dead for three more years," he said.
In other news, the House of Representatives passed, by a vote of 302-120, a stand-alone $3.5 billion bill that would help producers with agricultural disaster assistance.
"I am very pleased to see the House overwhelmingly pass disaster assistance for those who have been affected by adverse weather conditions," Tom Buis, president of the National Farmers Union, said in a statement. "I would encourage the Senate to take similar action and strongly urge the president to sign the bill into law."
Producers who suffered crop and livestock losses during 2005, 2006 and 2007 would be eligible, and farmers who lost 35 percent or more of their crop from weather-related disasters could apply.
President Bush vetoed the first supplemental appropriations bill that funded war costs and agriculture disaster money. The House leadership agreed to split up the issues, although it is unclear whether President Bush will veto the farm disaster bill.
"There are consequences to you, the country, if Congress does nothing," warned Monte Lake, a legal advisor to the Agriculture Coalition for Immigration Reform and an attorney with McGuiness & Williams.
Mr. Lake said that agricultural lobbyists should make Congress understand the impact of job losses if businesses fail due to labor problems.
He said that the labor crisis could only worsen with enforcement-only approaches that do not take into account the agricultural industry's unique dependence on workers who often lack legal status.
With the swipe of a card, a new electronic verification technology could end up confirming only legal workers in the workforce. This means growers will lose 70 percent of their workforce at the front gate, he said. "Electronic verification will not be business as usual," he said.
Morning speakers briefed the 160 agriculture business leaders representing 24 states who had signed up to visit more than 100 lawmakers on Capitol Hill. The immigration reform fly-in was organized by the United Fresh Produce Association, the U.S. Apple Association, Western Growers Association and the Society of American Florists.
The day before, the groups held a press conference with immigration reform advocates U.S. Sens. Diane Feinstein (D-CA) and Larry Craig (R-ID). The timing could not have been better. The Senate was still brokering compromise legislation that may be debated as early as May 21. If a compromise could not be reached, Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid (D-NV) said that he might consider resuscitating last year's comprehensive reform bill.
"We don't have any new people coming in, and we have a technological noose closing," said Mike Gempler, chairman of the National Council of Agriculture Employers. If Congress does not move now, companies will lose market share and lose production to foreign producers, he said.
Maureen Torrey Marshall, past chairman of United Fresh, said that her business decisions have hinged on whether Congress would help agricultural companies create a stable and legal workforce.
"If there is no solution, I don't know if I'll be here farming next year," she said. Plans to build a new packing facility have been on hold, she added, because "I don't feel like it's safe to build it yet."
Ms. Torrey Marshall of Elba, NY-based Torrey Farms testified at a May 10 House Small Business Committee on the potential economic impact of failing to find a solution to the labor crisis.
"We are the largest employer in our town and among the largest in Genesee County with payroll over $10 million a year with our farm entities," she said. Without a solution, much of the food production will move to Canada, Mexico, South America and China, and a series of jobs dependent on farming will be lost as well, she said.
First, Congress needs to reform the 50-year-old H-2A program to make it workable. Second, trained, law-abiding workers need to have the chance of continuing to work and become permanent residents, she said.
The federal H-2A guest worker program "is cumbersome, bureaucratic and offers no flexibility," Phil Glaize, a Virginia apple grower, said at the May 15 press conference.
"You must designate the arrival and departure date of your workers long before you know when you might actually need them," Mr. Glaize said. "Harvesting fruit is not a precise science; without being able to change the scheduled workers, growers can easily end up with apples needing to be harvested when the workers are not available."
Western Growers Association President Tom Nassif warned that foreign worker issues must be fixed this year.
"The last best chance for immigration reform in the foreseeable future is upon us," he said. "If Congress does not move on this critical issue, this country will have lost its best opportunity to fix our broken immigration policy for at least several years."
U.S. Rep. Chris Cannon (R-UT) said that he is hoping for an immigration reform bill to survive the committee process by end of July, with both chambers ironing out differences during the August recess.
"If there is no bill by September, the issue is dead for three more years," he said.
In other news, the House of Representatives passed, by a vote of 302-120, a stand-alone $3.5 billion bill that would help producers with agricultural disaster assistance.
"I am very pleased to see the House overwhelmingly pass disaster assistance for those who have been affected by adverse weather conditions," Tom Buis, president of the National Farmers Union, said in a statement. "I would encourage the Senate to take similar action and strongly urge the president to sign the bill into law."
Producers who suffered crop and livestock losses during 2005, 2006 and 2007 would be eligible, and farmers who lost 35 percent or more of their crop from weather-related disasters could apply.
President Bush vetoed the first supplemental appropriations bill that funded war costs and agriculture disaster money. The House leadership agreed to split up the issues, although it is unclear whether President Bush will veto the farm disaster bill.
