Worker shortage makes immigration reform urgent
Issue Date: December 7, 2005
By Christine Souza
Assistant Editor
At the same time that President Bush is calling for immigration reform, lawmakers in the nation's capital are considering a number of bills that the authors say will solve the country's immigration and border control challenges. Meanwhile, California farmers and ranchers remain concerned about acquiring a stable work force.
"As expected, the response to President Bush's announcement runs the gamut, reflecting the diverse views that legislators and groups hold on this issue," said Jack King, California Farm Bureau Federation National Affairs manager. "But what's changed is that the Bush administration has made immigration a priority issue. This ensures that the issue will receive a lot of attention between now and early next year. It's hard to predict how the legislation will unfold. No question, California agriculture has a lot at stake."
The Bush administration has developed a three-part strategy that the president says would enhance homeland security through comprehensive immigration reform. Part one of the plan is to return every illegal immigrant caught crossing the Southwest border, with no exceptions. Second, the administration would work with Congress to reform immigration laws. Finally, the federal government would stop people from crossing the border illegally by increasing manpower at the border, deploying new technology and constructing physical barriers to entry. Part of the president's plan also involves working with Congress to create a guestworker program.
California agricultural leaders caution that legislation moving through various congressional committees must include a viable guestworker program to avoid severe losses to family farmers.
"Meaningful immigration reform leading to an effective guestworker program is vital to sustaining our family farms, not only in California, but in the nation as a whole," said CFBF President Bill Pauli. "We simply can't find enough domestic workers. It's no wonder that California has become a magnet for willing foreign workers. Just last year, hundreds of acres of produce were abandoned in the Imperial Valley because there was not enough help to harvest the crops."
Imperial County vegetable farmer Jack Vessey is just starting his winter harvest. He, like many other growers in the region, is experiencing a shortage of workers and he fears that if something does not get done right away, he may not be able to harvest his crops.
"I am very nervous. My harvesting company started harvesting in Yuma. I've actually talked to three different companies that are harvesting lettuce and they are all short of workers. Everybody I talked to is short of people and we haven't even started harvesting broccoli, cauliflower, leaf lettuce, romaine... ," Vessey said.
In recent weeks, the House Homeland Security Committee passed H.R. 4312, the Border Security and Terrorism Prevention Act of 2005, introduced by House Homeland Security Committee Chairman Peter T. King, R-NY.
The legislation, expected to be heard on the House floor this month, is an attempt to establish increased security along America's borders by ensuring the removal of all immigrants who attempt to enter the United States illegally. The bill eliminates the current "catch and release" policy, requiring that all illegal immigrants be detained at the border.
Opponents of the plan say it is narrowly focused since it does not include a guestworker element. Agricultural leaders around the state say without addressing temporary legal status for guestworkers, the plan would have a dire impact on California's agricultural sector.
Strong border enforcement legislation currently being developed comes at a time when agricultural communities adjacent to the Mexican border, such as in Imperial County and in Yuma, Ariz., are reporting a shortage of workers even before the peak of vegetable harvest season. These farmers rely on "commuter" workers who cross the border daily to work on farms.
"This (H.R. 4312) will certainly make it even more difficult for workers to come across the border legally. Of course anything that makes it harder to get across is certainly going to be tougher on the employees," said Stephen Birdsall, Imperial County agricultural commissioner. "The downside is Imperial farmers could certainly see even more produce being left in the fields because we can't get crews in to harvest it.
"Farmers want some sort of system that will expedite the process of getting these 2commuter' workers documented and across the border," he said.
Due to the recent warm weather experienced in the California-Mexico border region, Birdsall reports that some spinach and small leafy vegetables are currently being harvested. However the majority of the nation's winter vegetables will be picked from the area in about a month; that is, if farmers can locate enough workers.
Growers in Imperial County in recent weeks have reported a number of issues that have resulted in a shortage of workers: a poorly operated immigration system; increased border enforcement; competition for workers from other industries; lack of a viable guestworker program; intensified hassles at the border for those trying to cross legally; and border disruptions, constant stops, personal searches and violence.
In addition, farm laborers trying to cross the border legally frequently face hours-long delays, increased traffic and an untimely border opening, which results in making it too late for them to get to work.
"Growers are having problems finding anything from tractor drivers to harvesters to lettuce cutters. The majority of the folks that I've talked to say there is going to be a huge labor problem and it has already started," Birdsall said. "In Imperial Valley there is a need for at least 10,000 full-time workers a day for the harvest. But the reality is they actually need a pool of about 30,000 workers. For every one person that works they need three people, because one person will only work a third of the time. They will work for a couple of days and then not return and then the grower will need others to replace them."
Imperial Valley farmer Vessey said he recently went to the Employment Development Department requesting 300 workers but no one showed up to work. Although the labor shortage appears to most impact the farming regions along the California-Mexico border, Vessey said he is also experiencing a shortage of workers at his farm in the San Joaquin Valley.
"I have a garlic operation in the Huron area. Our harvest is usually July 4 and we finish by August. This year, we didn't finish until the end of September because we were short of people. And the raisin guys, they say they are down 40,000 workers this year," Vessey said. "They say there are 12 million illegal aliens working in the United States. Of that 12 million, 1 to 2 million are working in agriculture. We are the only ones standing up, raising our hands and saying, We have an issue, let's work together.' Something has to get done. It is hitting us first. We're here on the border. We just need some legally documented workers."
Vessey and other growers are appealing to the Department of Labor for emergency H2A assistance.
Ensuring that California farmers and ranchers have a plentiful work force must be considered when developing new legislation to protect the country's borders, according to Farm Bureau's King.
"It is very important to us that we have comprehensive immigration legislation that will deal well beyond enforcement so that we can develop a viable, ongoing guestworker program. It is important that Congress understand the importance of that. That is where we need the help of our members to let Congress know what is at stake here," King said.
The U.S. Senate is also looking at an overhaul of the country's immigration policy and border security that includes three major proposals: S. 1438 by John Cornyn, R-Texas, and Jon Kyl, R-Ariz.; S. 1033 by John McCain, R-Ariz., and cosponsored by Edward Kennedy, D-Mass.; and proposals by Chuck Hagel, R-Neb.
S. 1438 would require illegal immigrants to return to their home countries before applying for a new temporary guestworker visa. S. 1033 would allow undocumented immigrants to remain, apply for new work visas and have the possibility of earning permanent legal status. Hagel's four proposals deal with various elements of border security, including one proposal that includes a guestworker program.
King said that the Senate legislation will be a more comprehensive approach and will address not only strengthening security at the border, but also some form of guestworker program.
The Senate Judiciary Committee has responsibility for immigration legislation. The chairman, Sen. Arlen Specter, R-Pa., will likely combine elements of all the proposed bills, King said. While the legislation will be broad, it will likely contain a section dealing with agriculture's special, seasonal immigration needs. The House and Senate versions will then be brought together for a final bill.
A new legislative package that addresses both immigration reform and strengthening the nation's borders will likely be heard in the Senate in late February.
(Christine Souza is a reporter for Ag Alert. She may be contacted at csouza@cfbf.com.)
Permission for use is granted, however, credit must be made to the California Farm Bureau Federation when reprinting this item. Top