Please ensure Javascript is enabled for purposes of website accessibility
Failed Immigration Policies Put Farmers at Severe Risk
GV-Wire-1
By gvwire
Published 7 years ago on
January 18, 2018

Share

Opinion
by George Radanovich

In the United States, as in many prosperous nations, foreign workers play a critical role in the production of our nation’s food supply. As Congress struggles with the contentious issue of illegal immigration, it is important that legislators consider the disastrous consequence if no workers show up to grow, harvest and ship our nation’s fruits and vegetables, even if only for one season.
If our president, senators and congressmen are willing to consider the needs of American farmers — and the importance of sustaining a domestic food supply — in their deliberations over immigration policy, the strategy they develop quite possibly could end illegal immigration altogether.

The challenge remains the same for American agriculture: bring an end to illegal immigration and do no harm to our domestic food supply.

During my 16-year term as a congressman representing California’s agriculturally diverse San Joaquin Valley, I sought to address the labor needs of America’s specialty crop farmers. I co-authored H.R. 3142 (2003), H.R. 884 (2005), H.R. 371 (2007), and H.R. 2414(2009), and championed initiatives that would end illegal immigration while protecting farmers. This can happen only by strengthening border security, implementing E-verify (an electronic employment verification system), allowing foreign workers to come and go with the season, and permitting those who are otherwise law-abiding to continue their contribution in food production.

Failed Immigration Policies

Today, as an executive for a California-based agricultural trade association (our growers, packers and shippers help produce most of our nation’s domestically grown fruits) I am again confronted with the ongoing difficulties of ensuring a stable, legal workforce in the face of our government’s failed immigration policies. The challenge remains the same for American agriculture: bring an end to illegal immigration and do no harm to our domestic food supply.

Most agricultural labor in the western United States is unauthorized residents — estimated at 400,000 in California and 800,000 nationally.

In the past, most foreign worker programs originated from the executive branch of government as treaties. Some of those treaties became legislated programs, such as H2A. In the West, the Bracero program was negotiated with Mexico to address agricultural labor needs, until its termination in the 1960s.
The border was open for migrant workers to cross to harvest crops as they ripened; generally, workers returned to Mexico when the growing season ended. However, as border enforcement increased over the years, so did the dangers and expense of crossing the border. As a result, many workers remain in the United States. Now, most agricultural labor in the western United States is unauthorized residents — estimated at 400,000 in California and 800,000 nationally.
So, while every American should support the immediate removal of dangerous and violent criminals, a majority of these immigrants crossed the border as poor and downtrodden souls.  The idea of immigrating by the letter of the law under desperate circumstances seems like ivory-tower semantics, especially in the absence of robust border security and a legitimate foreign worker agreement.

Specialty Crop Agriculture at Risk

In this, the United States shares the blame of enabling illegal immigration along with those who crossed illegally. It is those immigrants that specialty crop agriculture cannot survive without, even for one year, while waiting for a new guest worker program and tighter border security.

“Is immigration a domestic policy or a foreign policy? A purely legislative, domestic approach has simply not worked.”

Since the annulment of the Bracero program, the agricultural workforce issue has not been adequately addressed. Sound immigration policy is mired down in the Beltway swamp of politics. In our partisan Congress, anything but border control and mass deportation is amnesty to some, while open borders and a pathway to citizenship seem perfectly acceptable to others. Fifty years of congressional debate has produced nothing.
Timothy J. Kane, JP Conte Fellow in Immigration Studies at the Hoover Institution at Stanford University, has it right when he says, “The immigration quagmire in Congress may be a consequence of misplaced authority. Is immigration a domestic policy or a foreign policy? A purely legislative, domestic approach has simply not worked.” Indeed, the legislative branch will need help from the president, who could negotiate with foreign partners while working with Congress to end illegal immigration.

Breaking the Immigration Impasse

Through a diplomatic agreement such as a treaty, trade or executive agreement, President Trump could break the immigration impasse and provide the farm sector the assurance of an uninterrupted supply of labor while effective border control is put in place. On a parallel track, while Congress considers strengthening border security, the president could negotiate an agreement with foreign countries, resulting in conditional legal status for qualifying farm workers residing in the United States.
There are benefits to this strategy. It could:
·         Eliminate incentive for hiring undocumented individuals by requiring use of a federal employment verification system (E-Verify);
·         Serve as a blueprint for other industries that, to a lesser degree, depend upon a foreign labor supply;
·         Secure cooperation with Mexico and/or other nations to make sure workers fulfill their obligations;
·         Include a fee to address program administration and border security priorities;
·         Specify immigration enforcement action, including deportation, against foreign nationals failing to qualify or refusing to participate.
We must use a scalpel, not a hatchet, to end illegal immigration and protect the U.S. food supply. The combination of an agreement from the executive branch, E-Verify, and strong border enforcement from Congress could do just that. Now is the time to take a fresh approach to immigration reform, starting with agricultural labor.
George Radanovich is a former Republican U.S. representative for California’s 19th District, serving from 1995 to 2011. He is president of the California Fresh Fruit Association, a voluntary, nonprofit agricultural trade association. Reach him at gradanovich@cafreshfruit.com.

DON'T MISS

What to Know About Pam Bondi, Trump’s New Pick for Attorney General

DON'T MISS

North Korean Leader Says Past Diplomacy Only Confirmed US Hostility

DON'T MISS

Democrats Strike Deal to Get More Biden Judges Confirmed Before Congress Adjourns

DON'T MISS

Newsom Gaslights on Potential Gas Price Hikes in Fresno Visit

DON'T MISS

Automakers to Trump: Please Require Us to Sell Electric Vehicles

DON'T MISS

President Biden Welcomes 2024 NBA Champion Boston Celtics to White House

DON'T MISS

Ohtani Makes History With 3rd MVP, Judge Claims 2nd AL Honor

DON'T MISS

Trump Chooses Pam Bondi for Attorney General Pick After Gaetz Withdraws

DON'T MISS

Average Rate on a 30-Year Mortgage in the US Rises to Highest Level Since July

DON'T MISS

Cutting in Line? American Airlines’ New Boarding Tech Might Stop You at Now Over 100 Airports

UP NEXT

North Korean Leader Says Past Diplomacy Only Confirmed US Hostility

UP NEXT

Democrats Strike Deal to Get More Biden Judges Confirmed Before Congress Adjourns

UP NEXT

Newsom Gaslights on Potential Gas Price Hikes in Fresno Visit

UP NEXT

Automakers to Trump: Please Require Us to Sell Electric Vehicles

UP NEXT

President Biden Welcomes 2024 NBA Champion Boston Celtics to White House

UP NEXT

Ohtani Makes History With 3rd MVP, Judge Claims 2nd AL Honor

UP NEXT

Trump Chooses Pam Bondi for Attorney General Pick After Gaetz Withdraws

UP NEXT

Average Rate on a 30-Year Mortgage in the US Rises to Highest Level Since July

UP NEXT

Cutting in Line? American Airlines’ New Boarding Tech Might Stop You at Now Over 100 Airports

UP NEXT

MLB Will Test Robot Umpires at 13 Spring Training Ballparks Hosting 19 Teams

Newsom Gaslights on Potential Gas Price Hikes in Fresno Visit

10 hours ago

Automakers to Trump: Please Require Us to Sell Electric Vehicles

11 hours ago

President Biden Welcomes 2024 NBA Champion Boston Celtics to White House

11 hours ago

Ohtani Makes History With 3rd MVP, Judge Claims 2nd AL Honor

11 hours ago

Trump Chooses Pam Bondi for Attorney General Pick After Gaetz Withdraws

12 hours ago

Average Rate on a 30-Year Mortgage in the US Rises to Highest Level Since July

12 hours ago

Cutting in Line? American Airlines’ New Boarding Tech Might Stop You at Now Over 100 Airports

12 hours ago

MLB Will Test Robot Umpires at 13 Spring Training Ballparks Hosting 19 Teams

13 hours ago

Death Toll in Gaza From Israel-Hamas War Passes 44,000, Palestinian Officials Say

13 hours ago

Jussie Smollett’s Conviction in 2019 Attack on Himself Is Overturned

13 hours ago

What to Know About Pam Bondi, Trump’s New Pick for Attorney General

NEW YORK — Pam Bondi, the former Florida attorney general, was chosen Thursday by Donald Trump to serve as U.S. attorney general hours after...

9 hours ago

9 hours ago

What to Know About Pam Bondi, Trump’s New Pick for Attorney General

10 hours ago

North Korean Leader Says Past Diplomacy Only Confirmed US Hostility

10 hours ago

Democrats Strike Deal to Get More Biden Judges Confirmed Before Congress Adjourns

10 hours ago

Newsom Gaslights on Potential Gas Price Hikes in Fresno Visit

President Joe Biden with Mary Barra, the chief executive of General Motors, at the Detroit Auto Show, Sept. 14, 2022. President-elect Donald Trump has promised to erase the Biden administration’s tailpipe rules designed to get carmakers to produce electric vehicles, but most U.S. automakers want to keep them. (Doug Mills/The New York Times)
11 hours ago

Automakers to Trump: Please Require Us to Sell Electric Vehicles

11 hours ago

President Biden Welcomes 2024 NBA Champion Boston Celtics to White House

11 hours ago

Ohtani Makes History With 3rd MVP, Judge Claims 2nd AL Honor

Former Florida Attorney General Pam Bondi, speaks before Republican presidential nominee former President Donald Trump arrives to speak at a campaign rally at First Horizon Coliseum, Saturday, Nov. 2, 2024, in Greensboro, NC. (AP/Alex Brandon)
12 hours ago

Trump Chooses Pam Bondi for Attorney General Pick After Gaetz Withdraws

Help continue the work that gets you the news that matters most.

Search

Send this to a friend