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| AFBF: Immigration debate affects farm-labor stability |
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By JANE HOUIN
Ohio Correspondent
WASHINGTON, D.C. — As the immigration debate continues to heat up in Washington, America’s farms and ranchers are pressuring Congress to find a solution to the labor challenges created in their industry.
American Farm Bureau Federation President Bob Stallman recently testified at a House Agriculture Committee hearing on the labor needs of American agriculture in an attempt to describe the severity of the problem farms and ranchers are facing. “As I travel around the country, I am constantly asked by farmers: when is Congress going to fix our labor problem?” Stallman asked.
“We all know the law needs to be changed. Farmers know that. We support it. Our nation must secure its borders. We must assure that those who are working here are entitled to do so. But don’t cripple agriculture in the process.”
Stallman told Congressional leaders only they can find the answer to the immigration question, but stressed they must do so quickly.
“The U.S. Department of Labor estimates that at least half our workers lack authorization,” said Stallman of the approximately 1 million immigrant workers hired by the agricultural industry each year.
“Some people put that figure much higher. Demand for workers is tight and growing tighter. A significant disruption in the supply of workers will increase farmers’ costs, put more foreign-grown produce in our supermarkets, strengthen our international competitors, weaken our nation’s food security and put many farmers out of business as they lose their workers or the costs of labor get beyond their reach. We shouldn’t let that happen.”
Stallman also disputed claims that the agricultural industry turns a blind eye to immigration laws, instead pointing the finger to the advice producers receive from the government, which the USDA website said prohibits employers from committing “document abuse.”
This is defined as when an employer requests an employee or applicant to produce a specific document or more or different documents than are required to establish employment eligibility to when an employer rejects valid documents that appear genuine on their face. Stallman quoted the site as also saying applicants should not be asked where they were born or if they are legally entitled to work in the United States.
Stallman also disputes critics who say that if farmers paid more, they would not need to rely on immigrant workers. “We are paying workers more today than we ever have,” Stallman said. “The average hired farm worker wage in 2005 was $9.50 an hour. With benefits, the average cost for a workers was $11-$12 an hour range. For farmers who use the H-2A program, labor costs are even higher, and there are 10 million people working in our economy today who work for lower wages than they could get working in the fields.”
For their member farmers and ranchers, Stallman hopes a legislative solution can be found soon.
“We all recognize the difficult issues that arise in the immigration debate,” Stallman said. “Ignoring them will not solve them. Any legislative solution for agriculture must be a fair, balanced approach that does provide an opportunity for current workers in agriculture to legalize their status while laying the foundation for a long-term solution.” |
| 10/24/2007 |
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