| For the week of February 6, 2006 |
U.S. Agriculture Needs Guest-Worker Program Now |
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Immigration reform is expected to be one of the issues Congress focuses on in the weeks ahead. President Bush repeated his support of immigration reform in his State of the Union address, and congressional leaders have indicated interest as well.
But immigration reform means different things to different people, and balancing the need to reduce smuggling and crime at the border with the needs of American agriculture exposes one of the major fault lines of this issue.
The reality is that while American agriculture is heavily mechanized – to the extent it is practical and economical – the sector continues to depend heavily on a steady supply of willing workers. Today, this reality extends even beyond fruit and vegetable production and is complicated by the fact that many workers are unwilling to perform farm labor. Those points help explain why our economy is overdue for a restructured, comprehensive guest-worker program. President Bush said as much in his address.
“Keeping America competitive requires an immigration system that upholds our laws, reflects our values and serves the interests of our economy,” the president said, emphasizing the need for stronger immigration enforcement and protection at the border, President Bush also said America must have a “rational, humane guest-worker program” that rejects amnesty and “allows temporary jobs for people who seek them legally.”
U.S. agriculture’s demand for labor has stabilized at approximately 3 million workers. About 2 million workers are drawn from farm families, and about 1 million are hired. Although no one knows the precise figure, estimates say that half or more of agriculture’s hired labor force of 1 million is not authorized to work in the U.S.
Much of the farm workforce is hired to pick fruits and vegetables, but many nursery and livestock operations also depend heavily on workers who come to this country to improve their lives and those of family members.
Farm Bureau research concludes that up to one-third of the U.S. fruit and vegetable sector would disappear if new immigration reform laws fail to include a guest-worker program. Between $5 billion and $9 billion in U.S. production would likely be lost – outsourced to foreign producers. And net farm income for the rest of agriculture would decline by as much as an additional $5 billion annually.
Beyond the staggering economic effect of failing to establish a guest-worker program, it’s also important to consider the valuable link between domestic food security and homeland security. Backed by the promise of rigorous food safety regulations and cutting-edge agricultural science, food grown on U.S. soil continues to be the safest in the world.
Farm Bureau will continue to work with members of Congress and the administration to pass a reasonable guest-worker program. Making sure American consumers have a safe and abundant supply of domestically grown fruits, vegetables and other foods is essential and clearly in our national interest.
Anne Keller is a director of issues management for the American Farm Bureau Federation.
