The Western Growers Association, speaking for produce growers in Arizona, California and Colorado, says immigration reform should go hand in hand with the Trump administration’s priority of deporting undocumented immigrants guilty of serious crimes. Western Growers chief executive Tom Nassif said, “Much of our [U.S.] agricultural productivity is owed to the hard work of foreign hands, in particular the harvesting of our nutritious fruits and vegetables.”
Nassif’s comments followed a letter to President Trump, signed by roughly 70 agricultural groups, offering to work with the administration on reform. “Our farmers want to follow the rule of law and would welcome an E-Verity system that is simple, efficient and certain so long as reforms to our current immigration system allow for work authorization for experienced agricultural workers and a new, flexible visa program for long-term stability and and applicability to all agricultural industries,” says the letter.
Half or more of farm workers are believed to be undocumented. Dairy and livestock producers say they need year-round workers but the current guest-worker program is designed for short-term, seasonal help. And producers in general say the guest worker program is balky and unreliable in providing visas to workers when they are needed.
The letter coordinated by the Agriculture Workforce Coalition notes Trump’s concern about trade deficits, but agriculture consistently runs a trade surplus. “Yet the loss of the foreign-born workforce in rural communities will have the same economic impact on those communities as factories closing and moving to other countries,” says the letter.