Guebert and Edelman said it is difficult for farmers to hire enough workers under the current farm labor system. Guebert said only a small portion of jobs are taken by domestic workers so it is hard to carry out current operations, let alone expand. “That’s why we need action this summer,” he said. Added Edelman, “Either we import our workers or we import our food.”
A co-founder of Tea Party Express, Sal Russo, supported comprehensive reform in an op-ed in Roll Call. “We have to get them right by the law in exchange for legal status, but not unbridled amnesty,” Russo wrote. “This should include penalties, background checks to root out criminals, and the requirement that they learn English, understand the Constitution and be committed to our basic freedoms.” Roll Call said a source told it “Russo was urged to speak out by the Partnership for a New American Economy.”