immigration
Anxiety among farm groups as battle lines harden on immigration reform
When Donald Trump announced his campaign for president, he promised to deport all undocumented workers if elected. “When Mexico sends its people, they’re not sending the best ...[T]hey’re sending people that have lots of problems,” Trump told reporters at Trump Tower in New York City. U.S. farmers might have noted that Mexico also sends the majority of the workforce on American farms, a workforce that dropped more than 20 percent between 2002 and 2014.
Eater refuses to publish immigrant-owned food guide for fear of retaliation
Eater, a major food-news outlet, says it won’t publish lists of immigrant-owned food establishments because it fears that any such lists could fall into the wrong hands. According to a statement on the outlet's website, Eater readers have written in asking for recommendations of immigrant-owned food businesses because they want to show their support in light of the threat of deportations under the Trump administration.
After voting heavily for Trump, rural America wants to change his mind
President-elect Donald Trump carried almost all of the farm states, from the Carolinas across the Midwest into the Plains, rolling up a 2-to-1 margin against Democrat Hillary Clinton with promises of lower taxes and less regulation. Farm groups, with a politically conservative membership, said they hoped to educate him on the importance of exports for farm prosperity.
Immigrants more likely than native-born to be poor in rural America
A report from the Carsey Institute says immigrants are just as likely to hold a job as native-born Americans in rural areas but twice as likely to be part of the working poor, reports the Daily Yonder. Nearly one in six rural immigrants don't earn enough money for their household income to top the federal poverty level.
Mexicans pray Donald Trump will lose
Rural Mexicans who rely on funds sent my their undocumented relatives in the U.S. are praying for Donald Trump to lose on Election Day, says Reuters. Trump has said he would deport illegal immigrants if he were president, cutting off a vital economic lifeline.
Chobani owner is a target of right-wing extremists
Hamdi Ulukaya, the founder of Chobani yogurt, has become a target of far-right groups angry that he employs 300 refugees in his factories, says the New York Times. Some critics have called for boycotting Chobani, while the company's Twitter feed and Facebook page have been lit up with racist comments.
Trump ‘looking very hard’ at naming a rancher, or farmer, EPA chief
National policy adviser Sam Clovis says the Trump campaign is "looking very hard at putting a farmer or rancher in charge of the EPA." Given the impact that federal regulations can have on the sector, Clovis said on the AgriTalk radio program, "we think this would be an appropriate issue for us."
Trump’s plan: All illegal immigrants will be subject to deportation
Republican presidential nominee Donald Trump called for hard-nosed enforcement of immigration laws, saying that if becomes president, anyone in the United States illegally would be subject to deportation and the sole path to citizenship would be "to return home and apply for re-entry." Only those likely to flourish would be welcome. Trump's 10-step plan was strikingly similar to a position paper released months ago by his campaign and a rebuttal to any speculation that his stance on immigration has softened.
GOP: It’s ‘a mistake’ for USDA to run food-stamp program
The Agriculture Department has run the $74-billion-a-year food stamp program since it was created half a century ago — "a mistake," according to the platform approved by delegates at the Republican National Convention. The campaign document says Republicans "will ... separate the administration of [food stamps] from the Department of Agriculture."
Dairy farmers say Trump immigration plan would leave them short of workers
The proposal by businessman Donald Trump, the presumptive Republican candidate for president, "to deport undocumented immigrants and wall off the southern U.S. border has created an unexpected bastion of resistance: Dairy farmers," says Bloomberg. "Farmers say they can't get enough relatives or local workers, even with pay starting at $11 an hour or more."
Visa paperwork snarls delay of seasonal farmworkers, threatening harvests
Farmers reported labor shortages in more than 20 states, threatening harvests, due to delays in federal approval for seasonal workers from foreign countries, said the largest U.S. farm group.
Fewer migrant farmworkers follow the crops, pointing to labor shortages
Since the turn of the century, far fewer farmhands are going on the road. A Ball State University study found that 20 percent of farmworkers performed migratory labor in 2009, dramatically lower than the 53 percent of 1998.
Cruz says: mechanization, higher pay will offset loss of illegal farmworkers
Farmers will have to pay higher wages to farmworkers and rely more on mechanization to carry out agricultural tasks when illegal immigration is ended, Texas Sen. Ted Cruz told a Wisconsin dairy farmer.
Trump’s immigration rhetoric roils farmers
Politico’s Bill Tomson writes today about farmers worried that surging Republican presidential candidate Donald Trump’s inflammatory statements on immigration will have long-lasting implications for farm labor.
Two-thirds of Americans support path to citizenship
Two of three Americans "favor a plan to allow immigrants who are living illegally in the U.S. to remain in the country and become citizens if they meet certain requirements over time," says Gallup.
California considers permits for farmworkers in U.S. illegally
After waiting fruitlessly for Congress to act, "California lawmakers are considering a measure to allow work permits for farmworkers living in the country illegally," reports the Los Angeles Times.
Business groups stage Day of Action for immigration reform
Trade groups for industry, business owners and agriculture staged a nationwide Day of Action for comprehensive immigration reform, moribund for a year in the Republican-controlled U.S. House. “While our lawmakers are deadlocked on this issue, business leaders are more determined than ever to fix our immigration system,” said president Thomas Donohue of the U.S. Chamber of Commerce.
Immigrant farmers bring native crops to U.S. soil
The 12-week farmer-development program FARMroots in New York City instructs immigrants with agricultural backgrounds on the practicalities of farming in their new country, says the New York Times.