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Feedback on Immigration Reform From citrus growers From fruit growers From vegetable growers From ornamental growers
Fruit Growers
Feedback: Gregory W. Davis, Bakersfield, CA, Table Grape Grower Comprehensive immigration reform must be founded upon principles that embrace the American Tradition, deal with our current and anticipated reality, and employ market forces for efficiency and enforcement. Our founding tradition is, "We hold these truths to be self-evident; that all men are created equal. That they are endowed by our Creator with certain unalienable Rights, that among these rights are Life, Liberty and the Pursuit of Happiness." Since America's 300,000,000 inhabitants are essentially all immigrants or children of immigrants who at some point exercised their liberty and pursued happiness by coming to America, how can any among us in all fairness and sincerity now say after we are established here that it is time to build a wall and slam the door on those who only want what we wanted? Indeed, in the case of the Mexican immigrant, we would be slamming the door on the people who used to own a great portion of what is now The United States of America. Have we as a nation forgotten our roots and Lady Liberty's sentiment as she greeted immigrants seeking the promise of America? "...cries she with silent lips. Give me your tired, your poor, Your huddled masses yearning to breathe free, the wretched refuse of your teeming shore. Send these, the homeless, tempest-tost to me; I lift my lamp beside the golden door!" (Emma Lazarus) Has America forgotten this sentiment? How can the richest nation on Earth lose its compassion for other members of the family of Man? Any American who opposes another human being's right to choose where on Earth he will create his life is operating with very limited awareness of the founding principles of this nation and the greater reality of our ultimate oneness. Where is this unalienable Liberty if humans are not permitted to live, work, and learn where they choose to? Our current reality is that the Earth is inhabited by approximately 6,500,000,000 humans and is growing by approximately 100,000,000 annually. We must deal with our population, its estimated growth, and its consequences proactively. We reside on a planet with approximately 180 nations, 70% of which are run by tyrants of one brand or another. Many of those tyrants desire America's demise so that their tyranny may continue unfettered. Our recent response to attacks on America and our interests abroad has resulted in the creation and evolution of the Department of Homeland Security. Charged with protecting our "Homeland," attention has been focused on our southern borders to the apparent exclusion of other "Homeland" security necessities. The oldest and most fundamental tactic of warfare is to cut off the enemy's supply of food and water and starve them to death. Indeed, "...armies march on their bellies." If we choose to expel or limit the immigrants who come here to work in our fields to make our food, we subject ourselves to that oldest tactic of warfare. Our food will be made by those hard-working non-Americans either in the fields of our homeland or in some other nation. But they will produce it, not the established American citizenry. If produced abroad, they will be able to pour any chemical in any amount they want on our food and, like now to a growing extent, we will import the food and consume it in ignorant bliss. Our enemies could sink a few food-laden ships in the open oceans and Americans would start to lose weight. The brain trust that currently produces our food makes up less than 2% of our population. If they can no longer produce our food at a profit, that knowledge will be lost within a generation and we will be ultimately vulnerable to our enemies and unable to feed ourselves. A safe, domestically produced food supply should be the number one priority of Homeland Security, and its consideration is not even an afterthought now. A safe, domestically produced food supply requires humans willing to do that work, and Homeland Security should be leading the way by insisting that Congress make those vital men and women available to America's farms through commonsense, comprehensive immigration reform. With every paycheck, "illegals" or fraudulently documented workers contribute to the social security and tax receipts of our states and the country -- money they will likely never get back. To say we need to pay a "living wage" and then "Americans" will do the jobs that only "illegals" do now is to be devoid of understanding. Right now Americans make up only 5% of the human race. Already we are unable to compete with the rest of the world because our wages are too high. Look what has happened to our manufacturing sector--only 20% of our economy now. In California, minimum wages plus workers comp and payroll taxes put our average payroll at $11 per hour. How do we compete with Mexico where wages amount to $6 per day, or Chile where wages are $4 per day, or China where wages are $3 per day? Immigrants built America over decades to be the mightiest nation ever to have existed on the face of this planet with sweat and lives and investments of trillions of dollars. We built a nation of great value attracting humans from all over the world, and citizenship here should not be given away for free. We paid to build it and if others want to enjoy what we have made, we should make it available to them for an appropriate fee. We have built a valuable asset that is highly prized and we should experience no shame in charging for it. The argument is raised that these "illegals" come here and clog our emergency rooms and drain resources from our schools. Lack of awareness is the culprit here. Consider life without Mexicans in our emergency rooms or schools or farms. Yes, we may have cheaper medicine and education but we could be paying $10 for a tomato or $12 for a pound of grapes, and lettuce for $8 a head. It all comes out in the wash. We are going to pay for our incomparable grandiose lifestyle one way or another. What is your choice? The Germans are known for their engineering, the French are known for their wine and fashion, the Swiss are known for their chocolate and watches, and Americans are known for their business acumen. We have an estimated 11,000,000 human beings who live in the United States "illegally" and who presumably want to be citizens. It is time that we decriminalize immigration, eliminate the capricious and arbitrary quota by county system and make immigration a business decision. Why not charge, for example, $7,500 for a work visa and $35,000 for citizenship or whatever number rations by price the number of immigrants we annually want to immigrate to America. The billions of dollars this immigration fee would raise could pay for this transition and enforcement and provide Americans a small return on their investment in this country. Then let's simplify matters by creating a National ID card that also acts as a passport, driver's license, and Social Security card. We have the technology to do this. It could look like a credit card and contain electronically all our information and could be swiped to immediately ascertain one's legal status. If the immigrant could not afford the citizenship fee, banks could finance it. If the note was not paid, they would be deported. Employers, educators or service providers could swipe and know. Why insist on reverting to medieval, indeed Stone Age, thinking and building a wall? Haven't we progressed a little in the last few thousand years? The consequence of locking out the Mexicans will mean higher wages which will only increase the motivation to get into America, and the wasted money on higher walls will only be met with higher ladders or deeper tunnels and greater risk to the lives of those who want to come here to work. We will not stop humans from coming to the greatest opportunity on the planet, so let's create a fair market force that makes immigrating to America a business decision supported with simplicity and technology that can virtually eliminate a border patrol altogether. The best thing that could happen to America is the expansion of the global middle class. Isolating ourselves does not assist this goal. Remembering the American tradition, dealing with the reality of our expanding global population in a proactive, compassionate way, and employing market forces connected with technology is the solution to the current Comprehensive Immigration Reform.
Vegetable Growers
Feedback: Joe L Del Bosque, Firebaugh, CA A practical guest-worker program is vital to the fresh fruit and vegetable industry if the United States is implementing stronger border security. The seasonal demands for harvest labor greatly exceed the available labor in our area. Farm workers do not migrate within this country like in years past when I was a boy. Transporting workers in buses or housing them on the farm like in the past is no longer viable either, with new restrictive laws and liability issues. People on our public support systems are not motivated to go out in the fields to work either. Our only solution is to allow guest workers to come in and out of our country to meet these seasonal demands. My farm grows cantaloupes, asparagus, almonds, processing tomatoes, grain, and cotton on 2500 acres. We harvest and pack our own cantaloupes and asparagus, as well. We can grow all these crops with only about 16 permanent employees, but seasonally we require an additional 60 people to harvest our asparagus and 300 people to harvest our cantaloupes. We are not the only operation that encounters these seasonal demands. In the summer, many crops are harvesting concurrently. Through good personnel relations, we have a good worker return rate. Every year, however, we lose some workers to other industries, like construction and restaurants. When amnesty programs have been legislated in the past, we lose more of our workers to these other sectors. This is inevitable. As people settle permanently they require permanent employment to support their families. Subsequently, we in agriculture are left seeking new seasonal workers. Amnesty programs, which may help some of our permanent workers, do not benefit agriculture’s seasonal demands. Most of our seasonal migrant workers would be most benefited by four to six month seasonal passes to work. I can’t say how this should be structured, but I do know they need to allow the guest worker to obtain an eligibility-identification card that allows them to enter the country when the season demands and then return home at the end of the season. The original AgJOBS bill placed too many controls and restrictions to be practical. Guest workers should be treated and work under our current wage and hour laws just like everyone else. Employers should not be forced to pay special wages or provide housing or transportation as in the former Bracero program. Our employees are able to do this on their own. All they want is to be able to come into the country without fear or having to pay "coyotes," then, return home with all the earnings they can save. Over the years, I have gotten to know most of our employees. I can say that I appreciate them greatly because they are mostly honest, hardworking people. We in California agriculture should feel fortunate that they are willing to come from great distances to harvest our crops. They are just as important to our farms as land, water, or machinery. John Keeling, Executive Vice President and CEO, National Potato Council The need for Congress to act quickly to address the need for COMPREHENSIVE immigration reform cannot be overstated from the perspective of potato growers. The particular needs of agricultural producers for a reliable supply of labor must be directly addressed in conjunction with efforts to control unauthorized entry to the United States. We must be clear that in addressing the needs of agriculture that both significant reform to the current guest worker program and allowance for current workers to adjust their status and continue working must go hand in hand with increased enforcement. Resolving the immigration issue in a way that secures our borders and that treats all those who have come to our country to work with dignity and respect is important in how we are viewed by the world and more importantly in how we view ourselves as a nation. Farmers and ranchers help their industries and their nation when they weigh in with the Congress and insist on a comprehensive approach to immigration reform.
Ornamental Growers
Feedback: "There are no labor candidates, other than immigrant workers, in the U.S. available or seemingly interested in this type of job." -Snow Maestas, senior marketing coordinator, Paul Ecke Ranch "As demand has increased in the last few years in competing industries (construction, especially in hurricane damaged areas) both the quantity and quality of skilled labor has negatively impacted our industry." -Mindy Legler, Speedling Inc. "We need a way to get the labor that we need. Many agricultural companies feel they have no other choice but to hire illegal workers." -Rob and Don Deleon, Deleon's Bromeliads "Allow workers to apply for a work visa in a timely fashion. Don't take months to process." -Nancy Welty, Gallup & Stribling Orchids "Allow enough people to enter the country to meet the demands of labor. I like permanent status rather than temporary because it allows people to establish communities and become part of the American dream." -Cortland Smith, President, Walnut Springs "There are many ways to do this [ensure access to a legal workforce]. The best program is one that is simple and manageable. It needs to be quick and responsive. For it to ultimately be successful, it must be grower friendly." -Michael A. Mellano of Mellano & Co. "Come up with a solution to a problem that has existed for years. A moderate approach needs to be taken, not one of extreme measures such as the one currently being discussed." -Michael Arisco, Vice President, Michael's Greenhouses "Give us a guestworker program that works...Our whole economy needs an extra million workers per year to continue our current growth. Without them, we will see another Great Depression." -Tony Godfrey, president, Olive Hill Greenhouses "In light of current security needs, we, as a nation, need to secure our borders (all of them). We need more guestworkers, but they need to be accounted for." -Richard Cartwright, vice president of marketing, Ran-Pro Farms
Citrus Growers
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