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As More Farms Rely On Immigrant Labor, Controversy Brews On The Campaign Trail
SARA WYANT
WASHINGTON, D.C.
As I travel around rural America, I often see our diverse, immigrant workforce on farms and ranches. And I’m reminded that my family is only a few generations removed from my German ancestors who immigrated to this country, stopping in Pennsylvania and Ohio before settling in Iowa.
No matter where you go in the U.S., you can usually find some examples of how immigrants moved to this country in hopes of finding a better place to live what many have described as the “American dream.”
But now, many Americans aren’t so sure about immigration – especially the millions who have crossed our borders illegally. In fact, few topics on the campaign trail this year stir as much raw emotion and controversy as the subject of immigration.
The Republican frontrunner, billionaire Donald Trump, has called for building a wall along the entire U.S-Mexico border and deporting all 11 million or so immigrant workers who are in the country illegally.
Trump wants to require all employers to use the E-Verify system to ensure that their workers can legally work. That’s despite the fact that most farm groups strongly oppose making E-Verify mandatory unless they are allowed to import more foreign workers legally.
He’s gone so far as to call on Mexico to pay for the wall and if they don’t, he’s outlined a series of fee increases on worker visas and ports of entry to the U.S. He also wants to stop so-called birthright citizenship, whereby babies born in this country – even if their parents are not legalized – would no longer be considered American citizens.
Even though many of his GOP rivals agree with the need to secure the border, they describe Trump’s plan as outlandish, simplistic and unrealistic.
Former Florida Governor Jeb Bush recently told reporters that Trump's immigration plan would cost billions of dollars, violate civil liberties and "create friction" with Mexico, America's third-largest trading partner.
Trump’s rhetoric is also generating some discomfort among House Republicans who understand agriculture’s labor needs.
House Agriculture Committee Chairman Mike Conaway recently told Agri-Pulse that Republican presidential candidates need to get beyond a “meat cleaver” approach to immigration policy and ensure that farms and food processors have an adequate supply of labor.
“What I hear Donald Trump saying is that he wants to round them all up and send them home. I don't know that that's the best first answer,” Conaway said, referring to Trump's call for mass deportations.
Conaway, R-Texas, told reporters that a more “rational approach” to the issue would include ensuring an adequate guest worker program and offering legal status to immigrants now in the country after they pay the “appropriate fines and penalties for having broken the law.”
Democratic opponents are also taking aim at Trump on the immigration issue.
Clinton, who leads the Democratic pack of candidates in national polls, vows to press Trump on how we would actually implement his immigration plan, “because there aren’t any specifics.”
“This is just the kind of political rhetoric that doesn’t belong in our election,” she told reporters during a recent swing through Iowa.
“Congress must pass comprehensive immigration reform that provides a path to citizenship, treats every person with dignity, upholds the rule of law, protects our borders and national security, and brings millions of hardworking people into the formal economy,” she notes on her website.
Regardless of which candidate you support, the reality is that U.S. agriculture needs immigrant labor. And it’s not just in the fruit and vegetable fields.
A new study shows that milk producers are becoming increasingly dependent on immigrant workers, who now account for more than half the labor on dairy farms.
Nearly 77,000 immigrants worked on dairy farms in 2014 out of about 150,000 employees nationwide, according to a Texas A&M study for the National Milk Producers Federation (NMPF).
The study, which updates an earlier survey, indicates that the number of immigrants working on dairy farms rose by about 35 percent in six years.
Dairy farms that employ immigrant workers now account for 79 percent of all U.S. milk production.
Many dairy producers apparently suspect their workers may be illegal immigrants. According to the 2014 survey of dairy farms, nearly 40 percent of producers have a “low to medium level of confidence” in their workers' employment documents. Nonetheless, 80 percent of the surveyed farms said they would continue to hire immigrants despite concerns that they could be subject to audits or raids.
“This report reinforces the urgent need for Congress to address" immigration reform, said Jim Mulhern, NMPF's president and chief executive officer.
“Farms that rely on hired foreign workers need their current labor force as well as an effective program to ensure an adequate future workforce. And the way to do that is to enact comprehensive immigration reform.”
Immigration reform, however, is considered dead for this Congress even as the issue has dominated the presidential races.
Congress has repeatedly been unable to pass any type of comprehensive immigration reform legislation under both Democratic and Republican leadership.
When he was first running for president in 2007, then Sen. Barack Obama promised to “put comprehensive immigration reform back on the nation's agenda during my first year in office.”
He certainly had the ability to do so after his victory in 2008. There were 257 Democrats in the House and the party enjoyed a filibuster-proof majority of 60 Senate Democrats. But instead of focusing on immigration reform, the White House focused primarily on reforming health care.
For now, farmers and ranchers will have to wait until after the 2016 elections to see if the next president will deliver on his or her immigration pledges. ∆
SARA WYANT: Editor of Agri-Pulse, a weekly e-newsletter covering farm and rural policy. To contact her, go to: http://www.agri-pulse.com/
Editor’s note: Senior Editor Philip Brasher contributed to this report.
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