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Agricultural Labor Reform NASDA Mid-year Meeting February 20, 2006

The Realities

JasminFlorian
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Agricultural Labor Reform NASDA Mid-year Meeting February 20, 2006

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    1. Agricultural Labor Reform NASDA Mid-year Meeting February 20, 2006 Craig J. Regelbrugge Co-chair, Agriculture Coalition for Immigration Reform Sr. Director Gov’t Relations, American Nursery & Landscape Assn.

    2. The Realities… ~70% of agricultural labor force lacks status Fruit & vegetable, dairy, ranching, nursery & greenhouse, Christmas tree… H-2A program provides only 2% of workforce There is not an adequate domestic workforce available for agricultural work

    3. Current Status H.R. 4437 (Sensenbrenner) passed Dec. Imposes mandatory verification Enforcement without means for assuring access to a legal workforce Senate poised to consider issue Judiciary schedule: March 2 start Ag in base bill? Unlikely… Frist: Immigration on floor on March 27

    4. Agriculture’s Needs Reformed H-2A guest worker program as increasingly important source of labor in the future Earned adjustment of status as bridge to that future Retain trained, experienced, key employees Time to build capacity both at the border and on the farm AgJOBS (S.359, H.R.884) contains both needed ingredients of reform

    5. Ag Coalition Focus Now… Emphasize Ag’s uniqueness Heaviest reliance on foreign labor force Perishability, seasonality, rural nature Urge inclusion in base, or action on Floor Urge dialogue (Craig with Chambliss, Kyl, Cornyn…) AgJOBS is best known, most broadly supported reform proposal There is room to be flexible so long as bipartisanship can be maintained

    6. What’s At Stake? AFBF study: Reducing labor supply will have a significant impact on the agricultural sector: U.S. fruit and vegetable production will (conservatively) fall $5-9 billion annually in short term and $6.5-12 billion in long term Increased labor costs in the rest of the sector will translate into annual $1.5 - $5 billion farm income loss in short term and $2.5-8 billion in long term No readily available labor pool to replace a sudden loss of farm workers Mechanization is neither available nor suitable for most labor needs Imported food will replace US-produced products on grocery shelves and farm incomes will drop.

    7. Can We Secure the Border First…? Labor shortages emerging in Ag RICO (racketeering lawsuits) against agribusinesses Notion is flawed that we can succeed at the border without a broader approach Historically, legal, safe channels dramatically reduced pressure for illegal entry Separate those who want to pick our crops and bus our tables from those who want to do us harm

    8. How You Can Help Now! Reach out to your state’s Senators Urge Sens. Chambliss, Cornyn, Kyl, Feinstein to work with Sen. Craig Emphasize importance of agriculture being included in any final immigration package that is sent by Congress to President’s desk Emphasize importance of unique treatment for agriculture

    9. Questions?

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