News
Wisconsin farmers tell Congressman immigration reform is needed now
Farmers are continuing to tell Congress they need immigrant labor. One of them is dairy producer Andrew Heiman of Marshfield, Wisconsin, who tells Brownfield his family’s businesses rely on foreign-born workers. “Right now, we probably have around twelve people full time and a couple of people part time, and then we are also tied in with Weber’s Farm Store and Nasonville Dairy so there’s a lot of employees. I couldn’t even give you a number off the top of my head.”
Heiman was one of a group of farmers discussing ag policy with Congressman Sean Duffy Tuesday at Sternweis Farms near Marshfield. He doesn’t favor any particular immigration reform proposal, but want’s Washington to do one thing. “Just get it fixed.”
Congressman Duffy says he supports securing the border, but also wants to see a year-round solution allowing legal status for immigrant workers with a short “touch back” time, meaning the workers who are already in the U.S. would not have to be in their home countries and away from their jobs very long before legal re-entry and employment. Duffy tells Brownfield he is working with House Judiciary Committee Chairman Bob Goodlatte to achieve that within Goodlatte’s H2-C visa proposal.
The farmers told Duffy the upcoming farm bill needs to keep crop insurance, make a better dairy safety net, and keep SNAP tied to the farm bill. Farmers also expressed frustration with too many federal and state government agencies having regulatory control over conservation and land use issues. They agreed the EPA and state DNR should let the Natural Resources Conservation Service have the final say for ag projects.
The U.S. currently has eleven non immigrant guest worker visa programs.
http://travel.state.gov/content/visas/english/employment/temporary.html
There is no cap on the number of workers allowed into the U.S. under the H-2A temporary agricultural guest worker visa program.
http://thehill.com/homenews/senate/263529-funding-deal-hits-backlash-over-increase-in-worker-visas
“The provision could more than triple the number of H-2B visas for foreign workers seeking jobs at hotels, theme parks, ski resorts, golf courses, landscaping businesses, restaurants and bars. The move is intended to boost the supply of non-agricultural seasonal workers.”
http://www.uscis.gov/sites/default/files/USCIS/Resources/Resources%20for%20Congress/Congressional%20Reports/2011%20National%20Immigration%20%26%20Consular%20Conference%20Presentations/H-2A_and_H-2B_Visas.pdf
Alabama had to bite the bullet and hire LEGAL Immigrants for its AG Industry:
http://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/2012-09-24/africans-relocate-to-alabama-to-fill-jobs-after-immigration-law
Africans Relocate to Alabama to Fill Jobs After Immigration Law
“East Coast began calling Atlanta refugee agencies several months ago looking for legal immigrants to come to Alabama for a year, said Mbanfu, refugee employment director for Lutheran Services in Atlanta. He said the company would have taken as many refugees as he could refer. The agency connected East Coast with refugees who had been in the country three to five years, he said.”
http://usatoday30.usatoday.com/money/workplace/2009-09-13-plants_N.htm
Immigration raids yield jobs for legal workers
‘When federal agents descended on six meatpacking plants owned by Swift & Co. in December 2006, they rounded up nearly 1,300 suspected illegal immigrants that made up about 10% of the labor force at the plants.
But the raids by Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) agents did not cripple the company or the plants. In fact, they were back up and running at full staff within months by replacing those removed with a significant number of native-born Americans, according to a report by the Center for Immigration Studies (CIS).
“Whenever there’s an immigration raid, you find white, black and legal immigrant labor lining up to do those jobs that Americans will supposedly not do,” said Swain, who teaches law and political science.”
http://bangordailynews.com/2017/04/28/business/amid-foreign-worker-shortage-bar-harbor-businesses-turn-to-local-labor/
Amid foreign worker shortage, Bar Harbor businesses turn to local labor