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Immigration reform is critical to agriculture
A farmer who relies on migrant labor says immigration reform in the United States is critical to the future success of agriculture.
Jay Hill raises a medley of vegetables in southern New Mexico, fewer than 20 miles north of the U.S. border with Mexico.
He tells Brownfield the majority of his workforce comes from Mexico but current immigration policy is difficult to navigate for someone wanting to come to America and work legally. “We’re seeing people that are honest, good, hard working people be shut down by a system because they’re trying to go through it legally,” he says. “While someone that is going to be dishonest is going to come in, pick up some information and weasel their way through the fence into the workforce.”
Hill says the labor challenges farmers face have his industry looking harder at mechanization. “If we can mechanize harvest, it helps us not have to worry about the employment problems that we already face,” he says. “But two, we can usually get across the crop a little bit faster.”
AUDIO: Jay Hill, New Mexico Farmer
Kristi Boswell, the director of Congressional relations for American Farm Bureau, says immigration reform continues to be a priority for the organization.
Boswell says reform needs to provide stability and also needs to address challenges facing farms with an aging workforce. “That’s going to come in the form of a new flexible visa program administered by USDA,” she says. “It will work not only for seasonal labor but year round labor. That is a critical component to getting that right to ensure we have access to a labor force well into the future.”
She says further delays in immigration reform will be costly to American agriculture.
AUDIO: Kristi Boswell, American Farm Bureau Federation
Recently the Partnership for a New American Economy released economic research reports for every state and Washington, D.C. (51 in total) and launched the Reason for Reform campaign to showcase the impact immigration has on communities across America and to emphasize the urgency of reforming the nation’s immigration system.
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No, we do not need immigration reform that allows more migrant workers in the U. S.! We have millions of people out of work! Stop the foolishness and put Americans to work!
We have plenty of workers in America that need jobs – farmers and ranchers need to seek to use what is available to them and stop trying to import workers from other countries!