Legislators restarted talks of immigration reform Wednesday with the reintroduction of a bill for a guest-worker program, leading some border farmers to rejoice and some workers’ advocates to worry about potential abuse.
The bill, S. 237, also known as AgJobs, would give a “blue card,” or temporary legal status, to up to 1.5 million undocumented immigrants to work in agriculture.
To Carlos Ma rentes, director of the Sin Fronteras farmworker center in El Paso, the plan conjured up the specter of the bracero program of the 1940s, 1950s and 1960s.
Workers then reported being cheated on pay and made to work in substandard conditions. There has not been a substantial agricultural guest-worker program in the United States since then.
“It (AgJobs) will not fix our immigration problem,” Marentes said. “It will create another program like the bracero program where the workers will eventually be allowed to become citizens but will have to accept all sorts of abuse.”
However, Marentes said he expected that many workers would sign up, and Lupe Garcia said he would quickly hire them.
Garcia, president of Hispanic Farmers of the Southwest, a Doña Ana County-based group of small farmers, said the legislation would relieve a serious shortage of field workers.
“We need a new bracero program,” he said. “Most of the illegals want to work in construction. Even the locals don’t want to work in the fields.
“We need a program so in the summer we have people lined up that we can count on for harvesting. Our industry needs labor.”
In California, where the impact of the potential law is expected to be the greatest, growers have reported their crops going to waste because of a lack of labor.
“The reality is Americans have come to rely on an undocumented migrant work force to harvest our crops,” Sen. Diane Feinstein, D-Calif., said at a news conference.
Under the bill, undocumented immigrants who can show they have labored in agriculture for at least 150 workdays in the past two years would become eligible for a blue card bestowing temporary legal status. Their spouses and minor children also could get a blue card if they already live in the U.S.
People with these cards who work an additional three years, at least 150 days a year, or five years, at least 100 days a year, would be eligible for legal residency. But they first would have to pay a $500 fine, be up to date on taxes and have a clean criminal record.
Among the bill’s supporters are Sens. Edward M. Kennedy, D-Mass., Larry Craig, R-Idaho, and Mel Martinez, R-Fla., and Reps. Chris Cannon, R-Utah, and How ard Berman, D-Calif.
Opponents say immigrants provide cheap, exploitable labor to the industry and deflate wages for American employers.
1 Comment
Legalization is the only answer. The Bracero concept only serves the employer. Illegal labor is a disservice to humanity. Legalize the workers and let them get, at least, minimum wage.