SAN ANTONIO EXPRESS-NEWS August 12, 2006 Texas produce growers prod Congress for immigration reform
Texas produce growers urged Congress on Friday to pass a workable immigration reform bill, saying the current furor over immigration has hurt business and could force more fruit and vegetable growers to relocate south of the border. "Continued inaction on immigration by Congress is just not acceptable," said Texas Produce Association President John McClung. "The Texas produce industry has already suffered economically from a labor shortage, and all the talk without action is making the situation worse each day." At a news conference in San Antonio on Friday, produce growers in Lubbock and the Uvalde area said they lost money last year and this year because they couldn't find enough people to harvest crops. The uncertainty and fears of deportation stirred up by the immigration debate were believed to be the reason workers did not show up in normal numbers. "We saw the beginning of what could be a major disruption for this area," said J Allen Carnes of Winter Garden Produce in Uvalde, whose labor force was down probably 40 percent in May and June. Carnes estimates his losses may reach $100,000 this year, while Bernie Thiel of Sunburst Farms in Lubbock said his losses were a little higher because he ran one crew short of his normal harvesting staff. Thiel said his crop acreage was reduced because of the shortage, and it could fall more if dependable labor does not return. The Produce Association, Texas Citrus Mutual and the Texas Vegetable Association are holding the Texas Produce Convention in San Antonio, and immigration reform was one of the key issues up for discussion. McClung acknowledged it's a thorny issue but said produce leaders have become disappointed with the U.S. House leadership for failing to move forward on reform issues that include a guest worker program and a method of giving legal status to the estimated 12 million undocumented or improperly documented workers. Reforms backed by the House focus on enforcement issues without opening the door to more immigrant opportunities. Tamar Jacoby, a former Newsweek writer who is now a senior fellow and immigration expert at the Manhattan Institute for Policy Research, urged agricultural interests to lobby congressional leaders harder in the coming weeks to counter the angry voices of those opposed to broad reform. Those opposed to meaningful immigration reform are a minority, but have helped create an impasse that may not be overcome if a compromise cannot be reached within the next few months, Jacoby said.
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