THE PACKER

March 7, 2005

SHORTCOMINGS FOUND IN AgJOBS LEGISLATION

By Tom Karst, National Editor

If the answer is AgJobs, some growers don’t like the question.

The Agricultural Job Opportunity, Benefits and Security Act – commonly called AgJobs – has been the bipartisan vehicle of choice for improvements to the guest worker program for agriculture and immigration reform.

However, Austin Perez, director of congressional relations for the American Farm Bureau Federation, Washington, D.C., said Farm Bureau members in January reconsidered their support of AgJobs.

“The members felt that we needed to support a set of principles rather than a specific bill,” he said.

Some growers who use the H-2A program don’t like elements of the AgJobs legislation, including amnesty for illegal aliens and a provision that they say may subject them to legal action by H-2A workers.

The main issue is economic.

Tom Bentley, owner of Bentley Farms, Thorsby, Ala., said that the existing H-2A labor program would be workable if lawmakers would eliminate the adverse effect wage rate.  That is not accomplished with the AgJobs legislation, he said.

The adverse effect wage rate is commonly higher than prevailing minimum wages.  For 2005, Bentley said he will pay more than $8 per hour for H-2A workers, compared to $5.50-6 per hour paid by fast-food restaurants, supermarkets and growers who hire illegal aliens.

LAWBREAKERS BENEFIT:  Besides the wage issue, Bentley said he believes because the AgJobs bill would provide a pathway to legalization for illegal immigrants working in agriculture but not those workers employed in the H-2A program, it would reward lawbreakers.

Although AgJobs fulfills several important principles that farmers support, Perez said Farm Bureau’s position is that it would like to improve the AgJobs bill, if possible.

The adverse effect wage rate under the AgJobs legislation was frozen for three years, but Perez said Farm Bureau members would like to see it scrapped in favor of a market-based wage rate.

Perez said growers also are concerned with the federal right-of-action language for H-2A workers in AgJobs.  Farm Bureau members want the lawmakers to examine that very closely to make sure that it does what it is intended to do.

GAUGING SUPPORT:  AgJobs is still widely backed by dozens of farm organizations, not to mention numerous immigrant advocacy groups.

When it was introduced in the Senate in February, the AgJobs legislation had 34 co-sponsors.  While that is substantial, critics point out it is far less than the 63 it garnered in the last session of Congress.

The House version of the bill, also introduced in February, has 16 co-sponsors.

Proponents of AgJobs say that the bill is the culmination of nearly a decade of effort to fashion a bill that will help both agriculture and satisfy immigration advocates.

They warn that any attempt to pass legislation that will only reform the H-2A program alone is doomed to fail.

While the 2004 election season is over, politicians appear to be skittish about appearing to go easy on illegal immigrants, a fact that even AgJobs supporters acknowledge.

Craig Regelbrugge, co-chairman of the Agricultural Coalition for Immigration reform and senior director of government relations with the American Nursery and Landscape Association, Washington, D.C., said the political environment favors lawmakers who posture to be the toughest on illegal immigration.

What’s more, some politicians want to wait on President Bush’s immigration reform package rather than try to take up the issue on a sector-by-sector basis.

Perez noted Bush used 92 words in the State of the Union message to talk about immigration reform.

“We are pleased with the amount of time and recognition by President Bush that this problem has for agriculture,” he said.

However, Regelbrugge said that it could take years for comprehensive immigration reform legislation to clear Congress.

He said that focusing on agriculture first makes sense, adding that the compromise AgJobs bill – with both conservative and liberal support – is the only viable legislative solution.

Reforming H-2A alone hasn’t been accomplished for years, and Regelbrugge said he doesn’t expect that to change in this session of Congress.

“The only way to deal with immigration reform is to find a reasonable middle,” Regelbrugge said.  If AgJobs doesn’t get done, other obstacles could affect American growers.

The Real ID Act of 2005 was passed by the House on Feb. 10.  The bill would attempt to set standards to preclude illegal aliens from receiving drivers licenses.  With many illegal workers using a drivers license to establish their identity with employers, the proposed change could affect the availability of workers.

Another House bill would mandate electronic pre-employment verification of status.

“If that is adopted without broad reforms, agriculture would lose about 70% of its workforce overnight,” he said.