On the heels of the expiring Title 42 immigration order, the U.S. House of Representatives voted May 11 to pass a border security and immigration bill that would to increase penalties for individuals who remained in the U.S. after their visas expired and would increase the number of Border Patrol agents along the U.S. and Mexico border.
The California Fresh Fruit Association issued a statement responding to the House vote on H.R. 2, also known as the Secure the Border Act of 2023.
“Make no mistake, the California Fresh Fruit Association has long acknowledged that we have a broken immigration system here in the United States. But this is not an issue that we can piecemeal our way through,” association President Ian LeMay said in a news release. “H.R. 2 does nothing to help U.S. agriculture and instead throws a longstanding foe in E-Verify in our faces.”
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May said in the release that Congress has long known that they must first address both the current agriculture workforce and modernize guest worker programs to meet future needs — and only then can U.S. agriculture interests support an E-Verify policy.
“We would like to thank Congressman John Duarte (CA-13) for voting “no” on this measure,” LeMay said in the release. “The Congressman understands the pressures before our industry and the realities that exist within his district. His call for both sides of the [aisle] to finally tackle the issue of immigration reform comprehensively is right, and we stand with him to advocate for a policy that does just that.”
CFFA will continue to advocate for comprehensive immigration reform, just as it did in 2013 with the Border Security, Economic Opportunity, and Immigration Modernization Act and more recently in 2022 with the Farm Workforce Modernization Act, according to the release.
