Immigration
Some Democratic lawmakers indicate they will shut the government down unless something is done to the Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals (DACA).
Produce growers are searching for long-term solutions not just a short-term fix when it comes to agricultural labor. However, lawmakers and the farming community are mixed when it comes to those different solutions. The Ag Guest worker Act, introduced by Chairman Bob Goodlatte cleared the House Judiciary Committee in late October. It’s designed to replace the H-2A Program. That’s not the only piece of legislation floating around Congress. Lawmaker Lamar Smith introduced legislation called the Legal Workforce Act, which could mandate employers to use the e-verify system to check legal status of agricultural employees. It’s a tug-of-war battle to see which piece of legislation proposed at roughly the same time will work for farmers. AgDay national reporter Betsy Jibben talked with West Coast produce growers Neil Nagata with Nagata Bros. Farms in Oceanside, Ca., and Al Stehly with Rockwood Ranch in Escondido, Ca., about their challenges and thoughts on potential legislation. Betsy also talked with Tom Nassif, president and CEO of Western Growers as well. Listen to the full AgDay segment above.
Producers are one step closer to a new guest worker program designed to get more agricultural labor help to operations. The Ag. Guest Worker Bill barely clearing the House Judiciary committee by a vote of 17 to 16 on Wednesday. The bill is designed to replace the current H2A program.
Dave Puglia is succeeding Tom Nassif, who is retiring after 18 years as the president and CEO of Western Growers.
President Trump’s latest move to extend the suspension of certain visas through the end of the year won’t affect the H-2A guest agricultural worker program, Richard Owen says.
The U.S. Department of Agriculture has updated the farmers.gov website with features designed to help growers hire workers through the H-2A program.
The 236-191 vote today goes beyond Republicans’ pledge to reverse the president’s November orders shielding about 5 million people in the U.S. from deportation.
If President Donald Trump’s hardline stance on illegal immigration leads to large-scale deportations, among those hurt could be the U.S. economy.
Decline of immigrant labor has spurred agricultural automation.
Officials in Vermont are looking at how to adress farm labor in the state should immigration policies change under the Trump administration.
A California farmer says Donald Trump’s campaign vow to deport millions of immigrants who are in the country illegally pushed him into buying more equipment, cutting the number of workers he’ll need during the next harvest. Others in California’s farming industry say Trump’s tough campaign talk targeting immigrants in the country illegally, including a vast number of farmworkers, spurred them into action, too.
Drawing broad bipartisan and industry support, House lawmakers on Oct. 30 introduced the Farm Workforce Modernization Act.
Farmers who use the H-2A guest worker program are facing COVID-19-related delays in the processing and approval of those workers.
Number found working illegally nearly triples in three years.
The death of meaningful U.S. immigration reform, done in by Washington partisanship and Republican presidential candidate Donald Trump’s incendiary comments on foreigners, is leaving crops withering in the field and the farm lobby with nowhere to turn as a labor shortage intensifies.
Mark Diederichs wiped a splatter of manure from his arm as four Hispanic workers guided the next 44 cows into stalls, swabbed each animal’s teats with neon-blue disinfectant and attached computer-controlled milking-machine units.
The U.S. House of Representatives passed the Farm Workforce Modernization Act Dec. 11.
Fresh produce industry organizations are urging House members to approve the Farm Workforce Modernization Act of 2019, which they are voting on Dec. 11.
U.S. representative Jimmy Panetta, D-Calif., whose district includes Salinas and other fresh produce growing areas, has invited a farmworker as guest to the State of the Union address.
The Department of State is taking steps to reduce delays in the processing of H-2A workers caused by the COVID-19 crisis.
A recent dairy labor study found that a reduction of immigrant workers would lead to a doubling of retail milk price, costing the U.S. economy more than $32 billion.
Dairy farmers say they’re fed up with the posturing of presidential candidates who don’t understand the importance of immigrant labor to milk producers.
President Donald Trump signed an executive order on April 22 which puts a 60-day pause on immigration into the U.S.
There is nothing in President Barack Obama’s recently announced package of executive actions on immigration that directly reassures farmers and ranchers they’ll have efficient access to foreign-born labor.
Can you believe that the government is taking public comments on the border wall?
(UPDATED, 11:38 a.m.)Taking a step to deliver on a 2018 promise, a proposed rule from the Trump administration seeks to update the way wage rates are determined for the H-2A agricultural guest worker program.
The U.S. Department of Labor has issued a final rule that will allow agricultural employers to advertise for domestic workers online rather than in a newspaper before they turn to foreign guest workers.
Can Congress really take up immigration legislation so close to an election year? It seems doubtful, but if it is possible it may be that a targeted approach to H-2A reform would be the vehicle.
Trump says his immigration crackdown won’t hurt agriculture. We’ll see.
Vermont officials, including the three members of the state’s congressional delegation, said Monday they are asking federal authorities to clarify their immigration priorities following the arrests last week of three advocates for farmworkers.