Though the
Senate shelved immigration laws Friday, local farmers and
immigrants are interested in guest worker programs, amnesty
Hollister – The federal immigration legislation that has fueled nationwide protests, but stalled in the Senate yesterday is getting mixed reviews from South Valley’s immigrant community, who worry about what their future may hold. Local farmers, however, see the seeds of a solution to an ongoing labor shortage in some of the proposals.
The immigration reforms making the rounds on Capitol Hill include provisions to create a guest worker program, possible amnesty for immigrants who pay a fine and pass a criminal background check, and tighter border controls; one would make it a crime to provide assistance to illegal immigrants.
David – an illegal immigrant who works for a painting contractor and in other construction jobs – said, through an interpreter, that some of the proposals sound promising. David added, however, that he wants more information about them before making up his mind.
“It sounds good, but I would like to know more about it,” he said. “These are questions I would like to understand more before I answer them.”
The vast majority of California’s more than 500,000 farm workers are from Mexico and other Hispanic countries. In a speech on the Senate floor last week, California Democratic Senator Dianne Feinstein said half of them are illegal immigrants. A proposal made by Feinstein last week would allow farm workers already in the country to eventually get a green card, which would allow their spouses to work in the U.S. and allow them to keep their families together. The idea was part of the compromise the Senate will discuss again after the Easter break.
“The result is that American agriculture would have a stable base of employment which is legal, which has the opportunity to bring people out of the shadows into the bright light of day, assume additional responsibilities, grow in the process, and raise their families,” Feinstein said.
Too Few People
to Work the Fields
Immigrants say they cross into California for jobs – jobs that many, including President Bush, say U.S. citizens don’t want. Employers in the state, particularly farmers, say that they depend on immigrant labor. But in the years since 9/11, as the federal government and citizens groups have focused more attention on the Mexican border, California’s agricultural industry has been faced with a dwindling pool of farm workers.
“Without a question there is a labor shortage,” said San Benito County Supervisor Anthony Botelho, who is also a local apple orchardist.
Many in the agriculture business favor a guest worker program. San Benito County Farm Bureau President Paul Hain said that his organization has been lobbying for such a program for decades.
“We have been asking for a program like that since the Bracero Program ended – to no avail,” he said. “We need some way to have documented workers to harvest our crops. It’s nothing new, it’s just been exacerbated by 9/11 and the immigration frenzy gripping America.”
The Bracero Program, which was in place between 1942 and 1964, allowed Mexican citizens to enter the U.S. legally to take temporary agricultural work.
Botelho agreed that a guest worker program was needed.
Peter Aiello, of Uesugi Farms in Santa Clara County, called the immigration reforms an exciting first step toward replacing the country’s current farm worker program that the state’s farmers consider useless. Uesugi uses as many as 500 migrant workers in the summer.
“There’s a lot of work to be done and a lot of lobbying to be done, but this is rather encouraging,” Aiello said of efforts to create hundreds of thousands of guest worker visas for agriculture. “It would be a much less cumbersome process than we have now. I don’t know a single farmer that uses the H-2A process.”
The federal H-2A program allows agricultural employers to apply for permission to hire temporary employees.
Immigrants’ Perspective
Even with the inclusion of provisions for a guest worker program, some immigrants are wary of immigration reform without an amnesty component because it would make it impossible for illegal immigrants already in the U.S. to live and work in the open. Under federal law, undocumented foreigners are to be deported, sometimes for as long as a decade.
Though her husband has a green card, Lulu has been living in the U.S. illegally for 13 years. She said she would support tighter border control if there was also amnesty or some other provision that would allow her to stay with her husband. But border control alone will not stop people from pursuing the opportunity for a livelihood in California that pulls people across the border, she said.
“People wouldn’t stop,” she said. “This is a dream in Mexico.”
Local immigrants, legal or not, do say that they see value in new immigration laws. For example, if foreign workers are legalized they will be less likely to fall victim to criminals, unscrupulous employers and coyotes – a slang term for oft-violent human traffickers who take exorbitant sums of money to smuggle people across the border.
Eight years ago, David, 22, paid a coyote $1,200 to get him from Mexico to California. He said that he wasn’t sure if he wants to be a U.S. citizen. But, David added, he would like to be able to cross the border easily so he can visit his homeland. He’s only been home once since coming to the U.S. and said he may prefer a processing fee for a temporary visa to a dangerous and expensive illegal crossing.
“I definitely would like to go back more,” he said. “It’s very easy to return, but it’s very difficult to come back.”
Some immigrants believe that the U.S. should do nothing other than make it easier for foreign workers to live in the U.S. Victor – who came to the U.S. illegally more than two decades ago but has since gotten residency papers – said he doesn’t approve of any program that allows only temporary residence. He said he is appalled by calls for a fence to be built along the border – a provision included in the House immigration bill passed last year.
“People should be able to come in and apply for citizenship and work,” Victor said. “I would like people to be able to come through a door and not over a fence.”
Editor’s Note: To protect the identities of immigrants who may not have proper documentation to live and work in the U.S., the Free Lance is using only the first names of all immigrants in this story.
Luke Roney covers local government and the environment for the Free Lance. Reach him at 831-637-5566 ext. 335 or at [email protected]
