RSSImmigration reform dealing with ag work force not coming
Yakima Herald-Republic
YAKIMA, Wash. — Immigration reform to assure Washington agriculture a legal work force likely won't happen this year in Congress, state officials said Friday near the conclusion of a visit to the nation's capital to meet with cabinet-level agencies.
They added the Mexican trucking dispute that has prompted tariffs on ag products, including pears and cherries, also remains high-centered.
Gov. Chris Gregoire and Agriculture Director Dan Newhouse, a Sunnyside farmer, told reporters on a conference call a plateful of issues at the federal level will see immigration reform pushed off to the future.
When it does surface, members of Congress are more interested in comprehensive reform rather than a measure specific to agriculture.
"It's hard to see them take that issue up this year," Gregoire said. "The administration wants more comprehensive reform. They have so much on their plate with health care and the budget. People can't see them able to take it up timely."
Newhouse agreed.
"We still have a lot of moving pieces. It's not close to resolution," he said.
Another version of what is called the AgJobs Bill was introduced last month in both the Senate and House. The bill would provide resident status to farm workers who could show they had worked in agriculture the last two years. Legal permanent status would be available after working a period of time in agriculture for five more years.
It is estimated at least half the labor force in Washington agriculture uses false documents. Industry officials have pushed for immigration reform to assure the industry a legal work force.
Gregoire and Newhouse, accompanied by industry representatives, met with a number of cabinet secretaries during a whirlwind visit that began Wednesday and ended Friday.
Among the delegation were Chris Schlect, president of the Northwest Horticultural Council, and Keith Mathews, executive director of the Yakima Valley Growers-Shippers Association. Both are from Yakima.
On the Mexican trucking dispute, Gregoire said administration officials are aware of the tariff impact on state products but aren't sure whether a resolution should start with the Obama administration or Congress.
"No one can give us a timeline," Gregoire said. "We wanted to impress on them that time is money."
The Mexican government imposed tariffs in March in retaliation for the United States ending a pilot program that allowed Mexican trucks to transport goods to the United States.
Tariffs of 20 percent were imposed on Northwest pears, cherries and apricots.
The tariff has slowed movement of winter pears to Mexico and will affect sales of what is projected to be a large Washington cherry crop, said Mark Powers, vice president of the Northwest Horticultural Council. Powers was not on the tour.
Industry officials hope another potentially trade-clogging issue dealing with cherries won't be a problem this year.
The Transportation Security Administration is implementing a law that requires screening of all cargo transported on passenger aircraft by 2010 to deter terrorism. Half of all cargo must be screened this year. The requirement raises concern that the highly perishable cherry crop and other products may deteriorate waiting for screening.
About 1.5 million 20-pound cartons of cherries are shipped overseas by airplane.
U.S. Rep. Doc Hastings won approval of an amendment Thursday that provides funding for more canine air cargo detection teams to speed screening.
Powers said the tree-fruit industry supports Hastings' amendment that was added before approval of the TSA authorization bill.
Powers said it appears there are enough options to passenger-plane shipment to avoid delays this year.
Gregoire said Homeland Security Secretary Janet Napolitano is aware of the issue.
The Growers-Shippers Mathews said he is not aware of any shipment delays for California cherry growers this year.
In addition to Napolitano, the state delegation met with the secretaries of Agriculture, Interior, Transportation, Labor, and Commerce.
* David Lester can be reached at 509-577-7674 or dlester@yakimaherald.com.
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"It is estimated at least half the labor force in Washington agriculture uses false documents. Industry officials have pushed for immigration reform to assure the industry a legal work force."
Using this kind of thinking, to give green cards/work permits to all these illegal aliens, is akin to thinking that giving amnesty to bank robbers and making bank robbery legal because there are so many bank robbers anyway. Sweep the problem under the rug and it will disappear.
Lest you all now shout, "RACISM" at me again, again I say this is a law and order issue, regardless where these people come from or their ethnicity. They are criminals the minute they acquire and use false documents. Their crime is classified no more, no less serious by the definitions in the laws than bank robbers. How? Both actions are felonies.
How about this solution - use e-verify, take the jobs away from anyone not legally in this country - and then give the jobs BACK to LEGAL immigrants, who played the game by the rules, who were displaced by their fellow selfish countrymen? Then, illegals will self-deport because they can't find work. With 10 million AMERICANS out of work, we need to support our own countrymen - and don't bring up that old saw again about, "Mexicans will do the jobs that Americans won't do - it is hogwash and rationalization.
Nick, you echoe the sentiments of the majority of Americans. I am not so sure we need immigration reform. What we need is a 100% enforcement of current immigration laws coupled with programs that work like e-verify. United States lawmakers need to start taking this issue seriously. We need to deport illegal aliens, assist those here legally, force those who are unemployed and on government assistance to take these jobs, build a formidable wall and place the National Guard on the border. We should have done these things 25 years ago.
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Because E-Verify really--WORKS--and is efficient, we must understand why it is delayed, weakened or even killed? The free traders, open border cartels don't like it. It cuts into their enormous profits of using cheap labor? The corporate world, the giant agricultural consortium's, don't want pay for for the schooling, health care or the undisclosed benefits that illegal aliens tap into---that's the responsibility of --YOU--the taxpayer? How dare you decide that employers should pay for anything at all? Except for a minimum wage if illegal laborers are lucky? Why should they pay their share, when it can be off-loaded onto the gullible American.
If we are forced into another AMNESTY, then the consequences will be on a financial cataclysmic scale. Not only will our taxes spiral up, but we can expect millions of family members to follow on, under the family reunification act. Once here the senile, handicapped can tap into our overwhelmed social security, that will hurt senior citizens and our broken health care system. But that is just the start?
Millions of more impoverished, uneducated who have been patiently waiting just across the border, will pour into America looking for a third amnesty and more welfare handouts. We have seen the crash of the great state of California, with their lawmakers scrambling for an answer to a 47 billion dollar deficit that has been partly caused by it's Sanctuary State policies. Our own children are held to ransom in overcrowded classrooms, where the second language is English. Let foreign governments educate their children, not the American taxpayer. Hold these Democrats feet to the fire in hopes of keeping their job? Sen. Reid, Speaker Pelosi, Sen. Feinstein, Napolitano and all the involved in dropping E-Verify, and undoubtedly using it as a pawn to pass another taxpayers nightmare AMNESTY? It's carefully placed ruse to lower American wages for the free movement of cheap labor in our nation.
OVERPOPULATION will be our future, with all the environmental concerns that are minimal now. But will accelerates to a massive overload of traffic congestion, pollution and shortages of everything including energy and drinking water.
We must demand the use of E-verify, that will send illegal labor packing. All employers must receive mandatory prison sentences, for they are the parasites that attract cheap labor. Illegal Immigration effects everybody, your taxes, your jobs, your language, your culture, your moral integrity, your religion. YOU CAN MAKE AN IMMENSE DIFFERENCE? Senate & Representative for your contact at: (202) 224-3121: THESE PEOPLE ARE YOUR PUBLIC SERVANTS AND
SWORE AN OATH TO YOU?. Demand E-Verify today. SAY NO TO AMNESTY! Look for honest facts at NUMBERSUSA, JUDICIALWATCH.
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Doesn't our state have over 10% unemployment? And they can't find workers? What they mean to say is they can't find workers at the low wages they pay illegal aliens. Our state should require welfare recipients to work in the fields so we don't need to import more poverty.
Report ViolationThe first two words of David Lester's story/article are "Immigration reform..." His and the YHR credibility is destroyed without reading any further...
We all know Immigration Reform is code for "Amnesty"... or "Shamnesty."
Why can't the YHR get it right and call it what it is? Why can't the YHR print the truth about the damage that illegal immigration does to the Nation, our State, and more specifically, Central Washington?
I say let orchardists and other industries that hire the illegal aliens pay for the social problems their hiring creates. I don't want to, and I should not have to pay taxes to support illegal aliens.
The YHR continually sugarcoats illegal aliens by calling them "undocumented workers."
Instead of holding government's feet to the fire when it comes to illegal aliens being in the country, the YHR just goes along with the premise it's alright to be a sanctuary city for illegals.
As long as democrats see millions of votes pouring in, nothing will change.
Report ViolationWell boys and girls you've got it partially correct but the thing you need to focus on is who the real criminals are. This beautiful valley was at one time the "palm springs" of Washington. Now thanks to the greed of millionaire dairy owners, feedlot owners, orchardists and all the parasites that feed off of these operations what we have left is the "Tiajuana of Washington," a town so filthy that is resembles a third world country. Some delusional gentleman writing in a letter to the editor today suggested that we re-name the city a "sports paradise" or something like that. Here are the facts for those of you who never leave Terrace Heights or West Valley:
This place is FLOODED with tens of thousands of criminal illegal aliens.
Gang crime is off the scale and getting worse with rural home invasion the new crime of choice for these non-english speaking victims of discrimination.
We need to confront the employers of all these criminals and push THEM out of this valley. Talk to them! You go to church with them, golf at the country club with them, socialize with them-now confront them! Let's take our city back from the promoters of "immigration reform" and clean this place up!
If industry and agriculture had wanted a legal temporary labor system to fill real labor shortages, they could have had it anytime in the last 30 years. Try to imagine congress telling them no. Instead they chose to encourage a system that flooded just about every category of labor to drive down wages. As others pointed out they don't care about the social costs because they won't pay them anyway.
The problem has gotten so bad and so universal across the country, that the public is finally fed up and not in the mood for any compromise solutions. Personally, I hope they hang on to that resolve.
Yakima is the poster child for where this is going. Nice homes with obviously decent incomes moving farther to the perimeters, retail moved long ago seeing this coming, and yet county-wide the fifth lowest wage in the nation. I hate to say I agree with Arkady, but Yakima (particularly as seen entering from the north) looks like a border town - like the other towns on the lowest wages list. Over the next 10 years the new Crap-Mart will help bring that flavor into the westside. Eventually westsiders will be living amongst pine trees instead of fruit trees.
I think it is way past time to make e-Verify the law of the land and if it causes temporary labor shortages businesses have no one to blame but themselves. With it should come serious repercussions for anyone knowingly hiring illegals - something on a par with smuggling penalties. Arizona has some effective state laws and local ordinances.
The biggest roadblocks to e-Verify is not politicians but industry groups and the Chamber of Commerce - all eaten up with concern that citizens will be hurt (they actually say it with straight faces).
One comment has to be added to the many concerns expressed above: "Comprehensive" reform is not comprehensive reform. What we have now is porous borders and huge numbers of illegal immmigrants creating large costs to average taxpayers and to our resouces. "Comprehensive reform" essentially legalizes illegal immigration while doing a few appearance and cosmetic changes to the border, while ignoring what would most comprehensively change the situation: enactment of E-Verify.
Report Violation"Let's tell it like it is. Let's define 'comprehensive immigration reform' as everything we don't like and then shoot it down. We don't need 'comprehensive immigration reform'. We need 100% enforcement of existing laws. But only the laws I like. And we need e-verify. E-verify cures cancer and impotence and will give you a raise and will make all your kids get straight A's. That's why government/industry groups/Chamber of Commerce all hate it. Really. And we need a bunch of other new programs. But only the programs I like. What we we DON'T need is change!!!"
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