Why More Action Is Needed on Farm Workforce
May 30, 2023 Just over two years ago, the Farm Workforce Modernization Act passed the House of Representatives on a 247-174 vote. I was surprised at its passage because most of what I’d heard about it convinced me it was a non-starter. Congressional Republicans had long opposed any bill that would provide a freestanding path to citizenship for undocumented farmworkers, and the Department of Labor estimates half the nation’s farmworkers are undocumented.
“This bill invites fraudulent applications,” Rep. Andy Biggs, a Republican from Arizona, said at the time, voicing a common complaint.
However, Dan Newhouse, a Republican who hails from apple- and grape-growing country in Washington state, and others who supported the bill, emphasized it should not be considered amnesty but rather a merit-based route for undocumented immigrants to get right with the law. It also ensures a stable and legal workforce for agricultural producers, they argued.
When I found that Newhouse’s cosponsor on the bill was Rep. Zoe Lofgren, a Democrat from California, I thought it might have a chance, because the two could not seem more different. Newhouse is from Sunnyside, on the eastern, agriculture-friendly side of the Cascade Mountains. Lofgren boasts her Northern California district is the original home of the farmworkers’ movement, led by San Jose resident Cesar Chavez.
The compromise seemed to work. A total of 30 Republicans supported the bill, enough to ensure its passage. It passed because of support from two divergent camps, agricultural associations and farmworker organizations. This is where pundits reference the old line — which proved very true in this case — about politics making for strange bedfellows.
U.S. Apple Association President and CEO Jim Bair said his members were especially interested in a stable workforce.
“Increasingly, apple growers are turning to the H-2A guest worker program, and today, apples are probably the largest single commodity user of the program. But workers are often delayed due to administrative red tape and the costs associated with the program have outpaced inflation for decades,” he said. “The reforms in the House-passed Farm Workforce Modernization Act would bring the needed stability and predictability to the agriculture labor market as a whole and specifically to the H-2A program. Attention must now turn to the Senate.”
I didn’t think too much about Bair’s comment about the Senate at the time. Like many others, I assumed passage would be a slam dunk after getting through the more contentious House. But assuming is never a good idea, and sure enough, the effort failed. A vote was never taken. The legislation was pulled just before the end of last year.
It’s a real shame such legislation, which has so much support from such divergent groups, could not succeed. After all, nothing has changed. Longtime farmworkers in the U.S. want a path to citizenship, and growers seek a stable workforce. Consider this statement from International Fresh Produce Association (IFPA) CEO Cathy Burns, who puts the situation in perspective.
“IFPA members tell us that, given how difficult the current H-2A process is, labor shortages are now the norm rather than the exception. A lack of skilled farm labor causes a ripple effect in the supply chain, resulting in fewer options and higher prices for restaurant operators, supermarkets, schools, and everyday Americans,” she says. “Immigration reform is the single most important action that can be taken to give relief to Americans struggling to fight unprecedented food inflation and provide healthy food choices for their families. The cost of inaction is far too high. No one can afford to wait any longer.”
As Burns says, action is needed. I would encourage you to contact your House or Senate representatives and tell them this is no time to give up, the stakes are too high.
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