Legalizing Farm Work to Benefit Us All
Anne Sobol
As negotiation continues over federal legislation that would strengthen the social safety net, one area that has largely dropped from view is the fate of undocumented immigrants who provide our fruits and vegetables. More than half of the hired crop workers in the country (as opposed to farm family members) are foreign-born, and most of them are are without legal immigration status; in California, the state with the greatest agricultural production, approximately 75% are undocumented. By and large, these workers are no longer migrants; they have often toiled in American fields and orchards for more than a decade and have families with American-born children.
Now they are demanding that their contributions be recognized and rewarded with a path to citizenship. In September they marched on Washington from many agricultural states--California; Oregon; Arizona; Colorado; Idaho; Georgia; Michigan; North Carolina and Texas. You can meet some of them and see their plea for legislative action at the Twitter site, #farmworkerlegalization, sponsored by the United Farm Workers.
It might seem that the big budget bill—which would convey benefits of many kinds to every other category of resident—would be the place to bring immigrants out of the shadows. Legalization would add immigrants to the work force, increasing economic activity and tax revenue. But the Senate parliamentarian has ruled that the legislation isn’t appropriate because legalization would bring about “a life-long change in circumstances the value of which vastly outweighs its budgetary impact.” Democratic leaders in Congress are seeking alternative vehicles to arrive at the same result, but the prospects do not look promising. Perhaps compromise measures that grant work permits without the security of permanent residency (a green card) or citizenship will squeak through.
Also possible is enactment of the Farm Workforce Modernization Act, which passed the House of Representatives in March 2021. Although it creates the status of Certified Agricultural Worker, which would be available to undocumented farm laborers and could be renewed after an initial 5.5 years, the bill withholds meaningful assurance of stability for immigrant families. It provides a path to a green card only with a form of indenture—payment of a $1000 fine and completion of many more years of farm work. In any case, it remains stuck in the Senate Judiciary Committee as of mid-October 2021, with the ranking Republican criticizing the bill as providing “mass amnesty of current illegal immigrant farm workers.”
While you are waiting for policy reform, you can watch the PBS video “Fruits of Labor” dive into the lives of immigrants and their children who depend on back-breaking, low-paid agricultural work to survive and worry every day that a family member will be deported.
