Status woes

In the last couple of days, I have talked with Tom Nassif of Western Growers, Robert Guenther of United, John McClung of Texas Produce Association, Maureen Marshall of Torrey Farms in N.Y., and Craig Regelbrugge of the American Nursery and Landscape Association. All shared a passion for seeing positive results from Congress on immigration reform and all are assuredly unhappy with the failure of the the Senate.

There is no status quo for the industry but only status woes. Those include increased apprehensions at the border, selective workplace enforcement, labor shortages and shrinking domestic f/v production.


Here is the reaction from the Agriculture Coalition for Immigration Reform.

Here is what the American Farm Bureau said today: The note of optimism and resilience is common with all ag lobbyists, however misplaced their faith is in the ability of Congress to resolve the issue.


“The American Farm Bureau is disappointed that the Senate was unable to move forward today on an issue as vital and critical to our farmers’ livelihood as immigration reform. We respect the hard, bipartisan work that went into the legislation. It is unfortunate for American agriculture, as well as the nation as a whole, that a solution to the problem has not yet been found.

“Up to $9 billion in agricultural production and the nation’s food security is at risk if the immigration issue is not solved. Maintaining the status quo is not acceptable and is not in the nation’s best interest.

“Today’s vote was a setback, not a defeat. We have seen our share of difficulties and delays in the years we have been working for immigration reform, when agriculture was the only sector drawing congressional attention to the problem. Farm Bureau will continue working with Congress for meaningful immigration legislation because reform is not a question of if, but when.”