Immigration legislation: A lift from the war supplemental?

A member communication from the United Fresh Produce Association reports on the ongoing effort by Sen. Dianne Feinstein to work AgJobs into legislation this year: From United:

Senate to Take on Emergency Agriculture Immigration Legislation

Last week, the Senate Appropriations Committee passed the Iraq War Supplemental bill which included an amendment sponsored by Senator Diane Feinstein (D-CA) that would provide a temporary agriculture labor relief for American agriculture. The amendment which is titled the Emergency Agriculture Relief Act (EARA) is designed to address the perennial shortage of agriculture workers and does not provide a path to citizenship or a green card. It would grant temporary, limited immigration status for experienced farm workers who would be required to continue to work in American agriculture for the next five years.

We expect this amendment to come up on the Senate floor this week, prior to the Memorial Day district work period and we encourage you to contact their Senators to urge them to vote to include the Emergency Agriculture UIRelief Act in the final Iraq War Supplemental spending bill. The produce industry has been working for years to get comprehensive reform of our nation's immigration policies, but that has not happened. As we continue to strive for comprehensive immigration reform and work out acceptable long-term reforms, we must also look for a short term solution to help our industry stay in business.

In the last year alone 13,280 farms in the United States have shut down

U.S. agriculture is becoming increasingly crippled by worker shortages - with some $8 billion in crop losses already sustained and more ahead. This amendment is a clean, simple, temporary measure to solve an emergency in agriculture.

Contact Your Senators Today
Encouraging your lawmakers in Washington to support this legislation shows your commitment to the growth and success of our industry across the nation. Please visit our website to take action on this issue,

To strengthen the produce voice, encourage your colleagues and family to also take action.