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.

York

From my observations of him, Tim York has the personality and thoughtfulness to step into any leadership job in the entire supply chain and excel. As it stands, the industry veteran has been tabbed to serve as the chair of the board of advisers to The Center for Produce Safety at UC Davis.

From a press release:

The Center for Produce Safety at UC Davis has named Tim York, president of Salinas-based Markon Cooperative, as chair of the center’s new board of advisors. With 30 industry, academic, and regulatory members named to the advisory board of the Center for Produce Safety, UC Davis is poised to further advance its research and education partnerships on foodborne illnesses such as E. coli.

York brings a strong agricultural and food processing voice to the Center for Produce Safety. “Tim York’s leadership on the advisory board will allow UC Davis, other research centers, the produce industry, and regulatory agencies to work together to establish the critical scientific foundation for ‘best practices’ that provide a safe food supply for the public,” said Devon Zagory, interim executive director of the Center for Produce Safety.

“The Center for Produce Safety is a critical step forward for the produce industry,” York said. “The center’s mission is to provide ready-to-use, science-based solutions that prevent or minimize produce-safety vulnerabilities. I am pleased to have been asked to serve the industry in this capacity.”

Markon Cooperative, Inc., based in Salinas, Calif., is a leader in procuring fresh fruits, vegetables, and juices for food companies throughout North America. Under York’s leadership, Markon has long been a leader in food safety, quality control, and innovation. York formerly served as chair of the national Produce Marketing Association’s board of directors and served on the U.S. Department of Agriculture Fruit and Vegetable Industry Advisory Committee.

At the Center for Produce Safety’s first advisory board meeting, Zagory and York worked with board members to establish priorities for the center, such as developing university and produce-industry partnerships, assimilating research data on produce safety, and establishing an ongoing research program.

The Center for Produce Safety (www.cps.ucdavis.edu) works closely with the Western Institute for Food Safety and Security (www.wifss.ucdavis.edu), also based at UC Davis, to address numerous food safety issues, including foodborne illnesses. The center was established in 2007, and will appoint its permanent executive director in February 2008.

TK: What follows is John Chadwell's excellent piece about Tim York in the 2007 Packer 25 leadership profile.

As far as resumes go, Tim York's is on the slim side. After all, he's 51 and has only held down two jobs in 30 years. On the other hand, there is no shortage of people willing to be listed on York's resume as references. It could be said that he isn't one much for jumping from job to job. Another way to look at it is that he is so good at what he does, he has been strongly encouraged to stick around as long as he likes. York was 21 when he went to work as the purchasing director for H. Hall & Co., a Salinas grower-shipper. In 1985, though, he found a home, as it were, at a new company just opening its doors in Salinas, Markon Cooperative Inc. Markon was the first produce purchasing agent for the foodservice industry and is now composed of nine leading independent foodservice distributors in the U.S. and Canada. Collectively, the co-op accounts for $12 billion in annual sales. "I think he has been a key force of Markon's success over the years," said Eric Schwartz, president of Dole Fresh Vegetables, Salinas. "When it comes to business acumen, he is very sharp and forward thinking, which is different for an industry that tends to be very reactive sometimes." There was a time, though, that York had plans other than working in the produce industry. As he left high school, his career path almost took another route. "I wanted to be a school teacher," he said. "My mom was a school teacher, my sister is (one) and now my daughter is a school teacher." He said that when he was growing up, there was one memorable teacher who made a difference in his life. "I think about a teacher I had at San Gabriel High School where I grew up," York said. "His name was Mr. Police. He was my mathematics teacher. He loved math, and his enthusiasm and the way in which he taught it made me love math. I saw the power of what a wonderful influence a good teacher can be." For some reason that he can't recall now, he didn't pursue teaching and found himself in the world of produce. As president of Markon, York has been vocal the last few months as part of a coalition of foodservice and retail buying organizations insisting that the major produce trade associations develop a single set of safety standards for the industry after it was nearly crippled by the devastating E. coli outbreak linked to fresh spinach. "Food safety will continue to be an issue for us in developing better guidelines and implementing them throughout the industry," he said. "We're going to continue to see food safety dominate much of the media around fresh produce." Schwartz said York has been the driving force pushing the retail food safety group to get leafy greens' standards implemented. "He's doing now what a lot of the trade organizations should have been doing from the very beginning," Schwartz said. "He stepped in and led that charge." Bryan Silbermann, president of the Produce Marketing Association, Newark, Del., said York has never been shy about speaking up for something he believes in. "He felt there was a need to get buyers together to discuss how they could address some of these food safety issues and try to do it in a way that didn't have suppliers running off in every direction," he said. "He really believes in industry service, which was made clear by his service on the PMA board. He is very willing to throw his energy into issues." York served for 10 years as a board member for PMA. He served as chairman of its foodservice division, as an executive committee member and in 2002 as chairman of the board. "His willingness to step up, his knowledge of the industry and his proximity to the supply side of the business has caused him to be well regarded," Silbermann said. Two other important issues besides food safety that York said will affect the industry in 2007 are transportation and labor. "Transportation will continue to be a major challenge for us as an industry," he said. "This will include fuel costs and the availability of transportation. AgJobs was recently reintroduced to the new Congress. Hopefully, we'll get good legislation that helps with our needs for labor. I think, though, that labor will continue to be an issue." With consumers continuing to be concerned about food safety, York believes there will be more of a movement toward locally grown produce. "Organic used to mean local, but doesn't necessarily mean that any more," he said. "Local is the new organic and will continue to be so." He said in 2007 consumers will demand a wider selection of products, particularly varieties of citrus. "Clementines a few years ago weren't even on the map. Now you go to any supermarket and you'll find them on the shelves," he said. "With the diverse cultures we have in America, we're seeing demand for more exotic fruits and vegetables. We're seeing a demand for more intense, traditional flavors, whether it's Mexican or Spanish or Moroccan cuisine." -- By John Chadwell
More to the story * Most admired: York said he admires J.T. Snow, former first baseman for the San Francisco Giants, because he was an excellent player who was committed to his craft and did it well. He also gave back to the community. He donated seats for underprivileged youths to come to the ball games. York said Snow used his God-given talents well and understood how privileged he was to be in the position as a professional baseball player.
* Hobbies: York enjoys water skiing, snow skiing and fly fishing. He also likes to run with buddies on weekends. He ran in the San Diego Marathon in 1999 and the Portland Marathon in 2005.
* Lesson learned: Not listening to his gut when it came to hiring some people over the years. He thinks he has very good instincts about people and needs to trust his instincts more.
* Most memorable moment: Going to Israel with his church group in 1996 and walking the road that Jesus traveled carrying the cross.
* Family: York and his wife, Lisa, have been married for 27 years. She is a nurse at a family practice. They have one daughter, Margaux, who is 24 and is engaged to be married in August. Their son, Weston, is 13.

Reports of a deal are greatly exagerrated

One produce industry lobbyist said there were rumors earlier in the week that the Senate has come to grips with a deal that would allow the farm bill debate to advance. However, the lobbyist said those expectations have been shot down by those closer to the process.

Likewise, Sally Schuff, writing for Feedstuffs in a story with yesterday's dateline, confirmed with Senate Agriculture Committee press secretary Kate Cyrul that no deal had been struck yet.
Possible amendments that Senate leaders are being pressured to consider include amendments on repeal of the estate tax, reform of the alternative minimum tax and even AgJobs.

It would be great to say that failure is not an option. Unfortunately, failure - and the waste of tens of thousand of hours of work toward a farm bill that is more equitable for the fruit and vegetable industry - is rushing headlong toward a divided Senate.

Commentary by Tom Nassif - WSJ Nov. 20

As passed on by Luis of the Fresh Produce Industry Discussion Group, here is a commentary from Tom Nassif, published in the Nov. 20 Wall Street Journal. Tom simply and eloquently puts the case to Congress for the courage to act on immigration reform.


COMMENTARY
Food for Thought
By TOM NASSIF
The Wall Street Journal
November 20, 2007; Page A19
In the midst of the combustive debate over immigration reform, we in agriculture have been forthright about the elephant in America's living room: Much of our workforce is in the country illegally -- as much as 70%.
Faced with the option of economic ruin, as hundreds of millions of dollars worth of our livelihood rots in the fields, or the embrace of a fatally flawed immigration system, our industry and farm families opt to survive. Who wouldn't? For those who have a 10-20 day harvest window to make or break their entire business year, government promises to fix the system don't work. We can't wait for rules to change. We need reform and we need it now.
Western Growers -- representing half of all the fresh fruits and vegetables grown in the U.S. -- has repeatedly called for a fix. We want and expect government to enforce immigration laws; we want a secure border, fraud-proof IDs and valid Social Security cards.
Despite a broken and unworkable system, however, Congress has chosen not to act. Meanwhile, the Bush administration and the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) -- under intense political pressure -- did begin to move.
Last month, a federal judge ordered an indefinite delay to the DHS's "no-match" program that would have forced employers to fire workers whose Social Security numbers did not match their names. The judge said it would cause "irreparable harm to innocent workers and employers." This preliminary injunction has prevented the DHS from proceeding with the shortsighted no-match program.
The DHS openly concedes our industry's reliance on falsely documented workers. But like a physician who diagnoses an open wound but uses salt in place of sutures, DHS avoided the cure in favor of additional pain.
The pain was in the form of the no-match rules. The DHS guidelines would have established purported "safe harbor" procedures for employers who received a Social Security Administration (SSA) no-match letter. The letter notifies an employer that he has submitted employee W-2s with names and Social Security numbers that do not match.
Employers would have had to fire employees who could not produce new documentation within 90 days of receiving the letter, or face the risk that DHS may find that the employer had knowledge that the employee was unauthorized.
The regulations would have put farmers in an untenable situation:
Either terminate the majority of their existing workforce and let the crops die in the fields, or disregard the rules and risk having to pay huge fines and penalties for "knowingly" employing undocumented workers. This attempt by DHS to expose illegal immigrants would have done nothing to address the underlying issues or correct the problem.
Fortunately, the courts have stepped in and the Bush administration now has an opportunity to fix our broken system. The plaintiffs in the case argued that DHS's plans would place a costly burden on employers and result in the needless firing of employees. That, in turn, would open employers up to lawsuits and charges of discrimination. Civil liberties organizations pointed out the no-match rules would likely lead to the violation of the rights of many legal workers who might have made a mistake they couldn't correct before deadline.
These valid concerns must be addressed. Agriculture yearns for a legal, stable, economical workforce; we have been saying so for years.
And though we are relieved by the court's decision, it doesn't change the fact that this industry still needs a workable solution. Our current guest-worker program, known as H2-A, is costly and cumbersome, and sets labor standards that are not competitive in the global marketplace.
At the Bush administration's request, we have suggested changes to the H-2A program, such as expediting the application process and faxing guest-worker approval notices, instead of relying on "snail mail"while highly perishable crops await timely harvesters. These fixes are not difficult and can, in most cases, be administratively applied -- what is the delay?
If the DHS's no-match program had gone forward, America's domestic food supply would have been irreparably damaged. Small farm owners would have gone out of business and large operators could have taken their operations abroad -- taking hundreds of thousands of jobs with them.
Our industry, as well as farm-worker advocates -- Democrats and Republicans alike -- support legislation known as AgJOBS. This bill, which was a part of the Senate's "grand bargain," includes a temporary guest-worker program that logically matches willing farmers with willing foreign laborers.
AgJOBS provides the perfect opportunity for Congress to make progress on this critically important issue. Americans don't raise their children to work in the fields, and so we are reliant on a foreign workforce. We desperately want that workforce to be legal, and AgJOBS affords us that opportunity.
The Bush administration does support comprehensive immigration reform, and reportedly set in place the DHS's draconian no-match rules to force the issue. Still, it was playing a risky game of chance with U.S. agriculture to the detriment of our industry, our economy and American consumers.
We must stop playing games with our domestic food supply. Agriculture needs workers, Americans won't do the work and Congress lacks the courage to pass a comprehensive immigration package. It is time for Congress to find its courage, rise above the anger of the activists, and come together to solve this problem.

Mr. Nassif is president & CEO of Western Growers.

AgJobs out

AgJobs is out as an amendment to the farm bill. So says Sen. Dianne Feinstein, D-Calif., who said in this report she did not want to jeopardize its broad support with a "non representative vote" as an amendment to the farm bill. She told the Central Valley Business Times:

"I had every intention of offering legislation to create a stable reliable agricultural worker program – known as AgJobs – as an amendment on the farm bill,” says Ms. Feinstein in a written statement. Unfortunately, you need more than broad support – you need the right time and opportunity to line up as well,” the senator says. “We have decided not to endanger the broad support for AgJobs by taking a non-representative vote on the farm bill.”

Harry Reid

From the Senate floor yesterday (via the Nov. 5 Congressional Record) Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid, while acknowledging there could be more reform in the farm bill, suggests a super majority of support for the bill as it stands. He also says there will be no "open amendment process" for fear of bogging down the bill. That makes the future cloudy on AgJobs and transfer of AQI back to USDA, I would say.


THE FARM BILL
The farm bill. Chairman HARKIN, Senator BAUCUS, and Ranking Members CHAMBLISS and GRASSLEY deserve a lot of credit for working among their caucuses to write the bill we are debating this week. In the 24 years I have been in the Congress, first in the House and now in the Senate—actually, 25 years—no farm bill has embodied as much reform as this one. There are some who say this bill doesn’t go far enough in the direction of reform. To those critics, it should be clear there will be an opportunity for Senators to offer amendments during debate. Would I personally like more reform? Of course I would. But I would like to focus on the positive and forward-looking elements that lie at the heart of this bill. This bill saves billions of dollars by reforming existing programs, which allows new investment to expand food and nutrition pograms for families, the elderly, and the disabled, as well as an expansion of the fresh fruits and vegetables programs to all 50 States to improve the health and wellness of America’s children. It invests more than $4 billion in conservation programs to protect wetlands, grasslands, and working farms. More than 60 percent of this bill is simply nutrition programs. This bill takes us a step closer to the vital goal of energy independence, with more than $1 billion for programs that are environmentally responsible whilegrowing the farming economy. We import about 70 percent of our oil. We don’t import 70 percent of our food. One reason we don’t is because we have farm programs that work. Could they be made better? Of course they could be. But this bill does do some extremely important things. It responds to the urgent need for permanent disaster assistance, which will help farmers respond and recover from future unavoidable disasters. It invests about $2 billion in specialtycrops. What are specialty crops? Strawberries,apples, and those programs that are so important to our country, so that it stops us from having to import as much as we would have to if we didn’t have these programs. But with weather changes, some of these farmers have had tremendous losses from which they have not been able to recover. It offers a reasonable compromise on country-of-origin labeling, and it improves competition in the livestock industry. There will be a number of amendments offered during the floor debate. Senators DORGAN and GRASSLEY will offer an amendment on payment limits. Senators LAUTENBERG and LUGAR will offer an alternative farm bill amendment. Senator MCCONNELL and I understand these amendments are important to Members on both sides of the aisle, and we will work together to ensure ample time is given for consideration. I am confident and hopeful that this process will result in a truly bipartisan bill which will support our agricultural communities, promote a cleaner environment, and grow our economy. But I do say and alert everybody to this fact: We have had a really good legislative session. Once we get to a bill, we have basically offered amendments on most every bill. I think this bill is going to have trouble with that. We have to complete our work by next Friday, so we will make sure the amendments correctly relate to this bill and everybody will have an opportunity to offer those. We will do our very best to see that is the case. But this bill is a tax bill, and there could be a lot of mischievous amendments offered if it were an open amendment process. I think, with it being late in this year’s session of Congress, everyone understands we can’t do that. We have work we must complete. The farm bill is a very bipartisan bill. I think we could seek cloture on the bill right now and probably do a pretty good job because it is really a bipartisan bill. I don’t want to have to do it now, but I do want everyone to know we are not going to have an open amendment process, and I have explained that to the Republican leader.

Late night with the Senate Ag Committee

Lorelei DiSogra of United reports that the markup session of the Senate Agriculture Committee will stretch late into the day and perhaps the evening. There have been quite a few amendments offered on Title I programs, particularly dairy - despite the fact that the committee doesn't have a lot of money to play with beyond what is already outlined in the markup.

Still uncertain is when the committee will vote out the farm bill and when the full Senate will take it up. Expect to see some move to offer AgJobs on the Senate floor. Lorelei did assure me that the money for the fruit and vegetable snack program - about $1 billion over five years - is mandatory.

No answers

I just listened in on Sen. Harkin's teleconference with the press today, and he had no answers as a date certain for the markup for the farm bill. Again, the major problem appears to be finding a source of money for the priorities that everyone on the committee wants to see written into law. Harkin said that the Senate will do better for specialty crop priorities than they have done in the past, but said the $3 billion plus that Sen. Debbie Stabenow, D-Mich., has asked for in her "Dear Colleague" letter may be unrealistic. I punched in the *1 to ask a question but time ran out before I could ask it. I was going to ask Harkin if sees any opportunity to attach the Produce Safety Act or AgJobs to the farm bill.... Audio link found here.
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Mexico map

Gail O'Connor, deputy press secretary for U.S. Senator Dianne Feinstein, sent this map (at the Fresh Produce Industry Discussion Group) that details U.S. agricultural activity in Mexico. The argument for AgJobs is that some of these more than 10,000 jobs and tens of thousands of acres would be in the U.S., not Mexico, if America had adequate immigration provisions for the required number of legal workers needed in agriculture.

Still no word on whether AgJobs will be attached to an appropriations bill or the Farm Bill. If the Dream Act is attached to defense appropriations, that would make AgJobs germane to that legislation, one lobbyist told me.

Headline roundup 9/20

Latin American exports to the U.S. decline Analysis piece by Miami Herald:
New U.S. government trade statistics are setting off alarm bells among international traders in this corner of the world: Latin American exports to the United States are showing no growth — and in many countries they are falling sharply — amid a worldwide increase in exports to the U.S. market.

Comprehensive reform comeback LA Times opinion piece:
Congress may have failed to pass comprehensive immigration reform this summer (and last summer), but at least it's trying to push a few pieces of it, which no one thought possible in this early-onset election year.
The Times' Nicole Gaouette writes today of the variety of proposals pitched so far, including a plan to give conditional legal status to young illegal immigrants (aka the Dream Act); a path to citizenship for farm workers (aka AgJOBS); and an overhaul of the visa program for high-skilled immigrants. And blogs are abuzz about the bits that make them most mad.


Piecemeal immigration reform a start Opinion piece in San Jose Mercury News chimes in on immigration reform:
High-skilled workers from around the country, including San Jose, met at the Washington Monument for the time-honored American ritual of marching to the front of the Capitol to press their cause. In this case: reforming employment-based immigration laws.
Let's hope it's the beginning of something more: progress in one little corner of our screwed-up immigration system. After the debacle of the big immigration reform bill this summer, Sen. Dianne Feinstein had suggested that the only way to fix any of it was to start piecemeal. Indeed, several independent measures are afoot, aimed at relieving specific areas, from high-skilled workers to guest workers to students. There's no talk of addressing the status of undocumented immigrants, the thing that killed the big bill in June.

Grocers' food safety plan lacking Consumers Union quoted in this report by MarketWatch:
Consumers Union, the nonprofit publisher of Consumer Reports, said the GMA plan should include safety reforms such as country-of-origin labeling and stronger FDA recall authority. The group said its polls show that 92% of Americans favor mandatory country of origin labeling and 97% think federal agencies should have the authority to recall tainted meat.
"If the industry is serious about maintaining consumer confidence in the food supply, they must endorse these measures," said Jean Halloran, director of food policy initiatives at CU, in a statement.
CU supports the FDA receiving funding to increase its inspection of imports. The advocacy group supports bills in Congress that propose adding user fees on food imports to pay for more border inspection.

Kenya receives support for air freighted produce to UK From AllAfrica.com
The battle to protect Kenyan suppliers of organic produce in their biggest market is heating up with the UK government and UN agency ITC throwing their weight behind developing world growers.
Kenya's organic farmers could see the valuable organic label removed from their products as one of a range of measures being considered by UK-based certifier the Soil Association to reduce the impact of air freight.
The Geneva-based International Trade Centre, jointly set up by the UN and the World Trade Organisation, and the UK's Department for International Development (DfID) say they strongly oppose such a move.
"Organic certification has been hugely successful in reducing poverty for thousands of African farming families. A ban on airfreighted products could be catastrophic for them, while making no contribution to mitigating climate change," said Alexander Kasterine, an ITC expert on trade and environment.

Career killer?

One of the produce industry's biggest champions in the Senate may be a lame duck. Sen. Larry Craig, R-Ida., is expected to announce in September whether he will run for reelection in 2008. However, recent events may have taken the drama out of it. This report in Roll Call details Craig's plea of disorderly conduct earlier this year related to an incident in a restroom of the Minneapolis Airport.
From the Roll Call story of Aug. 27:

Sen. Larry Craig (R-Idaho) was arrested in June at a Minnesota airport by a plainclothes police officer investigating lewd conduct complaints in a men’s public restroom, according to an arrest report obtained by Roll Call Monday afternoon.
Craig’s arrest occurred just after noon on June 11 at Minneapolis-St. Paul International Airport. On Aug. 8, he pleaded guilty to misdemeanor disorderly conduct in the Hennepin County District Court. He paid more than $500 in fines and fees, and a 10-day jail sentence was stayed. He also was given one year of probation with the court that began on Aug. 8.
A spokesman for Craig described the incident as a “he said/he said misunderstanding,” and said the office would release a fuller statement later Monday afternoon.
After he was arrested, Craig, who is married, was taken to the Airport Police Operations Center to be interviewed about the lewd conduct incident, according to the police report. At one point during the interview, Craig handed the plainclothes sergeant who arrested him a business card that identified him as a U.S. Senator and said, “What do you think about that?” the report states.

TK: Here is a link to the backstory about Sen. Craig, including previous murky allegations dating from more than 20 years ago. Here is coverage from today's Idaho Statesman. Obviously, Craig's GOP conservative family values work against him big time in this case, though it is not inconceivable that he could somehow get past this. It is unfortunate for the industry that Sen. Craig may be wounded and ineffective in advancing AgJobs and specialty crop priorities in the farm bill. In the words of one lobbyist, Craig has carried an " awful lot of the industry's water" in the U.S. Senate. "This is not helpful."

White House announcement on immigration reform

Working from home today, but a developing story is White House initiative on immigration reform and industry reaction to it.

From the White House.
BORDER SECURITY
1. The Administration Will Continue To Strengthen Security At The Border With Additional Personnel And Infrastructure. We are committed to implementing the following border security measures by December 31, 2008:
18,300 Border Patrol agents
370 miles of fencing
300 miles of vehicle barriers
105 camera and radar towers
Three additional UAVs
We will also work to ensure that 1,700 more Border Patrol Agents and an additional UAV are added in 2009.
2. The Administration Will Maintain The Policy Of "Catch And Return" For Illegal Aliens Apprehended At The Border. For years, limited detention space forced the release of many illegal border crossers from nations other than Mexico with nothing more than a Notice to Appear for a hearing before an immigration judge. Many aliens ignored these notices and instead blended into U.S. society. The Administration has ended this practice and instituted a policy of "catch and return," ensuring that all removable aliens caught trying to cross the border illegally are held until they can be removed.
The Administration Will Further Increase Funding For Detention Beds So There Are Places To Detain 31,500 Illegal Aliens Until They Can Be Returned.
The Administration Will Also Press Recalcitrant Countries To Work With The United States To Repatriate Citizens Who Are In The United States Illegally.
3. The Departments Of State And Homeland Security Will Strengthen Legal Efforts To Keep International Gang Members Out Of The United States. Gangs are at the root of many U.S. crime problems today, and many of the most dangerous gangs draw significant membership from abroad. The Federal government already denies visas to known members of certain gangs from China, the former Soviet Union, and El Salvador. Today, the President is directing the State Department and the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) to expand this list of dangerous organized gangs from other nations and to ensure that members of those gangs are barred from entry into the United States.
4. The Administration Will Expand Exit Requirements So Persons Who Overstay Limited-Duration Visits To The United States Can Be Identified.
By The End Of 2008, The US-VISIT Exit Requirement Will Be Underway At All U.S. Airports And Seaports. The Department of Homeland Security will continue to explore effective and cost-efficient means of establishing biometric exit requirements at land border crossings.
The Administration Will Establish A New Land-Border Exit System For Guest Workers, Starting On A Pilot Basis. This will help ensure that temporary workers in the country now follow the mandate to leave when their work authorization expires.
5. The Administration Will Require All Travelers To Our Ports Of Entry To Use Passports Or Other Similar Secure Documents. Since January 2007, air travelers have been required to carry a passport for entry into the United States. Because of passport processing backlogs, a temporary accommodation has been made for U.S. citizens traveling in the Western Hemisphere, which will be phased out. Starting January 31, 2008, DHS will phase in a requirement for passports or other secure documents for sea and land ports of entry.
6. Beginning This Fall, The Secretary Of Homeland Security Will Deliver Regular "State Of The Border" Reports. These reports will keep the American people informed of the Federal Government's progress in securing the border and hold the Administration accountable for continuing improvement.

INTERIOR ENFORCEMENT
7. The Administration Is Training Hundreds Of State And Local Law Enforcement Officers To Address Illegal Immigration In Their Communities. The Administration is maintaining the 287(g) program and expanding other measures that help State and local law officials. These measures include a broad array of enforcement tools, such as formal task forces, greater use of the ICE Law Enforcement Support Center, delegated border search and seizure authority under Title 19, and enhanced partnerships to address location-specific threats, such as gangs.
8. By This Fall, U.S. Immigration And Customs Enforcement Teams Devoted To Removing Fugitive Aliens Will Have Been Quintupled In Less Than Three Years. There were 15 seven-member Fugitive Operations Teams in 2005. As of this week there are 68; there will be 75 by the end of September.
9. The Justice Department Will Initiate Regulatory Action To Close The "Voluntary Departure" Loophole Manipulated By Many Illegal Immigrants. Illegal immigrants who settle their cases by agreeing to voluntarily depart sometimes then gain extra time inside the United States by filing a procedural motion to reopen the case. New regulations will clarify that filing such a motion will terminate the voluntary departure status and make the alien subject to the order of removal. They will also set a presumptive $3,000 civil penalty for failing to comply with a voluntary departure agreement.
WORKSITE ENFORCEMENT
10. Today, The Department Of Homeland Security Issued A "No-Match" Regulation That Will Help Employers Ensure Their Workers Are Legal And Help The Government Identify And Crack Down On Employers Who Knowingly Hire Illegal Workers. In cases in which an employer has a significant number of employees with inaccurate personal identity information, the Social Security Administration will send the employer a "No-Match" letter. The regulation clarifies that employers may be held liable if they ignore the "No Match" problems by failing to take specified steps within 90 days of receiving the letter.
11. In The Coming Months, The Administration Will Publish A Regulation That Will Reduce The Number Of Documents That Employers Must Accept To Confirm The Identity And Work Eligibility Of Their Employees. Presently, no fewer than 29 categories of documents can be used to establish identity and work eligibility. Employers have little capacity to verify the authenticity of these documents, and the sheer quantity of accepted documents is an invitation to fraud. This regulation will reduce unlawful employment by weeding out insecure documents now used often for identity fraud.
12. As A Civil Counterpart To The Administration's Strategy Of Using Criminal Investigations To Deter Illegal Employment, The Department Of Homeland Security Will Raise The Civil Fines Imposed On Employers Who Knowingly Hire Illegal Immigrants By Approximately 25 Percent. Efforts to secure the border will fail unless the "magnet" that attracts illegals is turned off. Unfortunately, the fines for relying on illegal workers are so modest that some companies treat them as little more than a cost of doing business. DHS will use existing authority to update civil fines for inflation in order to boost fines by about 25 percent, as much as is allowed under current law.
13. The Administration Will Continue To Expand Criminal Investigations Against Employers Who Knowingly Hire Large Numbers Of Illegal Aliens. Arrests by U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement for criminal violations have increased from 24 in FY 1999 to a record 716 in FY 2006. There have been 742 criminal arrests since the beginning of FY 2007 (through July 31), and there is anecdotal evidence that companies are taking notice and adjusting their business practices to follow the law.
14. The Administration Will Commence a Rulemaking Process To Require All Federal Contractors And Vendors To Use E-Verify, The Federal Electronic Employment Verification System, To Ensure That Their Employees Are Authorized To Work In The United States. The Federal government ought to lead by example. As there are more than 200,000 companies doing Federal business, this will significantly expand use of E-Verify, and make it more difficult for illegal immigrants to obtain jobs through fraud.
15. The Administration Will Help States Make Greater Use Of E-Verify. Some States already mandate the use of E-Verify by some or all of their hiring agencies, and other States are considering similar requirements. The Administration will assist such efforts through outreach and offers of technical assistance.
16. The Administration Will Bolster E-Verify By Expanding The Data Sources It Can Check. This will make it easier to catch individuals who commit identity theft. New sources of data will include cross-checks of visa and passport information.
17. The Administration Will Seek Voluntary State Partners Willing To Share Their Department Of Motor Vehicles Photos And Records With E-Verify. Agreements to allow E-Verify access to the repository of photographs in state DMV databases will help prevent illegal immigrants from using fraudulent driver’s licenses to obtain employment. Such agreements will also lay the groundwork for further expansion of the electronic employment eligibility verification system.


Here is coverage from the LA Times. From the Times:
WASHINGTON -- The Bush administration plans to announce a broad new initiative today to sharpen immigration enforcement, including measures to raise fines for employers who hire illegal workers, require federal contractors to use an employment verification system and add thousands more agents at the southern border. Other provisions will restrict the types of documents employees can use to prove their legal status and speed up background checks for legal immigrants. Administration officials also intend to streamline a cumbersome agriculture guest worker program. The 25 measures -- some new and some of which expand upon current policies -- come in addition to the expected announcement today of a plan to crack down on illegal immigrants by forcing employers to fire workers with discrepancies in their Social Security information. Homeland Security Secretary Michael Chertoff has signaled for weeks that the administration would take independent action to deal with illegal immigration after the Senate failed to pass broad immigration reform in June. "We are currently looking at all of the tools we have, without congressional action," he told the Associated Press this week. "We're going to see where we can sharpen some of those tools up. We're going to throw every enforcement tool we have into this issue of trying to address our immigration problem."Business groups expressed dismay at the proposals and suggested they could hurt the economy, particularly in industries like agriculture and construction, which are heavily dependent on immigrant labor.


From the Agriculture Coalition for Immigration Reform

AGRICULTURE COALITION FOR IMMIGRATION REFORM
For Immediate Release:
August 10, 2007
AGRICULTURAL EMPLOYERS, WORKER ADVOCATES AGREE:
WE NEED REAL REFORM, NOT BAND-AIDS O SECURE AMERICA’S FOOD SUPPLY
Joint statement by ACIR and the UFW.
Concerns over immigration and undocumented employees cannot be fixed ith the types of band-aid solutions Homeland Security is offering. roposing new regulations, which neither address the real issues nor take effect until months after harvest time, is not realistic or even practical. Agricultural employers are desperate for a legal workforce for the current harvest season. Farm workers cannot suffer another year living in the shadows of our society. “A real solution, legislation which already has strong bipartisan support, such as AgJOBS, is what farm workers and agricultural employers need to ensure America has a safe food supply grown in the United States, and the agricultural industry has a legal, stable and valued workforce.”

Immigration headlines 8/5

It would appear Republicans are becoming more strident about immigration, and that's saying something. Given the recent climate, I would only assume that attaching AgJobs to the Senate version of the farm bill will be tough.



Republicans hardening stance on immigration From SF Chronicle:
An anti-immigration backlash has taken hold among Republicans in the Capitol, led in some cases by the staunchest supporters - Sens. John McCain and Jon Kyl of Arizona and Lindsey Graham of South Carolina - of the failed Senate bill derided by many as amnesty.
Rep. Zoe Lofgren, a San Jose Democrat, fended off GOP efforts Friday to block what in normal times would be noncontroversial "private bills" to remedy the most compelling individual plights of a handful of illegal immigrants caught in the labyrinth of immigration law.
Late Thursday night, Republicans walked out of a House vote to protest what they said was an attempt by Democrats to reverse a GOP win on a motion to deny benefits to illegal immigrants in an agriculture spending bill.
Republicans said the vote was gaveled to a close as members were still voting, and that they actually prevailed 215-213.
Democrats apologized the next day for the snafu, but refused to change the vote in which they ultimately defeated the anti-illegal immigrant measure. The National Republican Congressional Committee issued a press release Friday with a video clip of the vote, accusing Democratic leaders of interfering to "strong-arm their politically vulnerable members into switching their votes in order to defeat the measure and deliver benefits for illegals."
House Republicans have been attaching immigration provisions to a host of bills covering everything from health care to agriculture, usually to deny federal benefits to illegal immigrants.
"The environment is fairly toxic," said Doug Rivlin, spokesman for the National Immigration Forum, a pro-immigrant group. "Where the Republican Party seemed to be divided before on immigration, now they are united on attacking illegal immigration."




John McCain Takes a New Position on Immigration Reform From Fox News:
John McCain has a new approach to the controversial immigration reform bill that cost him the support of many conservative Republicans.
The Arizona senator is now supporting a plan that cracks down on illegal immigration — but leaves out the guest worker program and path to citizenship that some critics called amnesty. McCain says the Senate "can still show the American people that we are serious about securing our nation's border."
But he's not abandoning the more controversial parts of the bill — saying the new plan would "provide an essential step towards achieving comprehensive reform in the future."

Throw in immigration for good measure

Pic from United.....Caption: Tom Stenzel, president & CEO of United Fresh Produce Association, joins House Ag. Committee Chairman Peterson and Representatives Cardoza and Costa to thank them on behalf of the specialty crops industry

It seems industry priorities take multiple years and numerous WPPC conferences to see any movement on Capitol Hill. Now it seems one industry priority after another is falling in sequence.
More equitable funding for f/v in the farm bill (check)
A resolution to the country of origin labeling issue(check)

I just visited with Tom Stenzel of United Fresh about the process to come up with a COOL resolution. (more on that later) I asked, why not throw immigration into the farm bill for good measure? I kidded him that United and the industry are running out of issues and suggested Congress may as well tack farm labor reform to the farm bill. In fact, he said there is serious consideration in the Senate to attach AgJobs to the farm bill. Well, we know food safety isn't going away, at least.

Blog search

One potentially overlooked feature of this blog is found at the upper left. Readers can search the entire blog and pull up all posts with that word. Tesco, AgJobs, COOL, Wal-Mart...You get the idea. Now that there are over 1,000 posts, it makes a handy way to search the archives.

I had a conversation with Bob Keeney of AMS earlier today. We talked a little about the farm bill amendment that added food safety to the list of activities for marketing orders. He said that AMS lawyers had already concluded that food safety was in the domain of accepted marketing order activities. The farm bill language, while not necessary, helps clarify and settle the issue.

He also took issue with my characterization that the food safety audits may be an attractive income stream for AMS in these days of deficit budgets for the Fresh Product Branch. Keeney said most of the GAP/GHP audits are performed (the California leafy greens agreement, for example) by state inspectors, and USDA only keeps a small percentage of the cost of each inspection. He resented any inference that USDA would want to become involved in food safety inspections for any reason other than serving the interests of the industry. They are not money-grubbing or opportunistic.

I believe Bob was sincerely miffed about that and I apologize for any perceived inference that the USDA would put the interests of the agency ahead of the industry. Yet at that same time, USDA AMS has a "business" to run. I would expect them to look for ways to cross purpose their f/v grade inspectors and maximize their utility.

I also told Bob I hoped I get to visit the USDA's training center for inspectors during one of the sessions put on for the trade. I put in an earlier inquiry with Amy Philpott at United to attend a day at the training center with an industry class, but USDA oddly okayed only a half a day for this trade reporter.

AgJobs with farm bill

Look here for the letter from California Sen. Boxer to Senate Ag Committee leaders asking for the inclusion of AgJobs to the Senate's version of the farm bill. With the lack of progress coming from the Senate Agriculture Committee on the farm bill - the committee has been quiet relative to what has gone on with the House Ag Committee - I think the faith that the Senate Ag Committee can move AgJobs with the farm bill may be wishful thinking. Sen. Kent Conrad, D-ND, is expected by some to assume more clout within the committee since Agriculture Committee chair Sen. Tom Harkin has reportedly had a harder time finding backing for his ideas.

Meanwhile, Rep. Collin Peterson of the House Agriculture Committee will have another teleconference with reporters tomorrow.

Tip of the iceberg

Arizona's new law that slaps on sanctions for employers who knowingly hire illegal immigrants was predictable, says Craig Regelbrugge of the American Nursery and Landscape Association and co-chair of the AgJobs coalition.

One of the things the Arizona law does is compel employers to use the pilot system to electronically verify Social Security numbers, but he noted that pilot system doesn't have all the kinks worked out yet and is not ready for a full rollout.

The failure of Congress to act on comprehensive immigration reform will mean more states will take it upon themselves to write laws that clamp down on illegal immigration.

"The place where both parties most easily find the lowest common denominator is blaming the employer, and that's what we see in the Arizona law." he said.

TK: Regelbrugge said some lawmakers may have remorse over their failure to act on comprehensive immigration reform and could be open to AgJobs on some legislative vehicle. The industry would prefer not to rely on a politician's remorse, but here we are.

A baseline for fruits and vegetables

House Agriculture Committee chairman Collin Peterson said the chairman's mark of the farm bill will include $685 million in paid-for baseline funding for fruit and vegetable priorities. He revealed this in a teleconference with reporters today. Peterson credited Rep. Cardoza for working to include the work of the hort subcommittee in the chairman's mark. Peterson did not reveal how the $685 million (over 5 years, apparently) would break down - specialty crop block grants, fruit and vegetable programs etc - nor did he fully explain where the funds would be found (but crop insurance and change in the timing of counter cyclical payments account for the majority). He did say more funding would be sought. "This is just a start. At some point in the process we look to identify offsets that would improve fruits and vegetables beyond what we have now."

Peterson is also going to put forward a second farm bill, that will include $17.5 billion over five years of reserve or contingency funds for various titles of the farm bill, including $1 billion for f/v priorities.

TK: This is a big breakthrough. Very good news. Still details to be revealed about how the funds will break down. But having a baseline for funding is huge and a tribute to the lobbying efforts of United, Western Growers and the specialty crop farm bill coalition. Also, Dennis Cardoza has come up big if this is what it appears. Peterson was also asked about the idea of attaching the AgJobs bill to the farm bill. He laughed and said. "I have enough problems as it is without getting embroiled in that..... and we don't have jurisdiction." However, Peterson acknowledged it was a very important issue for agriculture.

In addition, Peterson said he was not inclined to include any provision about country of origin labeling in the farm bill, saying he has indicated to industry that there will be mandatory COOL by Sept. 30 of 2008. He left the door open just a little if there was consensus on the issue, however.

I didn't get the chance to ask about f/v planting restriction on program crop acres in the chairman's mark.

The two bills - the pay go bill and the bill funded with reserve funds - will be released on the House Web site July 6. Full committee markup is July 17 and the bill is scheduled to be on the House floor by July 26, Peterson said.

It's over

The Senate failed to invoke cloture on the issue of comprehensive immigration legislation by a vote of 46 yea to 53 nay. That's means that the Senate bill has died. Will the Congress have the appetite to take up AgJobs stand alone legislation? It's hard to imagine that likelihood, but never say never.

Key test - again

Another key battle in the fight for comprehensive immigration reform looms for today, notes this AP piece by Julie Hirschfeld Davis. Several amendments were defeated Wednesday, but their defeat has siphoned off support for the bill, and today will bring further challenges:
From the story:

Particularly worrisome to backers of the bill is an amendment by Sens. Charles Grassley, R-Iowa, Barack Obama, D-Ill., and Max Baucus, D-Mont., to overhaul the employee verification system.


This story links to Rep. Tom Tancredo's publicity stunt with produce. From CNN:

It’s not every day a presidential hopeful sends Homeland Security Chief Michael Chertoff a head of lettuce, but that’s what Rep. Tom Tancredo, R-Colorado, is doing Wednesday to show his disagreement with Chertoff’s recent comments on how failure of passing immigration reform might affect the agricultural industry.
Tancredo says he disagrees with recent comments Chertoff made that suggested if the immigration bill fails, the agricultural industry will suffer. To prove his point he is sending Chertoff a head of lettuce, a fruit basket, and a card saying, “much, much more where this comes from.”
“The administration has taken hyperbole to a whole new level this time,” Tancredo said in a statement. “They are now trying to convince the public that without amnesty, the American people are going to starve?”
“The agriculture industry and the free market has managed to keep producing through floods, droughts, and $3.00 per gallon gas,” Tancredo added, “I doubt very seriously that a nominal increase in labor costs is going to be the end of lettuce as we know it.”


TK: Unbelievable. Tancredo has taken irresponsible public service to a whole new level. Critics like Tancredo and Lou Dobbs are against both outsourcing of American jobs AND a guest worker program/immigration reform for agriculture. Can't they see that American farmers must outsource their production if they can't find workers?

C-SPAN's immigration links and video page is found here. If the comprehensive immigration bill does fail, there will be an effort to raise the AgJobs legislation as a stand alone bill. Reactionary critics like Tancredo and the inability of Congress to come to closure on any and all aspects of this debate are problems that don't appear to be going away.