Business and agricultural groups that have struggled to push congressional action on immigration reform for years are hoping there will be a change in 2017.
The American Farm Bureau Federation (AFBF) has joined the nationwide immigration reform campaign Reason for Reform. The pro-immigration advocacy campaign is led by former New York City mayor Michael Bloomberg, according to POLITICO.
The campaign is focused on emphasizing the economic benefits of immigration reform and to persuade GOP lawmakers on the issue before a new president is elected in November.
AFBF Farm Labor Specialist Kristi Boswell says immigration reform will ensure the success of America’s farmers and ranchers.
“The American Farm Bureau and farmers and ranchers are calling on Congress to pass responsible immigration reform in order to ensure that our cows get tended, our fruits and vegetables get harvested, and to provide that fresh, local food that consumers demand in their grocery stores,” Boswell told AFBF’s Newsline.
“We need a new, more flexible visa program that meets the needs of farmers and workers,” AFBF President Zippy Duvall said during a conference call last week.
Duvall noted that any reforms must guarantee that the agricultural workforce is not subjected to mass deportation.
“We need adjustment of status so we can maintain that experienced workforce,” he said. Duvall added, according to POLITICO, that immigration enforcement shouldn’t focus solely on enforcement, because that would cost U.S. agriculture billions in production and thousands of jobs.
“It’s important we continue to work our grassroots and put pressure on the local level,” Duvall said. “We’re coming to the point where the American people have to make up their minds if they want to import their food or import their labor. And I think the American people want their food grown in America. We need to be able to grow it and harvest it.”
Partnership for a New American Economy is the Bloomberg-led group that is spearheading the initiative.
I support working with our neighbor, Mexico, to strengthen them and to strengthen us, however, if they wish to live here it must be done legally. I am not saying Mexico is responsible for the immigration problems, that would be us. The US has caused this with a massive demand for drugs and politicians with no back bone or brain on how to deal with it because many of them have their hand in the pot. Mexico deserves our support far more so than any Muslim nation. I lived on the border for a few years , experienced the problems and developed some resolutions, but politicians don’t want to do anything unless they get $$$ out of it for themselves. We can solve this with common sense and some hard work, then we all benefit from working neighbor to neighbor .