Mr. Speaker. time and again during our consideration of Immigration reform. we have heard one constant refrain from the lobbyists representing agricultural employers. They insist that immigration reform legislation must include special provisions designed to give growers access to over onequarter of a million foreign guestworkers. These claims persist in the face of compelling evidence of rampant unemployment among American farm. workers. and leave me convinced that it is a particularly vulnerable worker that growers seek. one that does not enjoy the rights of American workers. I urge my colleagues to read the following article which appeared on page I of the Los Angeles Times on October 22. In no uncertain terms. prominent growers in California take issue with the position asserted by the grower lobbyists we hear from here in Washington. The California growers told these Los Angeles Times reporters that there is an adequate labor supply in Californiamore than an adequate supply. For those of us who hate to see immigration reform stymied by the grower lobbyists special pleading. the evidence of a plentiful agricultural labor supply is of great interest. I would also point out the poignant statement from the undocumented farmworker whom the legalization component of immigration reform is designed to help. He would be eligible for legalization under H.R. 3080. and yet he says. "There isnt enough work now. And there would be much less work for us * * * with the coming of the bracero. I cannot see much future for my children." What are we doing in the name of immigration reform?
Keywords matched
undocumented Immigration immigration