Careful analysis of the sample of applications from the 1986 worker program in California. where most applications were filed. suggests that most applicants had not done the qualifying farm work. but over 90 percent were nonetheless approved. The propensity for fraud is not remedied in this bill and compounds bad policy with the ability for unscrupulous actors to take advantage of it. I think the most important lesson to learn from the 1986 program is that providing illegal immigrants who work on the farms of this country does not benefit the agricultural workforce for long. History shows that the vast majority of illegal workers who gain a legal status leave agriculture within 5 years. This means that under proposed agricultural amnesty. those who questionably performed agricultural work in the past will work at least 100 or 150 hours in agriculture per year for the next 3 to 5 years. But after that. particularly in light of the changes made to the H2A program. I expect us to be in the same situation in agriculture that we are today. It is worth noting that the Immigration Reform and Control Act of 1986 created a Commission on Agricultural Workers. an 11member bipartisan panel comprised of growers. union representatives. academics. civil servants. and clergy. and tasked it with examining the impact the amnesty for special agricultural workers had on the domestic farm labor supply. working conditions. and wages. Mr. President.
Identified stereotypes
Generalization that most applicants in the 1986 worker program had not done the qualifying farm work.