I believe will go south of the border in some of these areas. Much of that production today happens outside the United States. So I think when we are talking about what sounds like a good idea. we better put it in the context of what the bill is really about. that is. the transitional time of 2 to 3 years of blue card workers who are in the market today working at a variety of wages. depending upon the particular job. the particular type of agriculture. and all of a sudden establishing a whole new wage base substantially above where they are being paid but. as the Senator from Georgia would argue. below H2A. But remember. once again. only about 45.000 workers are in H2A. and there are well over a million who are all of a sudden going to be affected by the blue card status and by the Chambliss amendment. So it is tremendously important that we bring this into context. Now. that is not going to be just a couple of workers. as I said. That is nearly 70 percent of the current agricultural workforce we believe to be undocumented. Not all of those workers are going to qualify for the blue card program. but a lot of them will. Our blue card program envisions that it could go as high as. over a 3year period. 1.5 million. and if I am not mistaken. those higher wages wont be limited to the blue card worker.
Keywords matched
undocumented H2A