WASHINGTON - Georgia farmers are not the only ones in the country who fear that new immigration laws and policies could have a devastating impact on them.
The agriculture industry, nationwide, fears a disaster is on the horizon if the one bit of new immigration policy that Congress seems to agree on becomes law.
A plan to require all American businesses to run their employees through E-Verify, a program that confirms each is legally entitled to work in the U.S., could wreak havoc on an industry where 80 percent of the field workers are illegal immigrants. So could the increased paperwork audits already under way by the Obama administration.
"We are headed toward a train wreck," said Rep. Zoe Lofgren, a California Democrat whose district includes agriculture-rich areas. "The stepped up (workplace) enforcement has brought this to a head."
Lofgren said farmers are worried that their work force is about to disappear. They say they want to hire legal workers and U.S. citizens, but that it's nearly impossible, given the relatively low wages and backbreaking work.
Wages can range from minimum wage to more than $20 an hour. But workers often are paid by the piece; the faster they work, the more they make.
A steady income lasts only as long as the planting and harvesting seasons, which can be measured in weeks.
"It is extremely difficult, hard, dangerous work," said Arturo S. Rodriguez, president of United Farm Workers.
Agriculture Secretary Tom Vilsack and the American Farm Bureau Federation president, Bob Stallman, said that the best hope to stave off an economic catastrophe is comprehensive overhaul of immigration policy. Vilsack said the industry is worth about $5 billion to $9 billion a year.
Georgia farmers for months have been expressing concern over the impact a new state immigration law will have on them.
Friday
June 27th, 2025
6:23PM
