Working on Guest Worker Program

Working on Guest Worker Program. I'm Greg Martin with today's Line On Agriculture. The issue of immigration reform has been in the spotlight again recently - mainly due to the signing of a controversial immigration law in Arizona. Ranking Member of the Senate Agriculture Committee Saxby Chambliss believes immigration should be a priority issue in Washington - calling it one of the more important issues Washington needs to deal with. Chambliss says it's especially important for agriculture - an industry that relies on a guest worker program. CHAMBLISS: We in agriculture have a particularly unique situation that we depend on H2A workers tp harvest our crops and you know I have a son-in-law who is a farmer and Joe could not get his crop out of the field without utilizing H2A but now the U.S. Department of Labor is making it more difficult to access H2A, they're making it more expensive and I shudder to think the direction we are going there. Chambliss says that's just one of the reasons why immigration is so critical to the economy of the country and why something must be done. But he doesn't expect an immigration bill will move right now. CHAMBLISS: We have not secured the borders and until those borders are secure it's going to be difficult to have any kind of major reform of the immigration system in this country. According to Chambliss - the Administration has not taken action to secure the nation's borders - which is why the people of Arizona decided to do what they could. Now he hopes to see a stronger effort at the federal level. CHAMBLISS: And then I think we're going to have the opportunity to address this issue of overall immigration reform and agriculture needs it worse than probably any other segment of our country. A Congressional effort has started. Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid is working with fellow Democratic Senators Charles Schumer and Robert Menendez on an immigration reform plan. Their proposal focuses on securing the border first before taking any action to address the status of those in the country illegally. That's today's Line On Agriculture. I'm Greg Martin on the Ag Information Network.