Immigration and Agriculture Pt 2
From the Ag Information Network, this is today’s Fruit Grower Report. The deportation of undocumented immigrants could potentially be a huge blow for the agricultural industry.
But, Pam Lewison, Ag Director at the Washington Policy Center, says we need to recognize most of these workers and the value they bring to the industry …
LEWISON … “My stance has always been, as long as those folks have not broken the law, at any point, and paid their taxes, and shown up to work, and they’ve done all of the things that you would expect a law-abiding citizen, except for this one exception, to have done, we should honor
that they are in fact trying to pursue the American dream.”
And, Lewison asks, how do we do that? …
LEWISON … “We need to figure out some sort of avenue for those folks to achieve that.”
But agriculture, Lewison says is not the only industry that would suffer …
LEWISON … “If we do these things that the President-elect has talked about in terms of these mass deportations, what does that look like then for filling those voids? There are a lot of places where people don’t have a visa, but they do work. And when we start taking people from those positions who’s going to fill them?”
For agriculture, Lewison says it would not be easy …
LEWISON … “I don’t know about you, but I don’t know a whole lot of people who are rushing to work on farms.”
Again, that’s Pam Lewison, Ag Director at the Washington Policy Center.
