09/19/07 Joining Forces On Immigration

Joining Forces On Immigration. I'm Greg Martin with today's Line On Agriculture. The immigration issue has been lying untouched since Congress failed to get the ball moving several months ago. It's a touchy subject around politicians and farmers alike. But it's something that needs to be addressed, and soon. Trevor Blackann, Vice President of Government Relations with the Dairy Farmers of America says they have been working together with other organizations. BLACKANN: It's a group of Ag providers and Ag service providers from dairy to poultry to nursery and citrus growers and we've all be collectively working to get some form of immigration legislation passed, whether it's a comprehensive immigration reform bill or a smaller Ag jobs package. The group is called the Agriculture Coalition for Immigration Reform or ACIR and according to Blackann, it really doesn't appear that anything will be done until some things change and perhaps even not until after the '08 Presidential election. BLACKANN: The President kind of went out on a limb as far as political party lines go, pushed a bill that many Republican's in Congress did not support but now that that bill has taken it's chance and not been successful, it's probably going to take a different Congress rather than necessarily a different President or a different mood in the current Congress to pass a bigger bill. Obviously a full on immigration package would be preferable to just a patch like the AgJobs bill but Blackann says there has been discussion about getting something done, sooner than later. BLACKANN: We do have a commitment, Senator Diane Feinstein from California and Senator Harry Reid who is the Senate Majority Leader had a colloquy on the Senate floor, in other words just an open discussion for the Congressional Record discussing the potential future of the AgJobs bill. This happened about a month ago just prior to the August recess, in that conversation, Senate Majority Leader Reid promised Senator Feinstein that he would move the AgJobs legislation whether it's attaching it to some other form of legislation that's moving; potentially the Farm Bill, or some other vehicle but he did make a public commitment that he would work to try and move the AgJobs bill. But unlike other Ag industries that are seasonal, Blackann says the dairy business keeps going. BLACKANN: Dairy is a little bit different that some of the other organizations that are participating in the coalition. For many of those folks, they qualify for H2A visas and get workers that come in, whether it's citrus and you've got a short picking season; unfortunately in the dairy industry, ranching industry and few others it's 365 days a year. Our cows don't go on vacation and don't have an individual growing season. More tomorrow with Trevor Blackann. That's today's Line On Agriculture. I'm Greg Martin on the Northwest Ag Information Network.