12/07/07 What's Up With Immigration Reform?

What's Up With Immigration Reform? I'm Greg Martin with today's Fruit Grower Report. One of the main topics at this year's annual Washington State Horticulture Associations annual convention was immigration. Washington Congressman Doc Hastings dropped by to talk about that. HASTINGS: It's clear that our immigration system is badly broken  leaving our nation less secure and leaving our economic needs unmet. We need a complete immigration reform plan that strengthens control over our borders, ends illegal immigration and provides a workable way for individuals to come here legally and fill agriculture jobs on a reliable basis. Hastings feels that most of the rest of the nation doesn't really understand the northwest's plight. HASTINGS: You may ask why Congress has failed to enact a solution to a problem that everyone agrees exists. Part of our challenge for us in Central Washington with labor intensive agriculture is to get the Pacific Northwest and our entire nation to understand the consequences of doing nothing, and thus the importance of enacting a guestworker program for agriculture that actually works. The challenge with educating my colleagues about our concerns, is that Central Washington is unique. There are only a small handful of areas like ours with labor-intensive, specialty crop based economies  California, Arizona, Florida and a few others. He has remained firm in his stance. HASTINGS: We can and we must control our borders and we can and must enact a reliable guestworker program. Time will tell if the 2008 Congress can act on the immigration issue. That's today's Fruit Grower Report. I'm Greg Martin on the Northwest Ag Information Network.