NY Times Editorial: AgJobs bill

[Guest guest]

May 16, 2009

EDITORIAL

Farms and Immigrants

The immigration system, broken in a thousand places, needs a multitude of fixes,

from the borders to the workplace to the status of would-be Americans waiting in

limbo overseas and toiling in shadows here. A new bill called AgJobs, introduced

in the House and Senate, addresses some of those problems. It seeks to relieve

chronic farm labor shortages while protecting rights and opportunities for

immigrant workers.

The legislation, which has bipartisan support, is the result of years of

negotiations between growers and workers' advocates. Growers and workers are

tied together, but their interests are highly prone to collision, as anyone who

remembers the California farmworker strikes of the 1970s knows.

Because it's hard to find Americans willing to endure the heat, cold and misery

of stooping in the fields — or the low wages — growers overwhelmingly use

undocumented workers. An estimated 75 percent or more of the agricultural work

force is here illegally. This is bad for everybody. Undocumented workers are

easy prey for exploitation and unable to assert their rights. Growers constantly

complain about labor shortages and are vulnerable to disruptive immigration

raids.

The bill helps to bolster labor rights, while also making it easier for growers

to hire more temporary immigrant workers — after advertising and recruiting for

Americans. Most critical, it includes a path to legal status and eventual

citizenship for undocumented workers if they have clean records and pay fines

and back taxes.

In a climate of seemingly permanent stalemate and rancor over immigration, a

bill that has the support of the National Cattlemen's Beef Association and the

advocacy group Farmworker Justice obviously has something going for it.

It's a model compromise, mixing pro-business pragmatism with a commitment to

protecting workers — future Americans — who do some of the country's most vital

yet difficult jobs. Whether AgJobs is enacted on its own or, more likely, folded

into a larger immigration bill, it deserves a place at the table of

comprehensive reform.

http://www.nytimes.com/2009/05/16/opinion/16sat2.html