Farmers, UFW hail bill to help laborers

[jamesinca]

Farmers, UFW hail bill to help laborers
Proposal would ease immigration rules for noncitizens

Tyche Hendricks, Chronicle Staff Writer Wednesday, September 24, 2003

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As many as half a million undocumented immigrant farmworkers in the United States -- about half of whom work in California -- could gain legal status under a bill introduced in Congress Tuesday with bipartisan support and the backing of both the agricultural industry and advocates for farmworkers.

The proposal, introduced by Rep. Chris Cannon, R-Utah, and known as the Agricultural Job Opportunity, Benefits and Security Act, breaks a log-jam between growers and farm laborers, many of whom are illegal immigrants, and places the contentious issue of immigration reform back in the political spotlight.


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The proposal would reform the H2A visa program under which agriculture employers can hire immigrants as temporary farmhands after showing they can't find U.S. workers. Growers have often complained that the program is too bureaucratic and burdensome.

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In the early months of President Bush's term, proposals for immigration reform were under discussion, including U.S. negotiations with Mexico for an agreement on hiring migrant workers and a possible amnesty for some of the estimated 7 million to 9 million people already in the U.S. without legal papers. But such plans were sidelined after the Sept. 11, 2001, terrorist attacks when the focus shifted to increasing border security.

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Rep. Nancy Pelosi, D-S.F., supports the bill, her press secretary Brendan Daly said. He called the plan a good first step in immigration reform but said "we need a broader legalization program that can provide an opportunity for these hardworking immigrants to live in this country legally."

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on edit: http://sfgate.com/cgi-bin/article.cgi?file=/c/a/2003/09/24/MN205246.DTL