Menu

Lawmakers push to clamp down on illegal immigration

by Seth Teter

Some Ohio farmers are deciding if they should stay in business as impending immigration laws threaten to cut off their work force, according to John Wargowsky, Ohio Farm Bureau’s director of labor services and policy.

Wargowsky said some short-season crop producers who rely on migrant workers are already having trouble finding labor.

"We're obviously seeing a shortage of workers especially with processing vegetable growers in northwest Ohio and apple growers throughout the state," he said. The shortage is also affecting long-season producers who have been forced to choose which crops they are capable of harvesting.

According to the National Agricultural Statistics Service, the number of hired farm workers in the United States decreased 3.75 percent to an all-time low of 718,000 in the first quarter of 2006. At the same time, average wages increased nearly 5 percent to $9.79 per hour.

Wargowsky said farmers are willing to pay higher wages as long as workers are productive.

"It's not about cheap labor," he said. "It's about labor that has a return on the investment."

He said farmers ultimately want a system that provides a legal and willing work force at a price that allows them to stay in business.

However, Senate and Congressional leaders want to pass a very narrow immigration bill, according to AFBF immigration specialist Austin Perez, who recently spoke to a group of OFBF Young Farmers in Washington, D.C.

"They want to build a big fence. The taller, the wider, the better," he said.

Perez said AFBF supports increased border security, but it must be coupled with a reasonable guest worker program. But Perez noted consumers wouldn't see a drastic jump in prices if farmers lose access to a legal work force.

"What you will see is shelf after shelf stocked with foreign produce," he said.

Perez questioned the logic of adopting policies to protect national security that result in the United States outsourcing food production.

"We don't have any alternative but labor," he said.

In Ohio, lawmakers have introduced legislation that would give the state more authority to crack down on illegal immigration. The legislation would create an Ohio investigative office to work with federal immigration officials and impose additional penalties on employers who hire illegal workers.

Rocky Black, OFBF senior director of policy and political affairs, said with the upcoming elections, legislators might not have time to act on the bill. He added that any legislation should protect employers if workers present them with fraudulent information.

"We don't want to be liable for something we can't control," he said.

It is also important that state and federal laws match, so employers don't have to violate one to comply with the other. Wargowsky added that some employers are concerned that by complying with new immigration laws, they could face lawsuits for violating workers' civil rights.

In addition to immigration reform, Wargowsky said there should be a continued emphasis on ways to address farm labor shortfalls. He cited local work force development and improved mechanization as examples.

But for now, agricultural employers remain nervous about the potential consequences of new immigration laws.

"I have employers say over and over, just tell us what the rules are and make sure the rules are reasonable," Wargowsky said.