Congress May Ease Rules for Guest Workers

Worried that the proposed national crackdown on illegal immigration might work too effectively--depleting the nation’s farms of a good portion of their work force--some California congressmen are developing a plan that would enable some undocumented field hands to sidestep the restrictions.

The nation already has a limited guest worker program, started under the 1986 immigration bill, that allows farmers to bring immigrants to the country for temporary work assignments. But those so-called H-2A visas are viewed by farmers as overly cumbersome and are little used. Last year, 400 sheepherders were the only guest workers in California under the program.

The new effort would be designed to appeal to many more of the state’s farmers, although Rep. Elton Gallegly (R-Simi Valley) and other supporters intend to include conditions to encourage the temporary workers to return to their homelands once their stints are over, so that they do not become a part of this country’s burgeoning undocumented population.

The proposal is a controversial one, raising the ire of migrant workers’ groups trying to improve working conditions in farming. They cite government statistics showing an adequate domestic farm worker population and argue that as long as farmers can use foreign workers, they will do little to improve the working conditions on their properties.

Some proponents of stricter immigration controls oppose the new plan because they say that bringing agricultural workers here from foreign countries establishes patterns of migration that foster future illegal immigration.

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President Clinton opposes an expanded guest worker program as well, endorsing the bipartisan Commission on Immigration Reform’s conclusion that it “is not in the national interest and . . . would be a grievous mistake.”

But the farming industry contends that consumers will be the losers if their products are not swiftly harvested due to a shortage of workers.

“In the short term, we’ll scramble around and get some help and you’ll see some crops not get harvested,” said Bob L. Vise, a Northern California avocado farmer, who heads the California Farm Bureau and testified before a congressional subcommittee on the issue last week. “Over the long term, growers will probably move their farms to other countries.”

Although the exact language is still being drafted, Gallegly is considering proposals that would, among other things, require farmers to pay for housing, health care and other costs for farm workers to prevent them from becoming a drain on taxpayers. His plan would also force farmers to keep a portion of workers’ salary in escrow for payment once they return to their homeland.

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Like the current program, workers would have to be paid prevailing wages and employers would have to show that they first tried to fill the jobs with American workers. Still, farm worker advocates contend that those conditions are often ignored by farmers.

The expanded guest worker proposal is a concession to agricultural interests, particularly those in California, who have expressed grave concern over how they will fare when Congress votes on a tough legislative package that would discourage immigrants from entering the country illegally and prevent them from securing employment once they are here.

One of the key problems for growers under the current guest worker visa, they say, is the requirement that they apply for the foreign workers 60 days before they actually arrive. Vise of the California Farm Bureau says that this is extremely difficult for California’s fruit and vegetable growers.

“You don’t know 60 days ahead when your lettuce is going to be ready,” he said, calling for more flexibility in bringing foreign workers to the fields.

Underlying the debate is an acknowledgment that the nation’s farms, and California’s in particular, are havens for undocumented workers. Government studies put the number at anywhere from 25% to more than half of all farm workers, although the Labor Department also says that the nation has more than an adequate population of legal farm workers.

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Rep. Lamar Smith (R-Texas), chairman of the House immigration subcommittee and the main author of the immigration bill, says his most optimistic estimate is that the bill could cut the number of illegal immigrants in the country by half over the next five years.

Farmers say that will sting.

“I will be the first to admit that a large percentage of our work force is illegal,” Vise said. “If we lose the workers and can’t harvest the crops, we’re going to lose everything.”

Vise is quick to add that farmers are not knowingly breaking the law. They are hiring illegal workers, he said, because of the proliferation of fraudulent documents.

Lawmakers intend to close that loophole in their immigration bill by setting up better systems for employers to determine the immigration status of workers.

The last time Congress overhauled immigration laws, in 1986, farmers successfully pushed for permanent resident status for nearly 1.1 million illegal farm workers already in the country. Before that, the so-called bracero program allowed agricultural guest workers into the country for nearly 20 years--until it was terminated by Congress in 1964 because it was found to contribute to low wages and poor working conditions.

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Last month, Gallegly and Smith visited agricultural sites in Ventura County and Fresno to hear firsthand some of the farmers’ fears.

At a lemon and avocado grove near Saticoy, farmer Tom Pecht told the lawmakers that he supports immigration reform but also relies on immigrant workers. “Nobody wants illegal labor coming up and sucking the economy dry,” Pecht said. “But we need workers.”

At the congressional hearing, Rep. Sonny Bono (R-Palm Springs) said he experienced the same frustration farmers are facing while running his Italian restaurant and trying to find busboys.

Some jobs, Bono argued, are virtually impossible to be filled by domestic workers. It makes good sense, he said in endorsing the guest worker concept, to fill them with immigrants who want the jobs.

But not everyone believes that agribusiness needs a break.

Rep. Howard L. Berman (D-Panorama City), a leading opponent of guest worker programs, says that farmers prefer the foreign workers because they are less likely to complain about inhumane and illegal working conditions.

“Farm workers have suffered enough,” he said. “Let’s not make it worse with a new or revised guest worker program. To do so would hurt American workers and reward the very industry most responsible for the continued flow of illegal immigrants into this country.”

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Gallegly, at the center of the effort to craft the bill, is busy rounding up support and fine tuning the language. He intends to attach the provision to the immigration legislation due for a House vote early next year.

After long complaining about the costs illegal immigrants impose on the economy, Gallegly does not view the admission of more guest workers as a retreat.

“This country would be much better off economically if there were not one single illegal immigrant here,” Gallegly said. “But if we can find a way to legally benefit the immigrant and the economy, let’s do that.”