UFW leader renews push for immigrant bill
Keene, California — When the U.S. Senate starts a crucial debate on immigration this week, one Kern County man will be paying especially close attention.
For Arturo Rodriguez, president of the United Farm Workers union, the next few days may tell whether the UFW will win its seven-year fight for more realistic immigration laws.
"I’m very optimistic because a lot of people know that something has to happen," said Rodriguez, who took over as president of the UFW in 1993, after the death of his father-in-law and legendary union founder, Cesar E. Chavez. "We’re going to push like hell these next two weeks to make something happen."
As part of a discussion on broader immigration reform, the Senate this week could consider passage of the Agricultural Job Opportunities, Benefits and Security Act of 2007, or AgJOBS.
The bipartisan legislation, negotiated between the UFW and the agribusiness industry, would provide an earned legalization program for about 1.5 million illegal immigrants working on the nation’s farms. It also would implement a guest-worker program to ease worker shortages that have reportedly hit the nation’s farmers.
I wrote a column supporting the bill three years ago because, having worked in the fields, I know it makes sense. I’ve heard many complain about illegal immigrants in the fields, but I haven’t heard anyone offer to take over their jobs. With AgJOBS, illegal immigrant farmworkers would get the chance to live without fear of deportation, and agribusiness would get the stable work force it needs.
The Senate approved AgJOBS as part of comprehensive immigration legislation last year. However, caving to the hard-line stance of Republican conservatives, the House opted for tough-sounding, but wrongheaded measures like a 700-mile fence along the border and making felons of illegal immigrants. Comprehensive immigration reform never happened.
The UFW has pushed hard for AgJOBS. The union helped organize more than 50 rallies across the nation, coordinated the mailing of about a million postcards to Congress, sent farmworkers to twist the arms of lawmakers in Washington, D.C., and hired a full-time lobbyist, something it hasn’t had since the 1970s.
And Rodriguez hopes that in a few days, those efforts will bear fruit. In January, AgJOBS was reintroduced by Sens. Dianne Feinstein, D-Calif., Larry Craig, R-Idaho, and other legislators. The bill may be up for discussion this week.
What’s different now? A Democrat-controlled Congress for one. Rodriguez also feels that, battered by public opinion over the war in Iraq and other issues, President Bush wants to leave office on a positive note. A victory on immigration would help.
With Congress anxious to get a bill signed before its summer recess in August, there is a renewed sense of urgency. Many believe that if some sort of immigration reform legislation isn’t signed into law before legislators go home, it won’t happen for at least two years. And that has Rodriguez on his cellular phone every day, getting updates from his lobbyist.
What if, despite all the hard work, the UFW’s efforts fail?
"I’ll never say it can’t be done next year," said Rodriguez. "We’ll pressure the presidential candidates and make it an issue."
Leonel Martinez’s column appears every other Thursday. Send comments or suggestions to lmartinez@bakersfield.com or leave a voice mail at 395-7631.