STATEMENT FROM UFW PRESIDENT ARTURO RODRIGUEZ ON BUSH ADMINISTRATION ATTEMPT TO CHANGE H-2A GUESTWORKER RULES
The Bush Administration is trying to bring more foreign workers into the United States when there are already plenty of professional farm workers currently in this country to perform the work. This is an attempt to get around the historic, bipartisan AgJOBS bill now before Congress that would let farm workers here now to earn the right to stay by continuing to work in agriculture.
Even as the administration issued a statement against the Dream Act complaining it was not "comprehensive" immigration reform, in the next breath the White House is trying to strip longtime worker protections in the existing H-2A guestworker program in order to make it cheaper to bring in foreign labor.
The only sensible solution for the agricultural industry is the AgJOBS bill. AgJOBS was carefully negotiated by the United Farm Workers and the agricultural industry, with both sides making painful concessions. This compromise legislation, which has broader bipartisan support than any other reform measure, would provide America with a stable farm labor force consisting of farm workers already in this country and it would help ensure those workers are treated fairly.
If the Bush Administration is interested in real solutions to a serious problem, it should focus on getting AgJOBS passed this year.