Day without immigrants

Posted 2/22/17

Workers at three Sullivan County businesses participated in the Day Without Immigrants protest by not showing up to work on February 16. Those three businesses—related to food and …

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Day without immigrants

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Workers at three Sullivan County businesses participated in the Day Without Immigrants protest by not showing up to work on February 16. Those three businesses—related to food and agriculture—and their employees contribute a lot to the county in terms of taxes and the local economy. If all undocumented immigrants were suddenly deported, the local economy would unquestionably be negatively impacted.

It’s not only a local problem; it’s an issue that concerns many farmers in New York State.

According to the American Farm Bureau, some 50% to 70% of agricultural workers in the country are immigrants, which is also true in New York State. Richard Ball, the state agriculture commissioner, estimates that up to half of those immigrants don’t have the documents needed to work and live here.

Under President Donald Trump, U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) began immigration raids on February 13 that resulted in the arrest of 680 people. Trump has said those arrested were criminals. That was backed up by U.S. Homeland Security Secretary John Kelly, who said of those arrested, “approximately 75% were criminal aliens, convicted of crimes including, but not limited to, homicide, aggravated sexual abuse,” and more.

Even so, that leaves about 170 people that committed only one crime: of being in the United States without the proper documentation, and families are being torn apart. Certainly this was true in the case of Guadalupe Garcia de Rayos, who had been allowed to stay in the country with her children since 2009, when she was convicted of having fraudulent papers. On February 8, she went to her yearly immigration appointment and was immediately deported.

Apologists for the Trump immigration policy, such as New York State Sen. John Bonacic, insist that the targets are criminals. He issued a video statement on the immigration issue in which he said Trump simply wants to protect U.S. citizens from criminals and does not want to break up families. He also added that protests regarding the immigration issue are being carried out by professional protesters who are being paid by people like billionaire George Soros.

Seriously. Did any billionaire pay the workers at the three businesses in Sullivan County to participate in the Day Without Immigration protest? Of course not.

These local businesses’ workers have serious concerns about the stability of their lives, and with good reason, judging by some of the deportations that have already taken place.

 Last week, word came in a draft order (a copy of which was obtained by the Associated Press) that the Trump administration was considering using up to 100,000 National Guard troops to round up undocumented immigrants.

Soon after that, however, the president’s press secretary Sean Spicer denied this, and said it was “100% false.” But many news organizations now have the draft order, so somebody was clearly thinking about it. And with the many inconsistencies coming out of the Trump White House and the Trump campaign before that, it’s impossible to predict how far the administration will push the anti-immigration agenda.

In the meantime, farmers in New York State and across the country are concerned about losing their workforce.

There is a type of visa farmers can get for foreign agricultural workers, an H-2A visa. But there are quite a few hurdles to getting one. Before a farmer may hire an H-2A employee, that farmer must prove that he or she has advertised the agriculture jobs being offered and that no U.S. resident is interested in doing the work, which is certainly true in many cases.

Two New York State members of Congress have introduced legislation that would move the H-2A visa process from the U.S. Department of Labor to the U.S. Department of Agriculture and would bring changes to the program that would make it easier for farmers to take advantage of it.

“The last thing our farmers need is for the federal government to make it harder for them to make ends meet,” said Congressman Chris Collins. “Access to a willing and available labor force is absolutely critical for New York’s agriculture community, particularly our dairy farmers. I am proud to join my colleague Congresswoman Stefanik in introducing this common-sense legislation to streamline and improve the H-2A visa program.”

The New York Farm Bureau supports the legislation. “Immigration reform that allows for both seasonal and year-round farm labor has been a longtime priority for New York Farm Bureau. For too long, the federal H2A guest visa program has been cumbersome, prone to delays and too rigid to fit the needs of both farmers and their employees.”

It seems a bit irrational to have some federal officials working to push immigrants out, and others working to bring them in. But it’s clear that the agricultural industry needs immigrants, and measures that help the industry fulfill this need should be supported.

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