The AgJOBS bill is a two-part bill. Part one would create a pilot program to identify undocumented farm workers and allow those already working in U.S. agriculture to continue to work in the United States legally, if they first pay a fine, show that they are current on their taxes, have clean criminal records, and commit to working in U.S. agriculture for the next five years. The second part would reform the H-2A program so that if local workers cannot be hired, farmers have a legal path to hire workers to harvest their crops.

 

Without an adequate labor force, thousands of American farms will fail, threatening more than 3 million jobs, and causing agricultural income to drop by $5-$9 billion. In 2006 and 2007, there were serious farm labor shortages in many places in the country, which led to devastating economic losses. In 2008, Texas A&M found that 77 percent of vegetable famers reported scaling back operations. Furthermore, more than 80,000 acres of California-grown produce has been moved to other countries. We need new policies to ensure the agriculture industry has access to the workers they need so that we can maintain profitability in our agricultural sector. (source: Agriculture Coalition for Immigration Reform)

 

The AgJOBS bill was developed through 10 years of on-going negotiations between Democrats and Republicans, growers, farmers, and farm workers alike, and has enjoyed broad support in both the House and the Senate. The OPGMA Board of Directors voted on April 20, 2010 to endorse the bill.