Immigration Reform

January 10, 2007

The Ag industry from the farmer to the consumer is under assault. The seriousness ofthe situation is just now becoming obvious. A six-state raid on a major U.S. meat packer has sounded the alarm. 1300 employees were arrested. The work disruption cost Swift & Co. $30 million. Dairy and vegetable farmers in Western New York are operating in a climate ofconstant fear. Will their farm be the next to be raided? The workers are afraid ofwhat will happen to them. They leave 2 or 3 or 10 at a time. Who's going to do the work? Who will milk the cows? Who will harvest the vegetables?

Those of us that are part of the food and Ag industry had better find an answer to this problem. The risk is real. Livestock prices will collapse if the immigrants that work the slaughter plants are arrested or simply leave.

Senate Ag Committee Chairman Tom Harkin of Iowa said he was "appalled by the procedures used to detain and deport Swift workers."

O.K. If the Congress is ready to deal with the problem beyond just building a wall along our southern border, get with it. President Bush supports comprehensive immigration reform to include a guest worker program. On this one issue, the President and the new Democrat-controlled Congress are on the same page.

In our thriving economy, there are certain backbreaking, dirty jobs that most of our citizens just don't want to do. Working in a meat processing plant pays twice the minimum wage with full health benefits. Still, we don't want to do the work. Without immigrants -- legal or illegal -- who would do the construction? Who would pick the strawberries? Who would clean the hotel rooms?

It's time for our elected officials to acknowledge the seriousness of the problem and fix it.

Until next week, I am John Block from Washington.