Lawmakers reintroduce bill to help support farm labor force

Despite the anti-immigrant environment and threats of deportations, a bill has been revived that seeks to allow farmworkers to work legally in the U.S., which could also address the farm labor crisis.

Daniela Rodríguez, UC Berkeley fellow and Radio Bilingüe reporter, delves into this bipartisan bill that would provide farmworkers a path to legal status and citizenship.

A bipartisan group of lawmakers is again pushing a bill that, if passed, could provide a pathway for non-citizens to work legally in U.S. fields and on U.S. farms. That initiative, known as the Agricultural Workforce Modernization Act was reintroduced this May 7 in an effort to address the current farm labor crisis many farmers are facing.

United Farm Workers Foundation communications specialist Maybe Hernandez Alfonso gives us a key reason why this bill is so important.

Because the threat against the undocumented community, against the agricultural community, today is stronger than ever.

In addition to offering a pathway to legal status, this proposal would also improve the H-2A visa program, which allows workers to be brought in from other countries on a seasonal basis. The United Farm Workers ((or)) UFW Foundation has said it supports the bill in hopes that this time it will move forward in the Senate.

Maybe adds that this bill offers a ray of light to the farm worker community who are facing a lot of threats and fear right now.

They don’t want to go to work, they are being separated, there have been many deportations already. So why is it important? Because it tells them: we are still here, don’t give up. We are still in the fight. There is going to be a way forward.

Maybe highlights that recently, the United Farm Workers Foundation documented cases in which farmworkers were detained by ICE, including local deportations that occurred in Kern County. And recently, the detention of a farm worker leader who is part of the same foundation.

That case, his name is Lorenzo Saravia and it’s in Georgia. A hard-working man, a farm worker who was working all day long. And at the end of the work day, ICE arrived and detained him, and took him away.  But like this case, we have seen many, many cases.

Therefore, the foundation calls this legislative proposal a very useful motivation for farmworkers in these uncertain times, but they understand that, for now, this is a first step for undocumented farmworkers to obtain legalization. Let’s listen to Maybe Hernandez Alfonso.

It’s definitely not the complete solution for everything, but it would help us a lot. In other words, the fact of giving hope, of finding a path to legalization for the farm worker community is huge.

Originally, the Farm Workforce Modernization Act bill stalled in the federal legislature in 2019 and was reintroduced in 2021, but failed to advance in the Senate, while in 2023 it was only introduced. In December 2019, it became the first farm labor legislative reform to pass the House of Representatives since 1986. Since then, a bipartisan coalition of representatives has worked steadily to advance the bill through the legislative process.

It’s a bill that, if it’s embraced by Republicans and Democrats, then we’re celebrating that. We want any number of benefits.

In contrast to the United Farm Workers Foundation’s position, other community organizations have expressed concerns about this bill before. They point out that the bill expands the H-2A visa program without providing the necessary oversight and protections for workers. In addition, they criticize the required use of E-Verify – a U.S. government online system that allows employers to verify legal authorization to work – as implementing it could increase the vulnerability of immigrant workers. But Maybe says they are hopeful that this time it will pass.

Hope is the last thing to go. And usually we’ve found that by fighting and just thinking that we can do it, we’ve accomplished something.

Maybe also stresses that it is important to keep informed about what is happening with the peasant community in the country.

Know that they are essential workers, regardless of the discourse coming from the White House about the criminalization of undocumented workers. These are people who are really working so that we have fruits, vegetables and food on our table every day.

Maybe extends an invitation for people to call their local congressmen and legislators asking them to listen to their voices and support legislative proposals like this one.