Editor’s note: This is the third story in a series written by High Plains Journal editors on immigration and how the issue affects agriculture and rural communities in the High Plains and Midwest.

By Jennifer M. Latzke

The key argument on Capitol Hill and in the streets of immigrant-rich towns is that immigration is needed because there is a shortage of low-cost labor for agriculture and other industries. With the low prices for agricultural goods, today's farmers, dairymen, feedlot operators and the like are forced to cut costs where they can--even if it means tip-toeing on the wrong side of immigration laws.

One High Plains farmer, who spoke on condition of confidentiality, said he really hasn't asked if his immigrant workers have papers, he was just grateful that they were willing to work on his small family farm.

For six years this farmer has lived and worked alongside these two German Mennonite immigrants from Mexico. They first came on a harvest crew and he was so impressed with their work ethic that he offered them a job if they ever came to America to stay.

"I don't think they ever had a work visa permit," the farmer said. Instead, they used their family contacts along the way from Mexico to Kansas to help them evade the law. Officially, his workers' parents are Canadian citizens and they themselves are therefore considered Canadian citizens. The family settled in a large German Mennonite colony in Mexico and they have documents that allow them temporary passage through the U.S. to Canada. However, these documents don't allow them legal permanent resident status in the U.S., nor do they allow these workers to legally work in the U.S.

Their questionable status is something that concerns the farmer, but if the government comes calling he has some deniability. Not only do his two undocumented workers have Social Security numbers, but the farmer also withholds taxes and pays the government using those numbers.

"They file taxes and the numbers must be good because normally they'll have to pay taxes instead of getting a refund," the farmer said. Even the local bank has accepted the immigrants' Social Security numbers, giving them checking accounts and loaning them money. "The banks have accepted the Social Security numbers, so why would I question them?" the farmer asked.

How can employers help legalize workers?

The farmer has investigated how he could help his workers attain legal status, but they've broken too many portions of the immigration law for them to ever become LPRs.

Jim Austin, an immigration attorney with offices in Kansas City, and Garden City, Kan., sees many immigrants who are working in packing plants, on farms and ranches, or in dairies, as well as their employers who want to hire Austin to help get their workers legal status. But, Austin can't help them because at some point, these workers have broken a part of the immigration law and therefore will never be eligible to apply for legal residency.

"A farmer or dairy owner will come in and tell us a story about how he got sick or was hurt in an accident and the migrant workers took over for him and kept the farm going," he said. "They want to save them, help them, but there is no way for them to get legal. And, these are the people you want to be next door to, people you want for neighbors."

There are criminal penalties for employers who knowingly hire illegals, but the amount varies and the enforcement is lax, he added. It's not a big enough deterrent to smaller rural employers, many of whom have little or no affordable workforce to hire from except for undocumented workers.

No excuse for hiring illegal labor

On the other side of the debate are organizations such as the Federation for American Immigration Reform, which believes there is no excuse for hiring illegal immigrant labor. FAIR believes current policy must be reformed to allow only those immigrants with valuable talents that would benefit the general U.S. public into the country. FAIR takes a particularly harsh stance against chain migration, the creation of paths to citizenship for foreign students and agricultural workers, and increasing the number of employment-based immigrants in the U.S.

Some question why, when rural areas are in need of qualified doctors, teachers, and other professionals, FAIR would be against a path to citizenship that makes it easier for foreign students of U.S. schools to attain legal status and benefit rural areas.

"Right now we don't take people based on what they are likely to contribute to our country, instead we have a legal immigration policy based exclusively on nepotism--chain migrations of endless family members means the more that are legally admitted the longer the lines get," said Ira Mehlman, communications director for FAIR. "It doesn't matter if they are a doctor that could help an underserved community or are illiterate."

As for a labor shortage that would justify increasing the number of employment-based immigrants into the U.S., Mehlman and FAIR say that there's no evidence of a labor shortage in the U.S.

"Most workers' wages are stagnant or declining," he said. "Farmers and agribusinesses say they can't find American workers willing to do the work," he added. "But, we have an entire industry hooked on low wage labor. If they can't find an American worker to work for them at a price they are willing to pay, then they need to raise their wages." Mehlman said eventually, if immigration policies were reformed and American employers had an unlimited number of workers, the free market system would take over and wages would rise in competition for employees.

Farmers like the aforementioned High Plains farmer argue they can't afford to pay more for labor with the prices they are currently paid for their crops and livestock and current trade situations. Mehlman argued trade agreements such as NAFTA, only served to worsen the immigrant labor issue.

"We have sacrificed a lot on the altar of free trade in this country and it's turned out to be a race to the bottom," Mehlman said.

Reform is necessary

Ask any stakeholder and they'll all say the same thing--there's no easy answer to immigration reform, but they all agree change is needed.

Mehlman and FAIR say enforcement of the current immigration laws is key, especially in the workplace. Additionally, the U.S. should limit services and benefits it offers to illegal immigrants. By doing these two things, the supply of jobs and benefits will dry up, and illegal immigrants will soon find that the U.S. has nothing to offer them for their risk.

He called for stiffer fines and penalties that would be a meaningful deterrent to employers breaking immigration laws, as well as more border security, and Social Security cards with magnetic strips similar to a credit card for quicker identification verification.

From a legal standpoint, immigration laws must be logical, reasonable, and still address security, economic and family values, said immigration attorney Austin. "Politically, it's hard to do. It takes a lot of courage to attempt to make rational change.

"In the current bill, there's an ag jobs portion that would increase the number of agricultural jobs available and would legalize the workers," Austin said. "Something is needed for the long term because the economy is truly dependent on immigrant labor."

However, Mehlman disagreed.

"We had an ag amnesty in the late 1980s and as soon as many of those workers got their green cards they got out of the agricultural industry because it wasn't paying competitive wages," he added. "If employers are not prepared to pay competitive wages they'll be out of employees.

"No one mentions the cost of a large amnesty," he added. "We have about 12 million here illegally, and anyone here with a laser printer can print documents to show that they've been here for five years or more. The cost of processing 10 to 25 million people and doing background checks on each one is staggering."

As for the High Plains farmer, he's willing to accept the risk of hiring his two illegal immigrant workers because they are the best he's ever found to work on his farm--immigrant or American.

"I think immigrants are very important to our culture," the farmer added. "They appreciate their jobs. In the six years (our workers) have worked for us, they haven't taken one sick day. There aren't many of us here who can say that.

"I've worked with enough Americans who won't work like that," the farmer said. "They're here to make money and a good living. They are the kind of people we want in this country."

Date: 7/13/06

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