Immigration reform continues to be a hot-topic, especially for industries who regularly employ guest, or undocumented, workers in order to fulfill their work load and meet production demands. One of the primary industries affected by immigration laws is that of the farming and agricultural industry. According to the American Farm Bureau Federation, about 70 percent of the current seasonal, and transient, agriculture workforce is undocumented.
While current immigration laws continue to have a widespread, adverse affect on the agricultural and farming industry, the Ohio Farm Bureau is actively advocating for a new Farm Bill to address farming immigration issues, as well as other concerns. In fact, that is one of the reasons the Ohio Farm Bureau recently completed a three-day education and lobbying trip to Washington, D.C. While they were in D.C. Farm Bureau members not only made their opening proposal for a short- and long-term immigration resolution, but they opened talks with Congressional leaders and the United Farm Workers Union as well.
Due to the fact that farmers have been unable to count on domestic workers to fill the much needed seasonal, transitory positions, the Farm Bureau's short-term proposal is to grant experienced, yet primarily undocumented, agricultural workers the ability to obtain work authorization in the U.S. Since farmers, like many business owners, need to be able to plan ahead, having migrant workers able to legally enter (and exit) the state becomes a key part of their planning. Without these workers, farms across the nation would be unable to meet agricultural demands and provide the goods that so many Americans have come to rely on. Therefore, the long-term proposal suggests the creation of a guest worker program whereby individuals could come to the U.S., as the need dictated, in order to fulfill seasonal farming objectives.
If you are an individual wishing to obtain employment-based immigration, or you are an Ohio employer looking to hire from outside the United States, we recommend you contact Brown Immigration Law and speak with an experienced Ohio immigration lawyer as soon as possible. Regardless of your immigration objectives, our firm is here to help.