F E B R U A R Y 2 0 1 8 8 POTATO GROWER Agriculture Labor Crisis Grows As Congress Tries to Find a Path Forward Over the course of 2017, the ag labor crisis grew as immigration enforcement and the rhetoric around it increased. Crops went unharvested. Farmers following the rules are still having their farms raided and operations disrupted. The sole legal guest worker program that serves agriculture (H-2A) con- tinues to swell beyond its capacity, as panicked farmers seek any avail- able means of harvesting their crops. Congress and the Administration realize they can solve this crisis. The solution is three-fold; bring today’s workforce out of the shad- ows with the benefit of legal work status combined with penalties to atone for past actions, create a new guest worker program that can evolve with agriculture’s future needs, and create a strong enforce- ment program to make sure all sides play by the rules. Despite a long history of failure on the part of Congress and the Executive Branch to address com- prehensive immigration reform, President Trump’s hardline approach to the border wall and the travel ban gives him tremendous credibility with the far-right wing of the party that has opposed dealing with the immigration issue compre- hensively. Additionally, President Trump’s businesses were H-2A users, so he understands firsthand the pro- gram’s importance and its short- comings. In 2017, the Congressional action on immigration reform was con- fined only to one committee. The House Judiciary Committee passed the “Agricultural Guestworker Act” (H.R. 4092) by a vote of 17-16 (two Republicans voted against the bill with no Democrats in support) after a contentious two-day committee mark-up. The bill contains compro- mises that gathered the necessary committee votes, but several provi- sions have practical flaws that fall short of the overall goal of provid- ing “a workable solution to agricul- ture’s labor crisis.” Despite the bill’s shortcomings, it is very positive that the Judiciary Committee, with its challenging membership, could agree upon something. Without their action, the agriculture industry could have been vulnerable to Mandatory E- Verify being enacted without any concurrent option to provide labor for agriculture. In reporting the bill NPC Mes sage by Kam Quarles, NPC Vice President, Public Policy