ANLA Addresses Labor and Immigration Reform
The American Nursery & Landscape Association (ANLA) spoke on behalf of labor-intensive agriculture in the United States at the U.S. Department of Agriculture’s annual Agricultural Outlook Conference recently. Craig Regelbrugge, ANLA’s senior director of government relations, who also co-chairs the Agriculture Coalition for Immigration Reform, made the presentation.
Countering the opponents of immigration reform who claim agriculture is addicted to cheap illegal labor, Regelbrugge pointed out that between 1990 and 2002 labor productivity in U.S. agriculture increased 29 percent, according to ANLA. Aggregate agricultural output increased 15.4 percent while total labor input decreased 9.2 percent. So the notion that the influx of illegal aliens into the agricultural workforce has caused labor productivity to stagnate, and that growers and producers have relied on hiring illegal workers rather than adopting labor-saving technological innovations, is baseless, also according to ANLA.
Rather, ANLA described an American economy that has produced millions more jobs than there are Americans available and willing to take them. This reality, coupled with the fact that many jobs in agriculture are tough and seasonal or intermittent, explains why agriculture was the first industry to suffer actual and worsening labor shortages in 2006. The labor situation is expected to deteriorate further as the 2007 growing season gets underway, according to ANLA.
Will Congress and the Administration recognize this national crisis and act swiftly? “We hope so,” said Regelbrugge. “President Bush, as a former border state governor, understands what needs to happen. So do dozens of Senators and Representatives that have already put their names behind the AgJOBS legislation,” he said. “We have a golden opportunity to begin to secure our borders and secure an immigration policy that makes sense for America’s food supply and economy.”
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