IFPA Demands Senate Action on Immigration Reform

The partners ask for the approval of the Law for the Modernization of the Agricultural Labor Force.

In 2021, the US House of Representatives passed the Farm Workforce Modernization Act with bipartisan support. In the Senate, Senators Mike Crapo (R-ID) and Mike Bennett (D-CO) have taken the lead in negotiating improvements to House solutions and moving the process forward. The passage of new legislation in the Senate is critical to solving the labor shortage facing the agricultural sector and sustaining the US economy as a whole.

The bill gives legal status to today’s agricultural workforce, reforms the current federal temporary agricultural worker program known as H-2As, and ensures access to a dedicated and skilled workforce.

“IFPA members tell us that given how difficult the current H2A process is, labor shortages are now the norm rather than the exception. The lack of skilled farm labor causes a ripple effect in the supply chain, resulting in fewer options and higher prices for restaurant operators, supermarkets, schools, and ordinary Americans,” Burns said.

“Immigration reform is the single most important action that can be taken to provide relief to struggling Americans to combat unprecedented food inflation and provide healthy food options for their families. The cost of inaction is too high. Nobody can realize the luxury of waiting any longer,” Burns said. (IFPA Executive Director)

Source:
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