GRAND JUNCTION — There is nothing in President Barack Obama’s recently announced package of executive actions on immigration that directly reassures farmers and ranchers they’ll have efficient access to foreign-born labor.
If anything, it seems the actions might have muddied already less-than-clear waters, according to the Colorado Farm Bureau.
“When you look at it, there’s nothing specifically in there to help agriculture,” said Brent Boydston, vice president for public policy for the bureau. “It kind of brings up more questions than answers.”
If nothing else, however, said Olathe farmer John Harold, the executive actions seem to be ready to force the hands of Republicans. “I don’t think the Republicans can ignore it anymore,” said Harold, who depends on the ability to bring in labor to deliver Olathe sweet corn to markets across the United States every late summer. “They got rewarded in the election by doing nothing. It amazed me that they did nothing.”
Obama’s actions, though, don’t look to be immediately beneficial to Talbott Farms in Palisade, said Harry Talbott.
“I don’t think it’s going to make much difference,” Talbott said. “We’ve been wanting a stable workforce for 60 years. We should go back to the old Green Card program. That worked.”
Harold and Talbott each have different desires for an immigration fix.
Harold wants a better H-2A program, one that would be more efficient than the current iteration and which would allow immigrants and their families to obtain three-year visas and allow him to give them a stipend for housing.
That would be easier than dealing with multiple inspections of a dormitory he built for about $500,000, Harold said. “I’ve had 11 agencies inspect that dormitory,” Harold said.
He’d just as soon pay the stipend and allow his workers to live where they wish, Harold said.
For the Talbott family, a guest-worker program for seasonal workers would make more sense.
“The problem is that when they have legal status, they gravitate to year-round work, not seasonal jobs,” said Bruce Talbott, one of the sons of Harry Talbott.
Many of the Talbotts’ seasonal employees have their own farms in Mexico that are helped by the money they earn in the United States. “It’s a nice fit,” Bruce Talbott said.
The number of people who stand to be affected could be as high as 100,000 in Colorado, according to the Pew Research Center.
Obama’s executive actions could affect as many as 5 million people nationwide and are geared to preventing the deportation of young people and their families.
