A new Department of Labor Report released today announces labor surpluses in areas around the country for Fiscal Year 2009, which began October 1st. Many of the areas are counties with significant agricultural production: In California: Fresno, Imperial, Kern, Madera, Merced, San Joaquin, Stanislaus, and Tulare Counties, Hendry County in Florida, Yuma County in Arizona and Yakima County in Washington. In some of these counties, their agricultural products are sold for more than $1 billion per year.  There are a lot of farmworkers in these counties.

The Government's report means there is more than enough labor supply in these areas. With wages low and unemployment high, the Bush Administration’s plans to slash the wage rates and labor protections in the H-2A agricultural guestworker program make no sense.  Why encourage employers to bring in more cheap foreign labor with no rights when they should be encouraged to offer decent wages and working conditions to attract unemployed and underemployed immigrants and citizens?

The Administration should withdraw its plans to deregulate the H-2A program.  It's the wrong approach.  There also must be a policy that recognizes the need to offer legal immigration status to qualified undocumented farmworkers already in the U.S. because we need their labor but they should be treated fairly.  The Administration should allow Congress to confront these issues in a bipartisan compromise that both farmworkers and employers can support.