Ag industry winces at tough talk

Tough talk on illegal immigration and trade might help politicians, but it won’t solve the daunting challenges facing agricultural businesses in Washington state and throughout the country.

U.S. Rep. Raul Labrador, R-Idaho, has co-authored an enforcement-only bill that would exacerbate an agricultural industry with labor pains. Four years ago, Labrador was a participant in bipartisan congressional talks on comprehensive reform that included a path to citizenship for people in the country illegally, but he ultimately pulled out and became a proponent of passing individual immigration bills.

However, this issue requires a comprehensive solution because of the tension between the “Keep Out” and “Help Wanted” messages that underscore the problem. Labrador’s bill emphasizes the former without much hope the latter would be addressed.

To sum up, Labrador’s bill would “add 12,500 additional armed federal immigration officers, penalize sanctuary cities, enlist state and local police in federal immigration enforcement, impose new criminal penalties and step up detentions and deportations,” according to a Spokesman-Review article on Friday.

The bill went through a contentious markup session last Thursday that spotlighted the problem of taking a “first step.” Backers of an enforcement-only bill would have no incentive to take the next step if this bill passed.

Then what would the agriculture industry do for workers?

Mike Gempler, executive director of the Washington Growers League, estimates that about half the state’s farm labor force is made up of undocumented workers.

Four years ago, the prospects of a comprehensive solution seemed promising. The Senate overwhelmingly passed a bill that would have greatly increased border security and provided a rigorous path to citizenship for workers who are crucial to the economy. But congressional leadership bowed to cries of “amnesty,” and Donald Trump made a free wall (paid for by Mexico) an integral part of his candidacy.

Rural areas overwhelmingly supported Trump, but his immigration and trade rhetoric makes growers nervous, and for good reason. They would take the initial economic hit.

“We’re very concerned about them creating an enforcement-only policy,” Gempler said in a Sunday Spokesman-Review article about asparagus growers.

The prospect of a NAFTA rewrite also worries the agriculture industry, and not just in this state. When President Trump talked about ripping up the North American Free Trade Agreement, the administration heard from farming groups all over the country.

“Withdrawing from NAFTA would be disastrous for American agriculture,” said Wesley Spurlock of the National Corn Growers Association in a statement.

Farm exports exceeded imports by $20.5 billion last year. The U.S. has enjoyed a long-standing trade surplus for agricultural products.

That would be jeopardized if tough talk turns into hasty action.