Asparagus to apples, reform has failed

Washington's harvest season is just a month away, and federal immigration reform has yet to materialize.

The newly minted Democratic Congress promises a more hospitable reception. Last week in Guatemala, President Bush ventured an August timetable for when a reform bill might be ready for his signature. But openness to solving what should be done about the 12 million people in the United States illegally is small consolation to workers and employers caught in limbo. Most illegal workers are from Latin America and work in all sectors, but many of them are concentrated in agriculture, construction and hospitality.

The U.S. crackdown at the border and raids throughout the country have made workers scarcer. The Washington Farm Bureau expects the state to be about 15,000 workers short of the 60,000 needed for the harvest that begins with asparagus and ends with apples.

Like last year, the industry and state agencies are working toward solutions, including advertising for workers out of state, supporting farm-labor pools that can match workers to jobs, and promoting the limited guest-worker program.

State Rep. Bruce Chandler, R-Yakima County, also proposed a bill to encourage high-school students to work in agriculture. His Field of Dreams bill would give young people financial credits for college tuition in addition to their wages. HB 2082 passed the House handily, 96-2, and will be the subject of a Senate hearing Thursday.

Those measures might limp the harvest into the packing houses, but real solutions must come from Congress.

The Senate last year passed a reasonable bill that increased border enforcement while giving workers legal status and providing an earned path to citizenship. But the House, driven more by rhetoric than reason, passed a bill focused only on enforcement.

Bush has advocated reform since his days as governor of Texas, but his administration is sending mixed signals about whether he is willing to provide a path to citizenship. His office is negotiating this week with some of the idea's biggest opponents.

Compromise is admirable. But the system has permitted an expansive underground economy to flourish. The solution requires not only stricter enforcement but a way for workers here now to earn legal, permanent residency or citizenship.