Originally published March 20, 2007 at 12:00 AM | Page modified March 20, 2007 at 12:44 PM
Editorial
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...
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.
NEW - 12:45 AM
Leonard Pitts Jr. / Syndicated columnist: The peril of lower standards in the 'new journalism'
George Will / Syndicated columnist: Huckabee's detour from reason in Obama theory
Lance Dickie / Seattle Times editorial columnist: Empower health care reform close to home
Rewind | Seattle Times Editorial Board interviews school officials
Leonard Pitts Jr. / Syndicated columnist: When punishment is a crime

Entertainment | Top Video | World | Offbeat Video | Sci-Tech
nwautos
Turismo upgrade "Gran Turismo 5: XL Edition" for PlayStation 3 has features such as new car-tuning settings, new NASCAR vehicles, better replay video...
Post a comment
- Lakewood cop accused of embezzling $150K meant for slain officers' families
- 3 big health insurers stockpile $2.4 billion as rates keep rising
- Social worker recounts minutes before Powell fire
- Agency set to investigate handling of 911 call about Josh Powell
- Quick decisions: How Washington hired its new football staff
- Historic day for gay marriage as another fight looms
- Justin Wilcox's versatile defensive style is the right fit for Huskies | Jerry Brewer
- Council members get briefing on arena proposal, minus details
- It's Terrence Time: Enigmatic Ross leads Huskies
- $25B settlement reached over foreclosure abuses
- Gay-marriage bill passes House, awaits Gregoire's signature
503 - Wanted in Seattle classrooms: more teachers of color
393 - Council members get briefing on arena proposal, minus details
342 - AP Source: Obama to change birth control rule
312 - Oregon live game thread
155 - Worker: Josh Powell told son he had 'surprise'
109 - Rough road again
108 - A few late-night notes
95 - USA Today further spells out how Mariners, handful of clubs next in line for huge cash windfall
75 - Marijuana legalization initiative set to go on Nov. ballot
73
- Wanted in Seattle classrooms: more teachers of color
- State Medicaid program to stop paying for unneeded ER visits
- 3 big health insurers stockpile $2.4 billion as rates keep rising
- Economy, blogs give survivalists new reason to look to Northwest
- State's share of mortgage settlement: $648 million
- Bellevue College adds a third bachelor's degree program
- One man's audacious pursuit of sailing history
- Darren Berg gets 18-year sentence for Ponzi scheme
- $25B settlement reached over foreclosure abuses
- 'Gauguin and Polynesia': dazzling mix-and-match | Art review










