WASHINGTON — Worried that the proposed national crackdown on illegal immigration might work too effectively--depleting the nation's farms of a good portion of their work force--some California congressmen are developing a plan that would enable some undocumented field hands to sidestep the restrictions.
The nation already has a limited guest worker program, started under the 1986 immigration bill, that allows farmers to bring immigrants to the country for temporary work assignments. But those so-called H-2A visas are viewed by farmers as overly cumbersome and are little used. Last year, 400 sheepherders were the only guest workers in California under the program.
The new effort would be designed to appeal to many more of the state's farmers, although Rep. Elton Gallegly (R-Simi Valley) and other supporters intend to include conditions to encourage the temporary workers to return to their homelands once their stints are over, so that they do not become a part of this country's burgeoning undocumented population.
The proposal is a controversial one, raising the ire of migrant workers' groups trying to improve working conditions in farming. They cite government statistics showing an adequate domestic farm worker population and argue that as long as farmers can use foreign workers, they will do little to improve the working conditions on their properties.
Some proponents of stricter immigration controls oppose the new plan because they say that bringing agricultural workers here from foreign countries establishes patterns of migration that foster future illegal immigration.
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President Clinton opposes an expanded guest worker program as well, endorsing the bipartisan Commission on Immigration Reform's conclusion that it "is not in the national interest and . . . would be a grievous mistake."
But the farming industry contends that consumers will be the losers if their products are not swiftly harvested due to a shortage of workers.
"In the short term, we'll scramble around and get some help and you'll see some crops not get harvested," said Bob L. Vise, a Northern California avocado farmer, who heads the California Farm Bureau and testified before a congressional subcommittee on the issue last week. "Over the long term, growers will probably move their farms to other countries."
