Kind: Lawmakers Need To Address Ag Labor

As the lame duck session of Congress works through the final weeks of 2022, many farm and agriculture groups are pressing lawmakers to finish immigration reform through the Farm Workforce Modernization Act.  The legislation, spearheaded by Central Washington’s Dan Newhouse and others, has already cleared the House, but has not been voted on in the Senate.  Representative Ron Kind, retiring Democrat from Wisconsin, said it’s a complicated topic, but one that needs worked out.

“We really do. you know, we need the immigrant labor legislation that I've sponsored for a number of years that has some bipartisan support. But the problem has always been those that fear that if you just move that, which does have bipartisan support, you can't make the tough decisions then, better security for the border, making sure we have a more generous immigration and refugee policy so that we can bring more people into this country legally, which we desperately need workwise right now.”

Kind said immigration reform is vital for farmers and ranchers.

“It would be great if we can find a way to attach this to maybe the budget and get it done just for the sake of certainty in farm country so that they know that they've got a ready pool of workers available, and they can do all this legally with work visas,” Kind continued.

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