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Conyers: Facts Don't Square with GOP Claims on Immigration

No One Wants to Stoop on Labor

Congressman John Conyers

For Immediate Release
September 24, 2010
Contact: Nicole Triplett

(Washington) Today, the House Judiciary Subcommittee on Immigration, Citizenship, Refugees, International Law, and Border Security hosted a hearing on "Protecting America’s Harvest," in which they examined the growing demand of the U.S. agricultural sector on foreign labor.

"I thank all the witnesses for coming to testify on their views of the current happenings with the U.S. agricultural industry," Conyers said. "I was particularly moved by Mr. Colbert’s statement at the end of the hearing." Colbert statement.

"Immigrants are filling a critical gap," Conyers said. "In some instances, there simply are no Americans to take these jobs to keep the 2 billion dollar industry going. But regardless of the reasons for the shortage of willing American workers, not having enough workers during the growing season can be disastrous for growers—leading to crop loss, lost profits, and the loss of farms. The nation has already suffered the closure of 1.5 million acres of farmland. The loss of our American farms would also endanger tens of millions of jobs actually held by native born workers. For every on-farm job, there are about 3.1 complementary jobs created in packaging, processing, and transportation. This could threaten more than 3 million jobs, causing agricultural income to drop by $5-9 billion."

"And I reject the claim that these immigrant workers are taking jobs from minority American workers."

 

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