Bush Quietly Rewriting Immigration Rules

The Bush Administration has begun reviewing the rules for admission of migrant farm workers in anticipation of the 2008 growing season, according to a report in the Los Angeles Times. The effort has been undertaken quietly, in a conscious effort by the administration to keep tempers in its conservative base from flaring, much as they did during the comprehensive immigration reform battles from earlier this year.

The LA Times reports that the State Department, The Department of Homeland Security, and the Department of Labor are collaborating on the revision in an effort to provide relief to nervous growers facing a shortfall of up to 20% in the numbers of migrant workers coming to pick crops this year. That decrease is attributed to the Administration's stepped up border enforcement after the immigration battles of the spring. But, later in the article, the Times cites an unattributed statistic that only 2% of American farms use the program to bring in foreign workers. If that number is correct, then streamlining the rules in the program will not result in an immediate influx of workers to ease any current burden on growers. Rather, it may represent the Administration checking the temperature of the water to see if the time is right to bring up its immigration reform proposals once more.

Growers that use the program do have higher labor costs due to transportation, housing, and visa costs associated with bringing in workers with an H-2A visa. Competitors that use illegal labor pay only the hourly rate for their workers. These facts have combined to hold the number of farms using the visa program down. But growers' desire to keep labor costs low generally cannot be discounted. Given the opportunity of a cheaper way to bring in legal immigrant labor, many are apt to take it. Many conservatives will not see this as progress on the issue.

Immigration reform opponents were and are motivated by distrust of government and its ability to enforce its laws. Designing a newer, easier, more user-friendly visa program for migrant workers is not their general idea of an improvement. Many wish to see further reductions in the number of illegals crossing the border, and want the government, and this Administration specifically, to prove its mettle when it comes to border enforcement. They also want greater interior enforcement, like cracking down on growers that use illegal labor. Some in the president's political base may see this attempt at reforming the H-2A program as a step toward a guest worker program, hotly opposed by immigration reform opponents. The White House should tread carefully in this area. Good faith gestures, such as maintaining the border enforcement and raids on large scale growing operations fueled by illegal labor are the minimum requirement this president must meet if he wants his base to allow him the political room to maneuver the minefield of immigration.