Comprehensive immigration laws and border protection
I have been calling for a comprehensive federal immigration reform package since I was elected governor.
With Washington's $35 billion agriculture industry at stake, Washington growers need a federal guest-worker program that is responsive, efficient
and affordable. I am pleased that President Obama is open to new ideas, and hope our lawmakers in Congress intensify efforts to lead a civil debate and move forward with a legislative action to fix our broken immigration system.
At least 60 percent of the agriculture industry workforce is immigrant labor. Our growers need to know that there will be workers available to pick the crops. A modernized and efficient guest worker program is an appropriate tool to ensure the
availability of farm labor. This is why I support the federal AgJOBS bill, which will provide reliable access to labor and at the same time protect guest workers from labor abuses. I am also in favor of an opportunity for earned legalization.
