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Jim Bogart Published 7:00 p.m. PT May 10, 2017 | Updated 7:01 p.m. PT May 10, 2017

Jim Bogart Jim Bogart(Photo: The Salinas Californian)Buy Photo

As everyone knows, the need for significant and comprehensive immigration reform is long overdue. I personally have been going back to Washington D.C. for more than twenty years advocating for much-needed changes to our immigration laws. So have many of my colleagues in agriculture including, but not limited to: growers, shippers, processors, packers, harvesters, and fellow farm organization representatives.

A decade after the Immigration Reform and Control Act was passed and signed into law in 1986, we in agriculture realized major modifications and improvements were necessary to provide those who produce our nations fruits and vegetables access to a legal and stable workforce. Agriculture has been on the front lines of this fight since day one.

Yet, I continue to be amazed and disappointed when I read or hear: Where is ag on this issue? Why isnt ag doing more? Why isnt ag supporting its workers? Why isnt ag more visible and more engaged in this debate?

Let me set the record straight no one has worked longer or harder on immigration reform than those of us in agriculture. From the outset we have made clear that immigration reform must protect the workers already here by adjusting their legal status to allow them to stay here and be eligible to work here. Our members have not only communicated this message to the President (past and present) and Congress (past and present) but also to our workers.

Weve provided information and guidance to agricultural employers on what to do if U.S. Immigrations and Customs Enforcement (ICE) shows up for an inspection or audit of 1-9 Forms.

More importantly, weve provided a written summary of legal rights and protections workers have should they be questioned or detained by ICE or other federal officials.

The ag industry has been instrumental in forming the National Council of Agricultural Employers, the Agricultural Coalition for Immigration Reform, and the Agricultural Workforce Coalition. These three organizations are focused on one thing achieving comprehensive immigration reform.

And we may finally be making some headway. Recent developments and statements have given me some cautious optimism. For example, an Executive Order issued April 25 promoting agriculture and rural prosperity specifically charges the task force created to guide this effort to ensure access to a reliable workforce and increase employment opportunities in agriculture-related and rural-focused businesses. Translation: give agriculture access to a legal, stable, and experienced workforce.

Just a few weeks ago, U.S. Attorney General Jeff Sessions stated that ICE will not focus its efforts on illegal immigrants who have, other than entering the country illegally, abided by our nations laws. The Attorney Generals comments confirm what we in the agriculture industry have understood to be the Administrations interior enforcement policy: ICE activities will be directed toward deporting felons, not farm workers.

Just last week, the Agricultural Worker Program Act was introduced in the U.S. Senate. While any solution to fix our broken immigration system must be comprehensive, this legislation elevates an issue often overlooked in the debate: Retention of the existing agricultural workforce.

If this bill can lead to a broader discussion that acknowledges the contributions and value of current farm workers while creating a workable program to enable the future flow of labor to American farms, I believe we are well on our way to an effective and, hopefully, bipartisan solution to this decades-long problem.

These comments and recent developments are a direct result of efforts made by agriculture. Yet, for some reason, this goes unnoticed, unreported, and overlooked despite repeated attempts by those of us in the industry to communicate these facts to elected officials, the media, and the community. My fear is that this is because ags message doesnt advance a particular narrative or square with a particular ideological agenda. Be that as it may, it will not prevent us from continuing to fight the good fight to protect our agricultural workforce. Its a battle that weve been waging and leading for a long time, but its well worth it.

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Ag leading fight for immigration reform - The Salinas Californian