Farm workers mobilized in Washington, DC the week before Thanksgiving to push lawmakers to pass the Farm Workforce Modernization Act, a compromise bill that would help secure America’s food supply and put some of the nation’s most essential workers on a path to citizenship.
The delegation included farm workers from major agricultural states that produce much of the food we consume during holiday season, such as Arizona, California, Oregon, Washington, Georgia, Michigan, Idaho, Colorado, Texas, and Virginia.
“This Thanksgiving, families all over the country will enjoy the food brought to their tables by farm workers,” said UFW Foundation Chief Executive Officer Diana Tellefson Torres. “Farm workers demonstrated during the pandemic that they are at the very core of our food security. These hardworking men and women have earned the opportunity to apply for legal status. Let’s give thanks to those who nourish this nation by passing the Farm Workforce Modernization Act through Congress.”
The bill would create a path to legal immigration status and eventually citizenship for hundreds of thousands of undocumented farmworkers. It would also streamline and expand the H-2A visa program, which allows agricultural employers to bring in workers from other countries for seasonal jobs.
The House of Representatives has passed the bill twice — most recently in 2021, with just 30 Republican lawmakers supporting the legislation. With Republicans poised to take back control of the House in January, the bill only stands a chance of becoming law if the Senate passes it before the end of 2022.
Lulu Guerrero, a 52-year-old farm worker from Wiggins, Colorado, is one of many undocumented workers who stands to benefit from the bill. Guerrero, who arrived in the United States without papers nearly 20 years ago, wakes up at 3 am most mornings to plant and harvest tomatoes, watermelons, onions, cucumbers, and pumpkins for Colorado’s $41 billion a year agricultural industry.
“We were called essential during the pandemic — all we want is the opportunity to get out of the shadows and stay in the country,” Guerrero told the Denver Post.