Grower Groups Organize Protest of E-Verify

Society of American Florists (SAF) and Western Growers Association are joining the Coalition for Immigration Reform (ACIR) in lobbying Congress to scuttle the current version of the E-Verify immigration bill.

The group wants growers to visit their Congress members this week (June 27-July 1) and July 13 in Washington and at their home offices during the House’s July 4^th recess.

The current E-Verify bill would require employers to check the legal status of all employees by running social security numbers against a national database. The growers’ position is that unless legal means are provided for migrant workers, then strict enforcement can cripple agriculture and horticulture.

In a letter to members [membership needed to access page], SAF mentioned Georgia’s pilot program to replace immigrant labor with ex-cons on probation. Georgia recently passed an Arizona-type immigration bill. According to SAF, two-thirds of the probationers disappeared within the first two days due to the physical demands of the job.