– Editorial – - Congress must find immigration solutions to ensure American food security

– Editorial –

By Editorial Board Rep. Tom Tiffany and other congressional leaders, must take action now, to prevent a potential catastrophe for dairy farmers, meat processors, food service and other agricultural businesses, who are reliant on immigrant labor to operate.

When it comes to agribusiness, immigrants quite literally get the job done. According to the trade group, National Milk Producers Federation, dairies that employ immigrants, are responsible for 79 percent of the U.S. milk supply, while an estimated 50 percent of all meatpacking jobs, are done by foreign-born workers.

This is not a new trend. Immigrant groups have been dominant in manual labor, meatpacking and other agribusiness ventures, throughout the nation’s history, for the simple fact, that they are willing to do the work for a chance to better themselves and their families.

Campaign rhetoric regarding mass deportations, workplace raids and use of the military to assist in immigration enforcement, appears to be on the path to becoming official public policy, as President-elect Donald Trump prepares to start his term in January.

While threats of mass deportations may appeal to the party faithful and play well with political focus groups, in the real world, such indiscriminate action would have devastating consequences, not only to those in agribusiness, but to the nation’s food security.

A recently released study by UW-Madison researchers, notes that agriculture has an economic impact of $116.3 billion in Wisconsin – 14.3 percent of the state’s economic output. The impact is felt even greater in rural portions of the state, where agribusiness is the lifeblood of communities.

Beyond an economic impact on agribusiness and farmers, mass deportations of immigrant workers in these industries would have a profound, and negative impact on food costs and availability for all consumers. With a scarcity of workers, agribusiness will have to raise wages, in order to compete with manufacturing and other jobs for workers – if any are available.

These additional costs will be passed along to consumers, hitting American families in the pocketbook.

Tiffany, and other national and state leaders, must work to ensure stability for American families and businesses, and those who simply want to work to provide for their families. The threat of mass deportations and the wholesale disruption it would cause, is the stick that must force congress to act on developing a true guest worker program and address immigration issues.

There is broad bipartisan support for many of these measures, but solutions were shelved in recent years, in favor of having campaign talking points. The campaigns are over, it is time to put aside the bumper-sticker rhetoric and seek serious solutions that address complex issues.

Food security is national security. Disruptions to dairy farming, meat processing and other agribusiness, will have a cascading negative impact, felt from Main Street to corporate board rooms.

Congressional and state leaders must move quickly, to ensure stability for the more than 350,000 Wisconsin residents directly employed in agriculture and related industries, and for the millions of others facing food insecurity, if these industries grind to a halt.

Members of the Courier Sentinel editorial board include publisher Carol O’Leary, general manager Kris O’Leary and Star News editor Brian Wilson.