Immigration

On July 19, Rep. Jimmy Panetta (D-Calif.) announced in a press release on his website that he and other members of Congress were supporting H.R. 2690, the Agriculture Worker Program Act — also known as the Blue Card Bill — which would shield undocumented agriculture workers from deportation and put them on the path to citizenship.

WATSONVILLE, Calif. —

An unconventional prop sat beside the podium at a Tuesday press conference in Washington, D.C. -- watermelons.

H.R. 2690, called the blue card bill, was introduced by Senator Dianne Feinstein in may. Representative Jimmy Panetta and Representative Luis Gutierrez along with 44 other congressman, are pushing to put undocumented agriculture workers on the path to citizenship. Under the agricultural worker program act, farm workers will have to show employment over the past 2 years, pay a fine and pass a thorough background check to receive a blue card. The current co-sponsors of H.R. 2690 are democrats.

This year, the junior congressman for the 20th district, Jimmy Panetta provided the keynote address, one that inspired and touched upon his own family’s immigrant background.

Rep. Jimmy Panetta, D-Carmel Valley, told his family’s story of immigration, how his grandfather left from Naples to sail across the Atlantic and arrived in Ellis Island in 1921. Eventually he made it to Monterey, where he ran a cafe that allowed him to purchase the land in Carmel Valley where his parents now live.

“We’re a nation of immigrants, but we’re also a nation of risk-takers and I believe that’s what makes us exceptional,” he said. “You bring with you the best qualities of spirit of where you come from, but it’s that quality of willingness to take that risk, which is a quality that fills your history, that fills the history of this country and most importantly, determines the future.”

Democratic Congressman Jimmy Panetta has moved forward on two initiatives to support the nation's agricultural industry. Panetta, who represents the 20th congressional district, which includes major growing regions in the Salinas and Pajaro Valleys and parts of Santa Clara Valley, has joined forces with Republican Congressman Rodney Davis of Illinois to establish the bipartisan Congressional Agriculture Research Caucus. The Caucus will focus on agriculture research, innovation, and mechanization efforts as Congress prepares for the 2018 Farm Bill.

WATSONVILLE >> Agricultural workers and their families could become eligible to apply for a "blue card" that would give them a one-time opportunity to acquire legal citizenship status and work authorization if they show consistent employment in U.S. agriculture over the past two years, pay a fine and pass a thorough background check.

The silver lining of the roiling immigration debate is that it’s finally being discussed, says Live Earth Farm’s Broz. “Maybe it takes an administration like the one we have right now to [make people] realize what’s at stake,” he says. “[Maybe] enough people will put pressure on elected officials to implement comprehensive immigration reform. Things might come to a head where things have to get done.”

The trick in getting the new administration’s ear, says Panetta, will be to drive home the economic argument—that the Central Coast’s $9 billion ag and nearly $3 billion hospitality industries, for instance, are inextricably linked to immigrant labor. “We know on the Central Coast how important immigration is to this area—without immigrants the economy would be devastated and the Central Coast would almost shut down,” Panetta says.

“First thing is you’ve got to get Donald Trump out to the district, out to the fields,” Panetta continues. “This is a guy who grew up in Queens, who lived in a golden tower. The last person he picked in his cabinet was the secretary of agriculture. In the budget he put forward, he wants to cut 21% from the USDA. We need to speak to him on economic terms and let him know that the food he eats doesn’t just come from the store, but it comes from the fields. And in order to get from the field into your mouth, it takes people—especially with our specialty crops on the Central Coast.”