Immigration reform a must

Recently, the New York Times ran a front-page photograph of a mountain of discarded pears that beautifully summed up the nation's stalled immigration-reform legislation. The pears, picked too late for markets, had been discarded. So will millions of pounds of apples and other crops this fall because there aren't enough farm workers to harvest them.

Farmers, packers and processors blame Congress. Immigration reforms are going nowhere this election season. Clamping down on the border has meant that workers who ordinarily would come for the harvests cannot cross the border. Illegal immigrants already in the United States who used to perform farm labor have left the fields for more stable and better-paying jobs in construction, landscaping and tourism because they need year-round work. Meanwhile, food rots in orchards and fields.

Immigration foes will argue that American workers would pick crops if the money was right. Some California fruit growers offered pickers up to $150 a day, which is a handsome sum for field work. No takers. As Southern California tomato grower Luawanna Hallstrom told The New York Times, "Americans do not raise their children to be farm workers."

Absent immigration reform, it will become increasingly difficult to find workers for the nation's agricultural sector. Eventually, the rotting crops will translate into higher food costs in grocery stores and restaurants. International trade will help to hedge increases in food costs, but it remains a concern.

Most people have all but written off immigration reform legislation for the remainder of the year. The mid-term elections may be challenging for incumbent Republicans because of concerns over the ongoing war in Iraq and energy prices, although the latter is leveling off in many parts of the country. Congress also has shelved Social Security reform, which is another critical issue.

These are issues that hit people where they live. They affect their pocketbooks, their security and their retirement plans. Americans are justified in their impatience.

Like it or not, illegal workers occupy an important place in the workforce. At a minimum, Congress needs to pass a guest-worker program to permit people who perform seasonal work to enter and depart the United States safely and legally. Securing the border would aid in that regard.

Labor shortages in the agriculture sector are one symptom of a festering problem left unchecked for too long. Congress simply must make immigration reform a higher priority.