One of the continuing challenges for America’s dairy farmers is finding a workable solution to the shortage of ag labor and the need for passing an immigration bill. President Joe Biden has sent his immigration plan to the House. It calls for an 8 year pathway to citizenship for the estimated 11 million people living in the U.S. without legal status. South Dakota Dairy Producers President Marv Post says they need immigration reform but at this point are studying that plan.
He says the most critical component of immigration reform is making sure the workers needed in agriculture are here legally.
Post says the immigration problem must be solved and the sooner the better.
The administration’s bill would immediately provide green cards to farm workers, those with temporary protected status and young people who arrived in the U.S. illegally as children. The plan also establishes a five year path to temporary legal status.
