Immigration Reform:
Implications for Farmers, Farm Workers, and Communities
Meeting and Lodging: UC-DC (http://www.ucdc.edu/)
1608 Rhode Island Avenue, NW, Washington, DC 20036
Tel 202-974-6200 Fax: 202-974-6250
Thursday-Friday May 27-28, 2010

At least 50 percent of US farm workers are unauthorized. Pending immigration reform proposals would provide a path to legal status for some currently unauthorized farm workers and make it easier for farm employers to employ legal guest workers under a revised H-2A temporary worker program.

The purpose of the meeting is to learn about migration patterns and impacts in rural and agricultural areas, assess immigration reform proposals, hear from employer and worker advocates, and discuss ongoing research on these issues. Presentations are posted at: http://migration.ucdavis.edu/cf/.

The conference is organized with the support of the Farm and Giannini Foundations and the North Central Regional Center for Rural Development and the Julian Samora Research Institute, the Southern Rural Development Center, and the UC EU Center of Excellence. For further information contact Philip Martin.

Thursday, May 27, 2010

7:30am Breakfast available in conference room

8:30am Farm Workers, DOL and Immigration Reform, Hilda Solis, Secretary of Labor (invited)

9am Immigration Patterns and Rural America, Chair, Philip Martin, UCD
Immigration Patterns, 1986-2010, Jeff Passel, Pew Hispanic Center
Meatpacking and Migration in Rural America, William Kandel, Congressional Research Service

10:30 Break

10:45 The Outlook for Immigration Reform, Chair, Susan Martin, ISIM
Mark Krikorian, Center for Immigration Studies
Frank Sharry, America's Voice

12 Lunch

1:00 Industry and Worker Perspectives on Immigration Reform
Patrick O’Brien, American Farm Bureau Federation
Craig Regelbrugge, American Nursery & Landscape Association
Bruce Goldstein, Farmworker Justice
Rob Williams, FLRA

2:30 Break

3:00 Research Perspectives on Immigration, Agriculture, and Communities, Chair, Neil Conklin, Farm Foundation
The Changing Demand for Farm Labor, Linda Calvin, USDA and Philip Martin, UC-Davis
Immigrant Integration in Rural America, Cornelia Flora, Iowa State University

4:00 New Insights on Farm Workers
NAWS: The Changing Farm Work Force? Susan Gabbard, JBS International
Presentations from researchers using NAWS and other data

5:15 Adjourn

7:15 Dinner, Logan Tavern, 1423 P St. NW, www.logantavern.com

Friday, May 28, 2010

7:30am Breakfast available in conference room

8:30 Farm Labor: Commodities and Areas, Chair, Refugio Rochin, UCD
California and Raisins, Bert Mason, CSUF and Philip Martin, UCD
Florida and Citrus/Tomatoes, Fritz Roka, U-Florida
Washington, Ernie Stromsdorfer, Washington ESD
Virginia, Jeff Alwang, VPI
Colorado, Dawn Thilmany and Anita Pena, Colorado State
Michigan, Vera Bitsch, Michigan State University

10:45 Break

11 Farm Labor: Commodities and Areas II

11:30 Lunch

12:15 Immigrant and Communities, Chair, Cornelia Flora, Iowa State University
Nebraska and the Midwest, Lourdes Gouveia, Uni of Nebraska-Omaha
Carolinas, David Griffith, E Carolina University
Texas, Rogelio Saenz, Texas A&M University
New York, Mary Jo Dudley, Cornell University
Pennsylvania, Victor Garcia
Ohio, Linda and Theo Majka, University of Dayton

2pm Break

2:15 Living Wages and Worker Health in the US Food System, Chair, Rubén Martinez, Michigan State
Refugio Rochin, Cornelia Flora, and Philip Martin

3pm Adjourn