September 1998 Volume 4 Number 4

Welcome and Overview -- Philip Martin

Immigration and the Changing Face of Rural California

Focus on the San Joaquin Valley

Philip Martin

August 10, 1998

Welcome and Overview

1. We are hear to discuss the challenges and opportunities posed by continued immigration into the San Joaquin Valley.

When President Clinton made his first major speech on immigration in June 1998, he acknowledged the changing face of America wrought by the current wave of immigration: "Within five years, there will be no majority race in our largest state, California. In a little more than 50 years, there will be no majority race in the United States. No other nation in history has gone through demographic change of this magnitude over so short a time.

What do the changes mean? They can either strengthen and unite us, or weaken and divide us. We must decide. Mark my words: Unless we handle this well, immigration of this sweep and scope can threaten the bonds of our union."

2. Immigration and integration pose trade offs for the SJV, trade offs that are difficult to resolve because they involve choices between competing goods. For example, continued immigration makes a labor force readily available for the SJV's number one industry--agriculture. However, continued immigration may also make it more difficult to achieve the competing goal of providing adequate incomes and mobility opportunities for all SJV residents.

We want avoid the tendency in immigration discussions of beginning with the conclusion that immigration is good or bad, and then selectively marshaling the evidence to support the beginning conclusion. Our goal on Thursday is to lay out fully the data on the effects of immigrants on leading commodities and typical communities. On Friday, we will examine migration trade offs empirically, beginning with the employers who create a demand for migrants, having lunch with those who serve as bridges between migrants and settled residents, and spending the afternoon with migrant advocates. On Saturday, we will examine the policy implications of what we have learned.

3. Three background facts are important:

3.1 Immigration into the SJV is accelerating, as first-time migrants arrive to fill farm jobs created by expansion and by the tendency of farm workers to get out of easy entry harvesting jobs within 5 to 15 years. There is also considerable family unification, as previous shuttle migrants settle in the SJV.

3.2 The federal government has stepped up efforts to halt unauthorized entries at the border, made many legal immigrants ineligible for welfare benefits, and made it more difficult for poor legal immigrants to sponsor the admission of their families. However, the federal government has done remarkably little to enforce employer sanctions laws, especially in agriculture--at least 40 percent of the farm work force was believed to be unauthorized in 1997.

3.3 There is a consensus that the status quo is not sustainable, but little agreement on durable immigration and integration policies for 21st century rural America. One extreme of the policy options spectrum is the proposal to develop a new guest worker program that would (1) make it easy for farmers to obtain legal nonimmigrants, so they avoid hiring illegals, and (2) enforce the return of migrants by witholding their wages or requiring employers to post bonds. The other extreme emphasizes stepped up integration assistance, viz., restore the eligibility of legal immigrants for welfare benefits, retain the right of unauthorized children to K-12 schools, and improve opportunities for both immigrants and their children.

4. In the new era of federal devolution of responsibilities to states, and states permitting counties to e.g. develop their own welfare plans, immigration and especially integration trade offs are increasingly local issues. The purpose of changing face conferences is to help local leaders learn the facts needed to make wise trade off decisions, and to permit researchers to better understand the trade offs that SJV communities favor.

September 1998 Volume 4 Number 4

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