Should ag companies be allowed to hire illegal immigrants -- legally? - Public Insight Network | Harvest Public Media

Should ag companies be allowed to hire illegal immigrants -- legally?

A coalition of agri-business groups in Kansas has proposed a program that would give state sanction to large dairies and feedlots in hiring illegal immigrants. Separately, the Kansas Agriculture Secretary Dale Rodman is seeking a federal waiver that would allow agri-business companies to hire undocumented workers. He and other ag advocates say they need a reliable and regulated labor pool to keep the state's farm industry growing.

Help us report this important national story that affects the ag industry in every state. Harvest Public Media, with partner stations and reporters in four Midwestern states, is teaming up with the Southwestern public radio network Fronteras, to cover this issue.

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These controversial proposals are exactly opposite the tough anti-illegal immigration laws currently in effect in Arizona and Alabama, two states where farms and ag businesses have been severely affected by a dwindling labor pool. Does Kansas need these programs so its ag industry doesn't suffer? And is that fair to businesses in other states -- particularly Arizona, where employers have faced tough punishment for hiring undocumented workers?

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