TOPEKA — Blame for the lack of immigration reform to meet the needs of workers and the agriculture industry lies squarely with the federal government, and change must happen, one farmer said in response to September immigration raids in southwest Kansas.
“This is one of those rare situations where the humanitarian and economic interests align,” said Brian Vulgamore, a fifth-generation farmer and Kansas businessman.
Vulgamore’s opinion about the crisis, first posted online, drew vigorous opposition from many and highlighted frustrations in the Midwestern, agriculture-based states that largely vote Republican. Immigrants are necessary to adequately operate many businesses, farms and ranches, but there isn’t a workable process to bring them to the country legally.
Vulgamore Family Farms is a growing operation, both in size and scope, moving in the last 25 years from a couple of employees to more than 60 during busy seasons, Vulgamore wrote in an email.
“We have employees who grew up speaking six different languages, with education ranging from eighth grade to a Ph.D.,” he said. “We could not have built the operation we have today without immigrant labor.”
Vulgamore’s farm employs immigrant workers through the H-2A visa program, which allows agricultural operations to apply for immigrants to work temporary and seasonal agricultural jobs.
However, seasonal workers don’t meet the needs of much of the industry, including the beef processing plants and farm operations that need help year-round. The United States needs a legal path for workers that “doesn’t take years and cost a fortune to navigate,” Vulgamore said.
“I also think we need to look beyond simply filling jobs,” he said. “One of the shortcomings of H-2A is that it brings us workers, but not necessarily families who can fully participate in our communities. An H-2A worker can bring a spouse and children on H-4 visas, but those family members generally can’t legally work.”
When immigrant families move to the community, both spouses can work, which strengthens struggling rural communities and fills jobs that would otherwise remain vacant, such as positions in the service industry, Vulgamore said.
“We’re fighting to maintain our population, sustain our tax base, keep enough kids in our schools and pay for basic services,” he said. “We can’t do that without people. We need workers, but more importantly, we need families who want to live here, raise their kids here and become part of our communities.”
Southwest Kansas operation
U.S. Immigration and Enforcement Agents performed immigrant detention operations in southwest Kansas the week of Sept. 22, detaining about 110 people. Their presence in Dodge City, Garden City and Liberal caused beef processing plants to shorten or cancel shifts when employees didn’t show up for work.
Restaurants closed, and hotel managers said they couldn’t rent rooms because employees didn’t show up to work.
Effects on the beef processing industry generated nationwide concern about how far behind the plants were falling and how that would raise beef prices.
Glynn Tonsor, Kansas State University agricultural economics professor, said the week of the raids that long-term effects of a beef processing slow-down are determined by how long it lasts.
“It’s very hard to know the duration of these events, and with that, the duration of the labor response,” he said.
Cargill and National Beef Co., which have facilities in the area that were affected, didn’t answer Kansas Reflector questions about whether they have returned to operating at full capacity. Employees in the area report that most shifts have returned.
If the plants don’t run at full capacity for less than a week, Tonsor said, it will likely take just one or two weeks to catch up.
“The reason I’m saying that is we already have less cattle than the industry wants,” he said. “There’s extra hooks in the country, which isn’t good for margins for packers, by the way. But the system will have the capacity to catch up if the labor is there.”
However, if disruptions had occurred over a longer timeframe or if they become more frequent, then cattle and beef prices would be affected, Tonsor said.
“The more of these disruptions and the longer these disruptions exist, lowers cattle prices and raises beef prices,” he said. “The reason for that is the cost of converting a live animal into beef is going up because the cost of labor and the uncertainty of having labor are both going up.”
Immigrant labor challenges have come along with other labor force shifts, Tonsor said.
“Having kids later in life and having fewer per female puts us at or below replacement rate,” he said. “Then you have the immigration disruption, which is what we’re talking about here. But it’s not new. This country’s had net immigration to augment our own domestic (issues). You’ve had more aggregate labor because of it.”
The Kansas Livestock Association, Oklahoma Cattlemen’s Association and Texas Cattle Feeders Association released a statement noting the effects on the industry from ongoing ICE operations in the three states.
“These disruptions come at a time of enhanced focus and pressure on the cattle and beef supply chain,” the statement said. “They are a costly and unnecessary impact to cattle producers already suffering from unwelcome political interference to both the markets as well as the physical supply chain. Frustratingly, the harm these actions cause to cattle producers last for days and weeks after such operations conclude.”
That statement was greeted with criticism from some in Kansas who support ICE operations, but it received support from others. Ashley Franklin, who works with cattle in the Pratt area, said online that they had documented workers who were afraid to come to work.
“I’m covering 2-3 jobs as a manager just to ensure cattle’s BASIC NEEDS are met,” she wrote. “My coworkers shouldn’t have to feel threatened just because of their skin color. I will protect my employees at all costs, even if it means I come to work at 3AM and not leave until the job is done.”
‘Reliable, legal workforce’
Scarlett Madinger, spokeswoman for the Kansas Livestock Association, said one of the group’s concerns about the raids was that immigrant employees working legally were scared to show up to work.
Labor issues in agriculture aren’t new, she said. The organization’s members would like to see workers who have been present in the United States for a certain number of years — and compliant with local, state and federal laws — have the opportunity to adjust their immigration status, Madinger said.
“Agriculture needs a reliable, legal workforce, particularly for the livestock industry,” she said. “We just need a better way to get to that legal status. And then also, there needs to be immigration policy that provides for an efficient and effective guest worker program that really accommodates year-round needs of livestock operations.”
Nine Republican state legislators from southwest Kansas sent a letter to President Donald Trump, Homeland Security Secretary Markwayne Mullin, U.S. Rep. Tracey Mann, and U.S. Sens. Jerry Moran and Roger Marshall, asking for needed immigration changes, while clarifying that they support legal processes and border security.
The lawmakers asked to modernize agricultural and essential-worker visa program; fix immigration courts and asylum processing “so cases are resolved fairly and promptly”; create an earned legal status process for long-established residents with clean records who pay back taxes; and to “pair stronger employer accountability with enough legal-worker visas that compliance is realistic.”
“Southwest Kansas is built by people who work hard, obey the law, and contribute to their communities,” the letter said. “We stand with local law enforcement and ask for coordination that makes enforcement more effective, alongside the legal reforms needed to finish the job.”
The nine lawmakers were Sen. Ron Ryckman, Sen. Bill Clifford, Rep. Gary White, Rep. Jim Minnix, Rep. Jason W. Goetz, Rep. Lon Pishny, Rep. Bob Lewis, Rep. Marty Long and Rep. Shannon Francis.
Changing the immigration process doesn’t mean ignoring immigration laws, Kansas farmer Vulgamore said.
“It means recognizing the economic and demographic reality we face,” he said. “In my opinion, we’re foolish not to find a legal way to welcome and retain people who are willing to work and genuinely want to build their lives in our rural communities.”
Kansas Reflector is part of States Newsroom, a nonprofit news network supported by grants and a coalition of donors as a 501c(3) public charity. Kansas Reflector maintains editorial independence. Contact Editor Sherman Smith for questions: info@kansasreflector.com.