Bill would allow more farm guest workers

DENVER - Colorado would open an immigration office in Mexico to bring more seasonal foreign workers to the state under a groundbreaking bill unveiled Monday by an El Paso County legislator.

Rep. Marsha Looper, R-Calhan, said farms throughout the state and country are suffering because they can’t get the guest workers needed to harvest labor-intensive crops.

The federal H-2A visa program allows farm owners to request foreign workers for up to 10 months a year, but the process is unbearably slow and produces only about 35,000 employees a year rather than the roughly 700,000 that are needed nationally, she said.

Looper’s bill, which is expected to be introduced soon, would allow the state to take over the background checks, fingerprinting and health screening of potential workers. If approved, Colorado would open an office in Mexico and staff it with several state employees.

To do so, however, it would have to get a waiver from the federal government to take over those preliminary duties before the feds have the final say in approving the guestworker passes. All applications from around the country now go through a central federal office in Chicago, but many disappear into what Looper called a “big black hole,” only to be approved halfway through the growing season when farmers are far behind in work.

Because of the lack of available workers — many Americans will not do these jobs — some area farmers are talking about not planting laborintensive crops such as chilies, tomatoes, cucumbers and lettuce, said Democratic Sen. Abel Tapia of Pueblo, the bill’s co-sponsor. If that were to happen, Coloradans could become dependent on foreign countries like China to produce these vegetables, he said.

Tapia has had preliminary talks with several members of Colorado’s congressional delegation, who have said they are interested in the plan.

Looper, meanwhile, said she has not had serious discussions with federal officials because the bill has not been ready. No state has been granted a waiver, which would make Colorado the proving ground for guestworker reform.

“The presidential candidates remind us that the federal government is broken,” Looper said. “It’s been broken for 60 years, and I think it’s time for states to be more proactive.”

The bill has the backing of the Rocky Mountain Farmers Union and the Colorado Farm Bureau, two groups that rarely agree. Farmers union president Kent Peppler said such hand-holding is possible because everyone understands that the agricultural sector in America needs an injection of labor if it is to survive.

It is unknown how much support the measure has in the Legislature, especially among Looper’s Republican cohorts, some of whom have questioned whether it is an amnesty bill. Though Looper denied that, House Minority Caucus Chairwoman Amy Stephens, R-Monument, said party members will have to decide individually whether this is something they can support.

Any seasonal workers under the program could stay for a maximum of 10 months a year, and the state would hold 20 percent of their income in abeyance until they return to their home country. The pilot program would allow no more than 1,000 workers to be added to the list every year, and farmers would be responsible for their housing while in Colorado and for their transportation out of the United States.

If Colorado takes over the vetting, Looper estimated that it could reduce the turnaround time for worker applications from four months to as few as one.

Contact the writer: (303) 837-0613 or ed.sealover@gazette.com.