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Americans willnot have a secure food supply untilCongress enacts immigration reform that helps agriculture workers and their families acquire legal rights, according to a new study on U.S. agriculture and undocumented immigrants. Even without President Donald Trump's plan for mass deportations, the lack of job security and protections for undocumented farm workers has already createdboth public health and national food security issues, according to the report released this week from John Hopkins Universitys Center for a Livable Future.

Workers growing and processing America's food face a myriad of health risks,including pesticide exposure, injuries, poor air quality, contact with animal waste, exposure to antibiotic resistant bacteria, and exposure to novel strains of the flu virus, the report concluded. They also suffer from poor housing conditions, limited access to healthcare, povertyand uncertainty regarding their status in the U.S. All of these factors jeopardize the resiliency of the food system by maintaining an unstable and vulnerable workforce, which may threaten the supply and safety of food, the report states.

Aside from human rights concerns, whenundocumented workers get deported or become too sick to work, the nation's food supply suffers, the report found.Work shortages in 2010, for example, cost farms roughly $300 million, which can drive up the cost of food. In the dairy industry, for example, if all farm workers were deported, the price of milk would go up by 90 percent, the report noted.The John Hopkins study also cited a2008 Pew Commission on Farm Animal Production study that found a lack of safety in industrial animal processing operations could drive more new influenza viruses and human-to-human transmission.

This is no small problem, the study said.Up to 75 percent of the nation's 2 million farm workers do not have legal permission to work in the U.S. That figure doesn't even account for many other workers who spend their days at the nation'sslaughterhouses and other food processing facilities.

In short, the food industry would collapse without the immigrant and migratory workforce, the John Hopkins report reads.

Researchers suggested lawmakers push for legislation that would allow farm workers to obtainhealth insurance coverage and higher pay. It also said workers should be encouraged to report unsafe working conditions and be protected under the law for doing so.

Bob Martin, co-author of the report and director of CLFs Food System Policy Program, said Trump's plans to deport undocumented workers won't help.Vilifying political rhetoric and enforcement actions that aim to punish undocumented immigrants fail to confront Americans reliance on these workers for the food they eat, he said in a statement.

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US Food Supply Not Safe without Immigration Reform, Report Finds - Newsweek

"Dallas Mega March" focused on families

Alisha Ebrahimji, WFAA 3:33 PM. CDT April 06, 2017

PHOTO COURTESY: MEGAMARCH2017

On Sunday April 9, activists and community leaders across North Texas will lead the Dallas Mega March 2017 in downtown Dallas.

March organizers had a final planning meeting Monday evening and are expected to provide details on march route and logistics Tuesday.

"Organizers are calling for real immigration reform and an end to aggressive deportation efforts that have separated families, targetedDACAstudents and left our communities in fear," according to the website.

The theme of the march centers around family, unity and empowerment.

Domingo Garcia, an organizer, said the event is a peaceful march. "This is a march where we are asking everyone to only wear red, white and blue, for the American flag. To only bring American flags, because this is really about Americas values," Garcia said.

A diverse line up of entertainers and speakers will address the crowd. Scheduled speakers include Martin Luther King, III, actors Jamie Fox and Danny Glover, faith leaders, dreamers, and several local and nationally known elected officials.

Hundreds of police, constables and deputies will also be present making sure the crowd is safe.

Were telling people not to bring any weapons. Not to bring any poles or two-by-fours with banners or flags, because we want to avoid any conflict, Garcia said.

Those taking part in the march are asked to wear American flags and wear patriotic colors in solidarity.

"We are calling for an end to executive orders that have discriminated against our Muslim brothers and sisters based on their faith. We are calling for an end to hate crimes and hate speech that have increased since the election, and we want to join together and send a message that hate has no place in our nation," the site states.

Marchers plan to start atGuadalupe Cathedral 2215 Ross Ave. Dallas 75201 and end atDallas City Hall, 1500 Marilla Street.

The last march of this kind also took place in2006; it is estimated that almost 500,000 marchers attended walking 1.3 miles for a total of 4 hours.

According to the website, guest speakers include Jamie Foxx, Danny Glover, Martin Luther King III, Julian Castro and a number of other local and state officials.

A Facebook event shows almost 8,000 people are interested in attending this event.

To get more information on transportation options to the event, click here.

As a result of the Mega March, several DART routes will be affected. Be sure to check your route ahead of time.

2017 WFAA-TV

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Dallas Mega March to focus on family, unity and empowerment - WFAA

An immigration reform group founded by tech billionaires is launching in Florida to push for common sense economic reform and a pathway to citizenship for people in the United States illegally.

FWD.us, founded by Mark Zuckerburg and Bill Gates among others, is gathering a coalition of business, community and faith leaders to push for immigration reform.

The group favors equipping law enforcement with the tools necessary to stem further illegal immigrants from coming into the US so they can focus on more dangerous criminals and security threats.

The group also wants an overhaul for the legal immigration system so top-flight talent can come to the states and make the country more competitive in the global market.

FWD.us is also looking for lawmakers to create a pathway to citizenship for the millions of illegal immigrants in the country without a criminal history. Their plan would giveimmigrants who pass a criminal background check, pay fines and go through a probationary period the opportunity to apply for full citizenship years down the line.

About 3.7 million Floridians were born outside the U.S. and the population of foreign-born Floridians shot up nearly 39 percent between 2000 and 2010. FWD.us said immigrant business owners in Florida generated 24% of all net business income and that legal status for immigrant workers could boost the states tax rolls by $1.13 billion and add 97,000 new jobs.

Among the announced members of the Florida coalition are Ed Moore, president of the Independent Colleges & Universities of Florida, Julio Fuentes, president & CEO of the Florida State Hispanic Chamber of Commerce, and Wes Lathrop, Executive Director of Faith in Florida.

As someone who works in higher education, I have the privilege of working firsthand with some of the brightest minds in our state, but, unfortunately, our immigration system is holding back some of the best and brightest from fully contributing to our economy, said Moore. Modernizing our high-skilled visa program alone would create an estimated 18,100 new jobs in Florida by 2020, add almost $9 billion in Gross State Product, and could increase personal income by $8.7 million.

Fuentes added that the current immigration system has proven to harm rather than help the state of Florida. We need to establish a balance between economic prosperity and border security, which is why it is of utmost importance to pass commonsense immigration reform while maintain our countrys security.

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Immigration reform group launches Florida chapter - Florida Politics - Florida Politics (blog)

Arizona Sen. John McCain said in the battle of isolationists and realists, the isolionalists are winning.

McCains comments came during a podcast with David Axelrod, the former senior advisor for President Barack Obama and current senior political commentator for CNN.

After Axelrod asked McCain about relations with Mexico, McCain responded by saying that the finance minister of Mexico told him that the country does more business with Arizona than it does with Spain. He warned of a potential for dire consequences if the United States were to cut off border trade between Arizona and the Mexican state of Sonora.

Im telling you that you would have a serious and deep recession, McCain told Axelrod. There are a couple 100-thousandjobs that are directlynot indirectly, but directlyrelated to our trade with Mexico. By the way, if we continue to do this poisoning of the environmentbetween the United States and Mexico, they will elect a far-left president and you think we have problems with Mexico now.

Besides relations with Mexico, Axelrod asked McCain a number of questions on a variety of issues including immigration, the possible Russian influence on the elections, and attacks on the press and fake news.

Asked if McCain has had communication with President Donald Trump regarding his number of concerns, the senator said he had two brief phone conversations with the president, but hes talked to people around him, including his national security team and the vice president.

On immigration, McCain said that he believes there needs to be immigration reform because, You are never going to have 11 million in the country illegally without having some tough, hard path to to citizenship.

He added that the border needed to be secured and enforced, and saidtheres a flood of Mexican manufactured heroin that is coming into the United States that is killing people.

I think sooner or later we are going to have to address it, and I dont know what this presidents priorities are, McCain said. But if he said that we have to, Build a Wall, which I take in the most figurative sense not literally build a wall, but at the same time, lets do immigration reform with E-Verifywhere you have to have documentation that proves you are in the country legally.Where we enforce the border. Where we let STEM (Science Technology Engineering and Mathematics) studentsstay in this country. Where you provide people a long hard path to citizenship. Those kinds of things could all be put into a package, and I would hope the president would consider it.

Besides immigration and relations with Mexico, McCain also talked about possible ties the Russian governmenthad with the election, in which he said are certain fundamentals of the rule of law and one of them is the freedom tolegitimately elect leadership.

If you destroy that, then you have destroyed democracy, McCain said. Its one thing to destroya building with a bomb and inflict damage. But if you destroy the fundamentals of a free and open society, which is what democracy is all about, you inflict heavydamage.

McCain has been vocal about the need for a bipartisan congressional committee to investigate any and all possible leaks from claims that Trump said Obama had wiretapped his New York office, to possible collusion between Trump campaign officialsand the Russian government to fix the election.

Axelrod asked McCain if an American citizen was found to be working with the Russians to interfere with the election, should they be tried for treason?

McCain responded by saying: I think you would have to gauge the circumstances. Its one thing to have a conversation, its another thing to plot together. I think it would be something that individual would have to be held accountable.

McCain, who was held as a prisonerof war during the Vietnam War, said during his capture he missed reading information that was free and decensored. Its something that he added is under attack today with the emergence of fake news and the questioning the credibility of ligament news organization.

I was on with Chuck Todd and I said, Look, I hate you. I hate Meet the Press. But the fact iswithout a legitimate press and a respected media in this country, then you have destroyedthe real important part of the press, McCain said. Its not an accident that its a part of our Bill or Rights. Because you have to have a media to watch what governments do. You can appoint all the judges and all of that, but its the media that informs the American people. Now with this false media,Im really very concerned about Americans receiving unbiased, objectiveviews on the issues.

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McCain calls for immigration reform, Russian leak investigation - KTAR.com

Morici

Posted: Monday, April 3, 2017 12:00 am

Peter Morici: Immigration reform could be the win Trump and the economy need By Peter Morici TulsaWorld.com |

President Donald Trump needs a win, and immigration reform is a good candidate that could help rev up the economy.

Economists estimate potential growth by forecasting the sum of labor-force growth and productivity. Both have been declining in recent decades causing the profession to doubt the economy can expand at much more than the 2.1 percent annual pace accomplished during the recent recovery.

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Immigration reform could help on both fronts.

The United States has about 43 million immigrants and adds about 1.5 million each year but unlike Canada and several other industrialized countries, the United States places a much larger emphasis on family reunification in granting visas. The net number of illegal immigrants has remained unchanged in recent years, owing mostly to declining birth rates and strong economic growth in developing countries.

The United States grants green cards fairly automatically to spouses, children under 21 and parents of U.S. citizens. Subject to limits set by Congress and the president, it grants preferences to other relatives of citizens and legal immigrants, refugees, and those with job offers or who would make significant investments or contribute to economic growth.

The rules are complex but the upshot is that about 65 percent of immigrant visas are granted based on family ties, 15 percent on the basis of employment, and the remainder are mostly refugees or applicants who qualify for a provision for an underrepresented country.

The immigrant population tends to be considerably older than the native-born population, places a disproportionate burden on entitlements programs about half qualify for means-tested programs such as free school lunches and have less education, on average, than the native-born population.

According to an authoritative National Academy of Sciences study, immigrants in the workforce tend to be concentrated among two groups: those with less than a high school education folks who often do the jobs Americans wont take and those with more than a four-year college education new arrivals doing jobs that not enough Americans are not trained to do in information technology, science and engineering or requiring other advanced degrees.

The negative impact on wages of lower skilled workers is not profound. One likely reason is that the economy already has a considerable surplus of able-bodied adults not participating in the labor force, who could be encouraged to seek employment, if wages for unattractive jobs were not already hammered down to the barest levels for workers to subsist when supplemented by benefits like food stamps, Medicaid and the like.

However, the overall impact on growth is positive after all the potential of the information technology, medical, university and other R&D-intensive sectors is enhanced by the influx of high-skilled foreign workers and creates a net benefit by overwhelming the costs imposed by lower wages to unskilled workers.

Also, immigration stresses social cohesion. This tends to be concentrated in blue-collar communities that voted for Trump. However, visits to the office towers housing Manhattans financial industries or technology parks in California and the communities where their workers live attests to the notion that cultural affinities binding together professional groups tend to overwhelm ethnic differences among highly-skilled immigrant and native workers.

New technologies in robots and artificial intelligence await to dramatically boost productivity but those require more skilled workers than we have our native population simply does not train for the skills needed in sufficient number and the IT, manufacturing and several other sectors face a constant challenge to find enough skilled workers.

Hence, a better mix of immigrants could boost productivity and growth

Sen. Tom Cotton from Arkansas has introduced a bill that would limit family reunification visas to children and spouses but leave the employment quota unchanged. Thats a good start, but granting a visa to anyone with a college degree or technical skill, has a solid job offer and would not displace an incumbent legal worker would most positively boost the U.S. labor force as baby boomers retire.

A better balance of immigrants would accelerate the development and deployment of new technologies, reduce social stress associated with new arrivals and keep the Golden Door open to those it has always welcomed the ambitious who can make the most of America.

Peter Morici is an economist and business professor at the University of Maryland, and a national columnist.

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Posted in Othervoices on Monday, April 3, 2017 12:00 am. | Tags: Demography, Immigration Law, Human Migration, Donald Trump, Peter Morici, United States, Immigration To Australia, Foreign Worker, Immigration To The United States, Skilled Worker, Immigration, Illegal Immigration To The United States, Illegal Immigration, Population, California, National Academy Of Sciences, Artificial Intelligence, National Columnist, Canada, Food Stamps, Arkansas, Information Technology, Economist And Business Professor, America, Tom Cotton, Congress, Maryland, Incumbent Legal Worker, Technology Parks, University Of Maryland, President, Tulsa World, Editorial, Economics, Immigrant, Politics, Sociology, Labor Force, Work, Visa, Reform, Employment, Productivity

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Peter Morici: Immigration reform could be the win Trump and the economy need - Tulsa World