Report: Undocumented Immigrants Rise to More than 10 Million

Among green industry companies that use the H-2B program to supplement their workforces, many are concerned that the lack of legal foreign labor this year will result in more companies resorting to illegal labor to round out their crews for upcoming spring work. Indeed, a Monday report by the Associated Press notes that the number of illegal immigrants in the U.S. has risen sharply to 10.3 million since 2000 – an increase of about 23 percent from 8.4 million in the four-year period ended last March.

UNDOCUMENTED IMMIGRANT STATS. Certainly, there is no discernable link between the rise in illegal immigration and the lack of H-2B workers. However, some industry professionals have commented in the past that the lack of sufficient H-2B labor, which allows workers to come into the United States legally, could drive up the amount of illegal labor used throughout the industry.

“If employers can’t rely on this program, which brings employers and employees together legally, more businesses will look for ‘alternative’ workforces and end up hiring more illegal labor,” said Jim Holt of the Washington, D.C.-based law firm McGinnis, Norris & Williams in an article published earlier this year by Lawn & Landscape. Hopefully, not many companies have resorted to this source of labor, but without the passage of the new Save Our Small & Seasonal Businesses Act, proposed by the H-2B Workforce Coalition in February, this could become a reality for more seasonal businesses.

According to AP, Monday’s report from the Pew Hispanic Center acknowledges a net increase of about 485,000 undocumented immigrants annually between 2000 and 2004. The estimate was derived by subtracting the number of unauthorized immigrants who leave the United States, die or acquire legal status from the number of new undocumented immigrants that arrive each year.

The prospect of better job opportunities is likely the biggest draw for illegal immigrants and the report notes that Mexicans by far remain the largest group of undocumented immigrants at 5.9 million, or about 57 percent of the March 2004 estimate. Some 2.5 million others, or 24 percent, are from other Latin American countries.

Overall, the U.S. foreign-born population, regardless of legal status, was 35.7 million last year. Those of Mexican descent again comprised the largest group – more than 11 million, or 32 percent.

A FORCE FOR CHANGE. In an effort to ensure that H-2B remains an option for companies who want to maintain legal foreign workforces, the H-2B Workforce Coalition is continuing to build support for proposed H-2B legislation. Right now, 29 senators and 52 representatives are backing the Save our Small & Seasonal Businesses Act proposed in February. The Coalition, which includes the American Nursery & Landscape Association, the Professional Landcare Network, dozens of state green industry associations and a number of other H-2B-dependent organizations outside the green industry, is hoping to push the legislation through by early April. Most participants in the Coalition’s H-2B Fly-In held earlier this month reported positive outlooks for the legislation and the industry.

“Personally, my visit to Washington was a rush,” says Chuck Twist, owner of TNT Lawn & Landscape, Stillwater, Okla. “I had meetings with aides for two senators and a congressman and the overall event gave me the opportunity to meet with people I had spoken with over the phone about the H-2B issue, but hadn’t met in person – people in the industry, H-2B agents, everyone was there and really working hard for this legislation.”

While no lawmakers from Oklahoma have signed on to cosponsor the bill, Twist says he’s remaining optimistic and using every opportunity he gets to educate people on how H-2B works and its benefits to the industry and economy. “Just because someone doesn’t sign on to cosponsor does not mean that they’re against the bill,” he said. “Immigration is a hot-button issue, so there may be some legislators who are keeping their names out of the legislation, but that’s no reason to stop being optimistic. We’re very hopeful that something good will happen and I’ve been checking the cosponsorships daily to stay informed.

“Other than that, it’s our responsibility as users of the H-2B program to make sure we educate our lawmakers on the system,” Twist continued. “They’re asking a lot of questions – Are we taking jobs away from Americans? Are we offering fair pay? In the industry, we know that no, we’re not taking jobs away from Americans, that we appreciate and take care of our H-2B workers when we get them and that the program is actually a benefit to the industry and the economy – we just have to pass that onto our lawmakers.”

Twist says he was one of the lucky few who did receive H-2B workers for the 2005 season and has brought in nine of the 16 for which he received approval. However, he notes that his application only beat the Jan. 3 cutoff by about a week. “Next year, we could be out of luck just like a lot of companies were this year,” he says, acknowledging one of the many reasons he continues to support H-2B legislation and call his Members of Congress often. “In Oklahoma there aren’t any large state industry organizations. We’re kind of on our own, but I’ve been e-mailing my colleagues calling them regularly to make sure they’re getting on the phone to Congress as well. Our legislators need to hear for more constituents and sometimes it’s frustrating to know that I’m working triple time to get them to support our legislation, but other people haven’t picked up the phone. You can’t have that mentality.” 

Lately, Twist says he’s heard back from other Oklahoma green industry professionals telling him they called their Members of Congress to help the effort. Additionally, when other contractors were unable to accept Twist’s invitation to accompany him on the Fly-In, he says he was able to get sponsorships from them instead. “A lot of other contractors helped me make the trip to Washington so I went there to speak on their behalf as well as my own,” he says. “The thing that’s so important to remember is that it only takes one phone call to get something going. Our legislators know that for every phone call that comes in, there are a thousand more just like it waiting to be made. For H-2B it’s really our responsibility to make sure that impact is there by calling often and getting other people in the industry to call as well.”

For the full text of the Associated Press article "Undocumented immigrants close to 11 million," click here.