Sep 21, 2011

E-Verify anxiety: Local growers fear U.S. immigration bill

Florida’s fruit and vegetable growers say their biggest challenge is ensuring they have enough workers to pick their crops and get them onto grocery shelves.

"The whole immigration reform issue needs to be addressed at the federal level," said Marie Bedner, whose family owns Bedner’s Farm Fresh Market west of Boynton Beach. "In Georgia, they had no labor to pick the crops. They rotted in the field."

Two labor experts told Bedner and other growers at the Florida Fruit & Vegetable Association’s 68th annual meeting Tuesday that if E-Verify becomes mandatory, it would be a disaster for domestic farmers. E-Verify is an electronic system designed to prevent the employment of undocumented workers in the U.S. through a cross check of Social Security numbers and names. The Palm Beach Post

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