Immigration Reform

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Dear DFTA Community,

 

The Domestic Fair Trade Association (DFTA) Board met in Santa Monica, Calif. March 5-6, 2013. At this meeting, the Board agreed it was time to review the organization s immigration position, in light of how long it has taken for legislation to be developed by Congress.

Also, the Board was encouraged that as a result of the 2012 elections, serious consideration is being given to the enactment of a Comprehensive Immigration Reform (CIR). The move towards addressing the need to fix a broken immigration system, together with the national will to address the situation, creates the opportunity to move forward for the enactment of a just immigration reform that is grounded in the dignity and respect of the human being.

DFTA reiterates and affirms its core principles as guidance for a comprehensive reform. Given that most of the public discourse and attention is about the presence of the 11 million undocumented workers within the U.S., the DFTA Board expresses its concern about the ongoing discussions regarding the future flow of workers, which are being held behind closed doors with very little information made available to the public.

Historically, farmworkers have been deprived from the most basic protections and exposed to systemic abuse at their workplaces and in their communities. It is concerning that principal corporate farming business and chamber of commerce interests are taking the lead in the negotiations. This results in the possibility that the discredited Bracero program or any H2A-type program will be used as a model for determining the future flow of workers which represents a huge step backwards in ensuring the well-being of workers.

For DFTA, any discussion about the composition of the work force in agriculture should be grounded in human rights principles that affirm: the values of a living wage, the right to act collectively, and universal workers protections as the fundamental basis to delineate the ethical approach in determining workforce needs.

Furthermore, DFTA believes that taking advantage of free trade policies that result in job loss and displacement of workers from other countries, such as Mexico, and then using these same workers as a cheap labor source represents a violation of the most basic human rights principles. Whereas, the guiding principle should be that in order to develop a stable work force in agriculture, it must be based on creating adequate working and living conditions so that agricultural work is attractive to domestic workers.

 

Sincerely,

Domestic Fair Trade Association Board of Directors

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The DFTA recognizes that current immigration policy does not reflect the values and vision of the DFTA. The DFTA also recognizes that many immigrants, including undocumented immigrants, originate from rural farming communities. Many have been displaced by the economic and environmental consequences of unfair trade policies, such as NAFTA, that have undercut the welfare of local communities on both sides of the border. Fair trade, both domestic and international, in both policy and practice, is one of the many tools needed to address the root causes of this most recent surge in migration.

Click here to read the full Domestic Fair Trade Association Statement on Immigration Reform as passed by the membership in 2009.