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Agriculture needs to push Congress on immigration

Once the initial positioning and grandstanding dies-down, many in agriculture hope President Obama’s executive action on immigration will eventually lead to Congress taking action. Chris Galen is senior vice-president of the National Milk Producers Foundation, he says the fact that there was nothing specific for agriculture in the President’s plan means those in agriculture will need to push both Republicans and Democrats harder to do something.

Galen says while NMPF liked the bill passed by the Senate last year; “You’ve got some different folks in charge in the Senate next year so the approach is likely to be different.” The key is to make sure “dairy farmer needs and expectations are part of that consideration.”  He stresses the need for farmers to continue to work through groups like Farm Bureau, Farmers Union, NMPF and others to make sure Congress deals with this issue.

Galen talks about the issue: