Immigration Reform Caucus

Shuler's SAVE Act Gets Farmer Support

Asheville Citizen-Times | By John Boyle

February 12, 2008

WASHINGTON, D.C. — Two North Carolina agricultural organizations have endorsed Congressman Heath Shuler's Secure America through Verification and Enforcement Act.

In a press release, Shuler's office noted that the N.C. Growers Association and the N.C. Agribusiness Council "both recognized that the SAVE Act ensures all farmers are able to compete on a fair and equal basis and are encouraging support of the bill."

In their letter of endorsement the Growers Association said, “We are competing against producers who flagrantly violate immigration and other laws and who are paying substantially less to illegal workers all under the guise that they are not ‘document experts.’ It is unfair and un-American.”

Similarly, the NC Agribusiness Council in their endorsement letter said the SAVE Act, “…combines measures to strengthen border security, provides employers with a reliable tool to verify the eligibility for employment of prospective employees, and includes enforcement regulations that ‘level the playing field’ for competitors as it relates to labor costs.”

Shuler, D-Waynesville, said he's pround to have the groups' support.

"This is commonsense legislation that ensures that law-abiding business owners are not put at a disadvantage,” Shuler said.

The N.C. Agribusiness Council is a non-profit, non-partisan, advocacy organization representing all aspects of the agribusiness industry. THe Growers Association is made up of 750 growers across North Carolina that grows every commercial commodity.

The SAVE Act has 137 cosponsors in the House and six in the Senate. Shuler authored the proposal last year.