President Trump signed an executive order to allow those children to stay with their parents after they are apprehended. However, there is concern that an executive order may not be able to change the policy because it may violate a 1997 order and subsequent decisions. As a result, legislation may be required to do so.
The current situation and the impassioned attention it has generated only reinforce the Society of American Florists’ long-held position that the country’s broken immigration system must be reformed, said Shawn McBurney, SAF’s senior director of government relations.
“For decades, SAF has been on the forefront of pushing for reform to our immigration system that will ensure access to a reliable and stable workforce,” McBurney said. “The issue has been one of the most polarizing and intractable issues ever considered by Congress.”
SAF has long emphasized that the American economy requires a dependable guest-worker program. During the group’s Congressional Action Days in March, SAF members met with their representatives in Congress to discuss the importance of reform and to urge them not to impose stand-alone mandatory E-Verify legislation.
“Agriculture in particular faces a critical lack of workers,” McBurney said. “Few Americans apply for labor-intensive, and often seasonal, jobs. The problem is even more acute in a healthy economy with a historically low unemployment rate.”