Tenney, Republicans in Congress won’t address immigration despite its importance to farming

Editor:

In rural areas like Congressional Districts 23 and 24, farmers rely on undocumented immigrants, especially year-round operations like dairy farmers, because those workers are largely ineligible for the H-2A visas.

While immigration was one of the major issues Republicans campaigned on last year, they have not proposed any comprehensive plans. Farmers want legal farm workers; they want changes to the immigration process.

Republicans like Claudia Tenney and Nick Langworthy vote against all reforms. Instead, they push enforcement and punishment. Newsweek reported (9/8/25) that Immigration and Customs Enforcement raids are putting an $8 billion farming business in New York at risk.

Democrats have proposed legislation to fix our broken immigration system. Zoe Lofgren (D-Calif.) has proposed H.R. 3227 Farmworker Modernization Act of 2025. This act would provide a legal status for farm workers, protecting them from deportation and providing a stable labor force for the employers. It also streamlines and expands the H-2a visas to include year-round jobs and reduces bureaucratic delays.

Arizona Senator Rubin Gallego proposed the Securing the Border and Fueling Economic Prosperity Act in May this year. This act would bolster border patrol staffing and the use of advanced technology for drug detection.

Additionally, the legislation would overhaul the asylum system and address the root causes of migration. Our Congressional Representatives continue to squash immigration reform. They will not address the issue of immigration because having a campaign slogan is more important to our Republican representatives than solving real issues facing their constituents.

William Fine

Brockport