Schrier H-2A Comments Pt 1
I'm Bob Larson. If you haven't cast your votes yet, many in the farm community are still buzzing about comments made by eighth district Congressional candidate Kim Schrier during a recent debate.
Washington State Tree Fruit Association president, Jon DeVaney was there and says her comments about those who employ H-2A workers were shocking ...
SCHRIER ... "The H-2A Visa program does not work well for either the farmers or for the workers and can lead to sort of a pattern of indentured servitude where a worker is essentially held hostage by a potentially abusive farmer."
DeVaney says it sounded like her comments were made with little or no preparation and no regard for the people she'd like to serve ...
Devaney ... "We're used to seeing a lot of overheated rhetoric around immigration. It's a very sensitive issue in our society at the moment, but to see language that was quite so pejorative about agriculture by one of the candidates running to represent Central Washington. The eighth district includes Kittitas, Chelan and parts of Douglas counties that have a lot of tree fruit production in them was really surprising and disappointing. I would have thought that both candidates would have been fully informed about how that program works and why growers are required to do what they do in using it before making those kinds of comments."
DeVaney says he sees little reason Schrier couldn't have learned more about out the facts.
Schrier, a Democrat, is running against Republican Dino Rossi to fill the seat being vacated by the retiring Dave Reichert.
Listen tomorrow for more on reaction.
