Amidst reports that immigration reform legislation is dead in the House for this year, leaders of Western Growers, the California and Arizona organization whose members ship about half the fruits and vegetables in the country, met Thursday with Vice President Joe Biden on what the group considers it top legislative priority.

Tom Nassif
“Time is running out and the labor crisis facing agriculture must be addressed,” Western Growers CEO Tom Nassif said after the meeting.

“I told the vice president that we will continue working with members of Congress and Republican leadership to find a path forward on this critical issue,” he said.

“We understand that the time for leadership and action on this issue is now and we are committed to working to ensure steps are taken to address the immigration concerns of agriculture. I also emphasized that Democrats in the House need to compromise on a path to legalization and fight for citizenship in a conference and if they don't have a problem with border security provisions they need to make that more clear.”

Two Western Growers producers — Kevin Murphy, president and COO of Driscoll’s, Watsonville, Calif., and Nan Walden, vice president and counsel at Farmers Investment Company and Green Valley Pecan, Sahuarita, Ariz. — also participated in the meeting.

Rep. Luis Gutiérrez, D-Ill., said this week he believes immigration reform is dead, but today — the anniversary of the passage of the Senate immigration reform bill — the PICO Campaign for Citizenship called on President Barack Obama to use his executive authority to stem deportations.

“The administration should extend deferred action to all those who qualify for a path to citizenship under the bill passed in the Senate a year ago,” PICO, a religious network said.

“The millions of immigrants and their families currently living in this country can’t wait on House Republicans to provide a long-term legislative solution any longer. The president has a moral obligation to protect the people he claims to support and he should do so by ending heavy-handed enforcement programs like Secure Communities and expanding popular ones like Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals (DACA).”

Rep. Bob Goodlatte, R-Va.
Meanwhile, House Judiciary Committee Chairman Bob Goodlatte, R-Va., announced that he will lead a bipartisan trip to the Rio Grande Valley in Texas on Wednesday and Thursday to seek information about the sudden surge of children, teenagers, and families seeking to enter the U.S. illegally.

In a statement, Goodlatte blamed the Obama administration for the surge.

“Word has spread around the world about the Obama administration’s lax immigration enforcement and administrative legalization programs and it has encouraged thousands of children, teenagers, and families from Central America to come to the United States illegally and take advantage of this situation," Goodlatte said.

"Law enforcement officials who testified at the House Judiciary Committee earlier this week state that this surge shows no signs of stopping and that once these minors and families are here, it will be years before they face the possibility of removal — if they are removed at all. Next week, members of the House Judiciary Committee traveling to the border will meet with those dealing with this problem firsthand so that we can determine how to stop this border crisis.”