Immigration in Colorado: The Workforce

COLORADO SPRINGS, Colo. (KRDO) - With more than one million undocumented immigrants crossing the border since January 2023, per the U.S. Customs and Border Protection, the workforce debate is igniting with new fervor.

It is the opinion of some, that these undocumented workers are taking jobs from Americans.  Congressman Doug Lamborn is among those, holding that opinion.  The Republican Representative wrote,

"American workers must compete against job-desperate illegal immigrants, unfairly depressing the wages and working conditions offered to legal residents."

Congressman Doug Lamborn (R)

The argument is a carbon copy of that which surfaced decades ago from Congressional Democrats in the 1960s, who argued to end the Bracero Program because workers were "taking jobs away from Americans."

The exchange program allowed foreign laborers to work in America amid a dearth of male laborers in the post-WWI era. Then, workers -- largely from Mexico -- kept U.S. farms afloat, producing their crops.

The Bracero Program ended under the presidency of Lyndon B. Johnson in 1964.

Now, under much revision, a similar program has emerged, called the H-2A Program. It, too, allows workers from foreign countries to live and work in the U.S., for agricultural purposes. It requires employers to prove they cannot fill the positions with American citizens and also requires them to provide housing and transportation for workers. Housing and transportation circumstances are also subject to inspection. There are also wage requirements.

The H-2A program is not full-time; it requires exchange workers to go to their home countries for six months before they can return to work.

It's how Musso Farms, in Pueblo County, is able to keep its operation running. 

"They're the backbone of our operation," said Rocky Musso, Operator of Musso Farms, speaking of the farm's exchange workers. "They'll send their money home, so their families can live normal day-to-day life there -- and they keep some to buy their food and supplies they need throughout the week. Without any type of labor, we wouldn't have as big a farm."

Here on the Arkansas River Basin, there are crops as far as the eye can see.  Much of this produce, though, requires hands-on reaping and sowing; not all can be harvested with modern implements.

"It doesn't matter your nationality.  If you're not used to agriculture, or this type of work, it's not going to work.  This is very hard labor," said Musso.

There were 4,217 such temporary workers who were granted clearance in Colorado by the U.S. Department of Labor in 2022, but independent numbers show there are upwards of 109,000 undocumented workers in Colorado, according to the Center for American Progress.

Most of those undocumented workers are employed in the construction sector, as maids and janitors, cooks, landscapers, and wait staff -- many jobs that are difficult to fill by employers.

Dee Daniels Scriven, with the Colorado Office of New Americans, counters the claim that these undocumented workers are taking jobs from citizens. 

"Undocumented immigrants don't have employment authorization.  They are probably not getting jobs that U.S. citizens -- or those with employment authorization -- are competing for."

U.S. Senator Michael Bennet (D) has proposed the Affordable and Secure Food Act for those foreign exchange workers, their spouses, and their children. It would allow them to earn a path to a Green Card, after ten years of agricultural work.

It has yet to be taken up in the Senate.