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From VOA Learning English, |
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this is the Agriculture Report. |
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Farmers in the United States are experiencing |
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a shortage of people to work their fields. |
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The workers they do have are mostly from Latin America |
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but enter the country with false documents. |
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Farmers say that without immigration reform, |
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both problems will continue. |
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Imperial Valley is an agricultural area |
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near the border of the western state of California and Mexico. |
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Temperatures there are always above 38 degrees Celsius |
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in the summer month, as a result, |
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not much grows in the Imperial Valley |
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at this time of year, but in the winter |
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the fileds are filled with lettuce and celery. |
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And in the spring, farmers grow foods |
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like cantaloupes and watermelons. |
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There is work to do in the fields in the summer, |
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Francisco Saucedo uses farm equipment |
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to prepare the land for planting in the autumn. |
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He lives in Mexico and wakes up |
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in the middle of the night everyday, |
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so he can avoid long lines at the border crossing. |
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Mr Saucedo says that if he did this kind of work in Mixico, |
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he would earn about $6 a day. |
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But in the United States, he makes as much as $90 a day. |
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Farmer Larry Cox says growing and harvesting vegetables |
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depends on immigrants or day laborers from Mexico, |
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but he says not enough migrants are crossing the border. |
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"We have had a chronic shortage of help almost for the last 10 years." |
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Larry Cox says it has been difficult getting visas |
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to work in the United States, |
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as a result, many farm workers from Latin America carry fake documents. |
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Western Growers President Tom Nassif says |
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there are about 11 million workers in the United States |
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with false documents, over 1 million of them work in agriculture. |
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Mr Nassif has been working with American lawmakers on immigration reform. |
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He supports of bill to legalize the workers |
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who are already in the United States. |
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The bill will provide a way for the workers |
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to become American citizens in the future. |
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The Senate has approved the measure. |
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The United Farm Workers Foundation represents the farm workers. |
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It supports the Senate bill. |
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The group's Erica Lomeli says immigration reform |
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will improve the working conditions of many migrants. |
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"So they will have a right to stand up for themselves |
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and not be intimidated or in many states be put in slave-like positions." |
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American Jack Vessey owns a farm. |
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he says without immigration reform, |
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the labor shortage on farms will continue, |
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as a result, he says, |
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Americans might have to pay more for fruits and vegetables. |
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And that's the Agriculture Report from VOA Learning English, |
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I'm Bob Doughty. |
