Day 8 Immigration reform

Class 41 arrived in Phoenix, Arizona at 11 p.m. last night, and after a quick few hours of rest was back on the road, today to learn about the affect of immigration and illegal immigration on the State of Arizona and our Nation. California Ag Leadership Alumni, class 13, Robert Shuler of Shuler Government Affairs, LLC was our host at the Arizona Department of Agriculture. Shuler, a passonate advocate for the agriculture industry and the state of Arizona invited six of the most active legislators in the state to give our class a 400 level briefing on the very contentious issue. Senator Gail Griffin, district 25 lead off the day painting the picture of the convict on the boarder. Following the Senator, we met with Rep. Frank Pratt, Dist. 23; Rep. John Kavanaugh, Dist. 8; Rep. Chad Campbell, Dist. 14; and Rep. Ruben Gallego, Dist. 16, individually about the issues surrounding illegal immigration and the Arizona boarder. Our speakers, both Democrats and Republicans, spoke passionately about their positions and actively engaged the fellows of class 41 in one of the best exchanges of questions and answers of the entire trip. Both speakers and fellows left the overview of Immigration Reform seminar with new information and prospective about immigration that they didn't bring to the seminar when they loaded the bus this morning.

 

 

Conversation spilled into lunch at the  Department of Economic Security where small groups of class 41 huddled around tables and talked about what aspects of the presentation they agreed and disagreed with.

In the afternoon session, the members of class 41 were exposed to views on immigration issues from a panel of representatives of different agricultural sectors. The panel chaired by Bas Aja the executive Vice-president of Arizona Cattle feeder Association and included speakers from Arizona Cattle Growers, Arizona Farm Bureau and Western Growers. The speakers discussed at length the importance of separating Border Security from Immigration Reform. The class learned about many of the difficulties faced by the farming communities on the border concerning securities and farm labor. The panel also discussed solutions to the problem and emphasized the responsibilities of the Federal government in protecting citizens along the border and providing efficient visa programs that secure labor needs for the Agricultural sector.

Submitted by
- Steven Knudsen, Daniel Rodrigues and Ali Elhassan