The "Common Sense" Approach to a "Guest Worker Program"

Whereas; agricultural migrant workers are needed to support the agriculture industry and its products, and
Whereas; those needs are not always seasonal or time-window specific related, and
Whereas; many producers need some employees year round, and
Whereas; the only available existing agricultural migrant worker visas (H-2A) are short term (9 months), cumbersome in the application process, and expensive for both domestic employers and migrant workers, and
Whereas; current state quotas (Caps) for existing programs are insufficient to meet the demand for said type of work force, and
Whereas; it is currently more economical and expedient for said workers to pay a guide ("Coyote") than to pursue a legal visa permit, and
Whereas; a Migrant Worker Program is needed where these need are met efficiently, economically and in a timely manner.
Therefore; We, the undersigned people of the agricultural community of the United States of America, do hereby petition the Congress of the United States, to enact legislation to streamline the legalization of farm and ranch migrant workers through the utilization of a "Guest Worker Program." This program would allow a domestic agricultural employer to draw from a pool of workers who have made themselves available for employment in the United States for a single employer; or call-out a specific migrant worker by name to be employed by said domestic employer for a period of two (2) years, with an application fee not to exceed $1,000.00, and the application process (start to finish) not to exceed sixty (60) calendar days, Further, that said Migrant Worker Program would allow the worker to remain in the United States for a period of 2 years, with provisional short-term (not to exceed thirty days) travel privileges, back to their country of origin one time during the permitted 2 year term, and make it more desirable for a worker to pursue a legal avenue of entry to our country.