Stephen Colbert Testifies in Support of Immigration Reform

Silicon Valley Congresswoman, Zoe Lofgren, the Chair of the House Judiciary Subcommittee on Immigration, Citizenship, Refugees, Border Security, and International Law, invited Comedy Central's Stephen Colbert to Testify before the Subcommittee. This past July, Mr. Colbert invited the President of the United Farm Workers of America on his show to discuss their "Take Our Jobs" campaign. The purpose of the campaign was to highlight the fact that most Americans will not take jobs picking produce on farms. Mr. Colbert took up the offer to take a job working in the field, and he reported on his experience to the Subcommittee.

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http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=k1T75jBYeCs
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While Mr. Colbert jokingly recommends that Americans just stop eating fruits and vegetables, or that what he wants a tomato "picked by an American and sliced by a Guatemalan served by a Venezuelan in a spa where a Chilean gives me a Brazilian", his celebrity status highlighted a serious, immigraion issue. In all sincerity, he suggested that if we offer visas to those people who are doing this difficult work anyway, it will provide them recourse from exploitation.

The AgJOBS bill would provide undocumented farm workers with a path to legalization, upon background checks and paying fines. Congresswoman Lofgren has explained that AgJOBS needs to pass because there are not enough citizens and legal immigrants willing to do the "killer" work. Unless American farmers have access to migrant labor, millions of American farm jobs will be shipped to Mexico and other countries with abundant and cheap labor.

Immigration Reform / by Michelle Gee