California Senator Anna Caballero, from Merced, has proposed a legislative measure aimed at creating a pathway to citizenship for the large number of undocumented farmworkers in California. The proposed bill, Senate Bill 831, seeks to establish the Agricultural Worker Permanent Residency Program, which would empower the California governor to collaborate with the federal government to launch a pilot program that enables agricultural workers to embark on the process of obtaining legal status.
According to the Center for Farmworker Families, California houses a significant number of farmworkers in the United States, ranging from one-third to half of the total workforce, i.e., roughly between 500,000 to 800,000 individuals. Statistics from the UC Merced Community and Labor Center also reveal that a significant proportion of these workers, amounting to approximately 75%, lack legal documentation.
This legislative move is aimed at bringing stability to California's agricultural workforce, a challenge that the federal government has been grappling with on a national scale for several decades.
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