This is the first nationwide study of the effects of the Immigration Reform and Control Act on agriculture. This benchmark study provides both case studies and surveys to explain the major reason why IRCA was a case of good intentions gone awry. Contributors: Shirley Buzzard, Frederick J. Conway, Robert C. Smith, and Suzanne Vaupel.

Extract: For the first time, H-2 immigration legislation for the temporary employment of foreign workers has been designed especially for agriculture. If passed, part of the pending Immigration Reform and Control Act will force farm employers to hire either American workers or legal foreign workers. Although information is sketchy, it appears that labor-intensive farms, particularly in vegetable- and fruit-growing States such as California and Florida, will be most affected by the law. Vegetable, melon, fruit and tree nut, and horticultural specialty farms accounted for 6.4 percent of all U.S. farms and nearly 10 percent of the value of farms sales in 1978. Some employers, at times dependent on illegal foreign workers, may have difficulty filling seasonal jobs with American workers.

Immigration is changing the face of rural America, from Florida to Washington and from Maine to California. Migrants arrive, many from Mexico, to fill jobs on farms and in farm-related industries, usually at earnings below the poverty. Leaders of rural industries are adamant that a steady influx of foreign workers is necessary for economic survival. But the integration of these newcomers is uneven: many immigrants achieve some measure of the American dream, but others find persistent poverty, overcrowded housing, and crime. The New Rural Poverty examines the effect of rural immigration on inland agricultural areas in California, farm areas in coastal California, and meat and poultry processing centers in Delaware and Iowa. The authors examine the interdependencies between immigrants and agriculture in the United States, explore the policy challenges and options, and assess how current proposals for immigration reform will affect rural America.