Dairy Today s Elite Producer Business Conference. Ryan Miltner. November 6, 2012 Bellagio, Las Vegas, NV

Transcription

1 Dairy Today s Elite Producer Business Conference Ryan Miltner November 6, 2012 Bellagio, Las Vegas, NV

2 While Ryan Miltner is an attorney, the comments in this presentation were prepared to provide information of a general nature to the attendees of the Elite Producer Business Conference. The circumstances of any individual or business are unique. The information in this presentation is not legal advice and should not be regarded as such.

3 Practicing lawyer for ten years. Began working with dairy farmers right out of law school. Practice heavily focused on federal regulation of the dairy industry. Matters involving USDA, FDA, Congress, DHS.

4 Not a pure policy attorney. Not a pure immigration practitioner. I would consider myself a dairy lawyer, which necessarily means that I deal with immigration and how it affects producers. Hiring Compliance Visa Issues Policy Lobbying and Monitoring

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8 Several major immigration reform bills were introduced in Congress earlier this summer, and President George W. Bush has said recently that he expects to see action on the topic when he and the Congress return to Washington in September. Pew Research Center, August 16, 2005

9 Two broad sets of policy challenges: Determining the status of the estimated 11 million persons, most of them Latinos, who currently live in the country without authorization. Managing future migration flows.

10 So, what happened? There was no two-pronged effort to address immigration. Instead, there were calls for enforcement, leading to rallies and protests.

11 The result: immigration legislation becomes radioactive. The federal government responds by raiding employers, including dairies.

12 Under President Bush, enforcement comes in the form of workplace raids. Immigration raid devastates Ga. Town: Half of workforce lost; businesses at virtual standstill, Boston Globe, Sept. 16, Immigration raid linked to ID theft, Chertoff Says, USA Today, Dec. 13, Raid at ND dairy by immigration sparks dispute. Dakota Farmer, May 2007.

13 Under the Obama Administration, ICE shifted its enforcement strategy from formal raids on employers to audits of I-9 documents. Is this better? The eight restaurants, four in San Antonio, two in Austin and two in Dallas, closed Friday as the company deals with what is known as an I-9 audit... Several vital employees have chosen not to report to work, the company announced in a prepared statement. This has affected our ability to provide our expected level of service to guests. ICE Audit Closes Sushi Zushi Restaurants, mysanantonio.com, July 27, 2012.

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15 ICE Representative: Auditing work-site compliance is meant to get at the "root cause" of illegal immigration. Homeland Security: "substantially reduces the incentive for aliens to enter the United States illegally.

16 Year Audits Orders Fines Average Fine , $1.03 M $19, , $6.96M $29, , $10.4 M $27,012

17 2012 probably fewer audits than in 2011 State laws Limited resources Not a priority, politically Cycling through industries and sectors Election year

18 Little to no movement on legislation Decreased audit activity Economic strengthening making hiring more difficult in some areas Eddy County, NM (3.6%), Chavez County, NM (3.8%) Mercer County, OH (4.2%) Lancaster County, PA (6.2%) But, Tulare County, CA (14.7%)

19 Producers and the industry are struggling to secure a stable workforce: Training centers Active recruitment in partnership with government Producers changing operations Robotic Milking Getting out of dairy Still waiting on reform Wildcard: State Laws

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21 Audited dairy is not facing any fines or charges, despite the large number of workers found to have invalid documents. ( 100 employees, 1/3 of the workforce). The audit found records were very complete the problem was with the documents she'd been given.

22 Dairy Producers are still in a difficult position: A whopping 89 percent of staffers there were not authorized to work in the U.S. -- but only the employees have been charged with a crime, while the business owner is being credited with aiding law enforcement. A routine inspection of the dairy... by [DHS] turned up twenty workers suspected of using forged social security and alien-registration cards to get a job.

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24 Ryan Miltner The Miltner Law Firm, LLC (866)