Michael G. Harpold has spent most of his adult life on the front lines of immigration, including serving as a United States Border Patrol officer in California's San Joaquin Valley during the early years of the Grape Strike led by Cesar Chavez. That's why he's able to spot the flaws in immigration policy proposals coming from both sides of the aisle.

"There's plenty of advocacy for increased numbers of immigrants and new guest worker programs, but not much discussion about the consequences," says Harpold, a 35-year veteran of the Immigration and Naturalization Service (INS) and author of the new book Jumping the Line (www.jumpingtheline.com), which gives readers a realistic glimpse into the lives of two farmworker families.

For instance, he says, both houses of Congress have passed legislation creating new programs that will guarantee growers a huge pool of new, low-skilled workers, but will do nothing to improve the lives of those already in the states working on farms. Growers will not have to pay into social security and unemployment for guest workers.

"Despite immigration reform, domestic farmworkers will continue to live as an impoverished underclass," Harpold says. "If we want to help immigrant and U.S. citizen farmworkers, we can't bring a new flood of low-skilled workers into the country who will compete for their jobs."

Harpold, who served on the staff of former INS commissioner Leonel Castillo, points out where political ideology goes wrong on the immigration issue:

• Illegal immigrant farmworkers are not self-entitled freeloaders. More than half of workers employed on farms, and a huge portion of those hired in food processing and meatpacking, are not U.S. citizens or legal immigrants. Many were driven off their farms in Mexico because they couldn't compete with American corn exports. Out of necessity more than fifty percent of farm families in Mexico have one or more family members working illegally in the U.S. Tacitly invited by unscrupulous U.S. employers seeking cheap labor, the vast majority slipped across land borders or were smuggled, facing incredible danger and hardships.

• A relaxed border policy is a bad idea. Our immigration laws have been refined over decades to reunify families, provide needed workers to U.S. business and provide a haven for political refugees. To that end, more than 1.2 million new immigrants are brought into the U.S. each year in addition to more than 40 million visitors. Liberals say the system is broken and the law is being violated because not enough visas are being granted, but there will always come a point when the country needs to say no. No system can be fair if the regulations governing it are not enforced, as has occurred throughout the past two and a half decades. Relaxing our immigration standards, as some liberals support, allows for a constant stream of new immigrants, grinding wages to the floor and guaranteeing a state of perpetual poverty for farmworkers.

• Immigrants face the same problems as U.S. citizens. The fact that manufacturing jobs have moved overseas has been a significant blow to the American workforce. Earlier immigrants from Europe had next-level jobs and industries to climb their way out of entry-level jobs, but those next-level jobs are no longer there for immigrant farmworkers. Wages for meatpackers and construction workers have fallen as those occupations have become overloaded with job-hunting, low-skilled workers. "The way out for most farmworkers means standing on a street corner near a Home Depot hoping to be hired for day labor," Harpold says.

"Progressives need to remember that it's not fair to invite immigrants only to have them discover the American dream is on hold indefinitely," he says. "Conservatives need to accept that many of the estimated 11.5 million illegal immigrants in the U.S. are already deeply integrated into our economy and society. Until relatively recently, illegal immigrant farmworkers were simply integrated into the system after a period of time. Congress should enact a law allowing them to remain legally and work until they can qualify for a green card - something that's been done in previous immigration policy."

About Michael G. Harpold

Michael G. Harpold began his 35-year career in the U.S. Immigration and Naturalization Service (INS) as a border patrol inspector on the Mexican border. Later in his career while stationed at Bakersfield, California, he met César Chávez. Their paths crossed because Chavez believed that illegal border-crossers were a threat to his efforts to build a union for farmworkers. Harpold served two years in Vietnam with the U.S. Agency for International Development and, after returning to the INS, became an officer of the employee's union, making frequent appearances before congressional committees testifying on proposed immigration legislation and the INS budget. Harpold served five years in the U.S. Army and won a competitive appointment to West Point. He holds a bachelor's degree from California State University at Fresno and attended Golden Gate University School of Law in San Francisco.

Concertmaster to perform Pulitzer Prize-winning Violin Concerto

The Quad City Symphony Orchestra's December Masterworks concert presents a perfect pairing of fresh inspirations with romantic tradition. New to the Quad Cities' stage will be Guest Conductor Alasdair Neale. Neale will be leading the Quad City Symphony Orchestra as they accompany our beloved Concertmaster Naha Greenholtz in her performance of Jennifer Higdon's 2010 Pulitzer Prize-winning Violin Concerto. Then on the second half of the concert, this new work will be contrasted with Rachmaninoff's romantic masterpiece, his sweeping Symphony No. 2.

The concert will be performed on December 7 and 8. Saturday evening's concert will be held at the Adler Theatre in Davenport at 7:30 p.m., and followed on Sunday afternoon at 2:00 p.m. at Centennial Hall in Rock Island. Tickets for this concert can be purchased in person at the QCSO Box Office, 327 Brady Street in Davenport, by phone at 563.322.QCSO (7276), or online at www.qcsymphony.com.

Masterworks III

Saturday, December 7, at 7:30 p.m.

Adler Theatre, Davenport

Sunday, December 8, at 2:00 p.m.

Centennial Hall, Rock Island

Click here to read the concert program notes

The Bettendorf location first opened in 1996, and was the first of the three WaterPark locations. Since then, WaterPark Car Wash has been dedicated to serving the Quad Cities area with exceptional service and great car washes. Unfortunately, the building of the new bridge across the Mississippi will impact the Bettendorf location, forcing its closure.

"We are invested in this community and we look forward to many more years at our Moline and Davenport locations," says Wayne Guinee, General Manager. "We thrive on the relationships we've built with our customers, who we're proud to call our friends."

Continued growth, expansion of services and WaterPark's reputation for quality and service is the outcome of individual efforts and close cooperation of staff members. Despite the closing of the Bettendorf location, Water Park Car Wash will continue to provide its exceptional service for the entire community at its other two locations.

About WaterPark CarWash: Established in 1996 with a staff of 25 providing complete car wash services, WaterPark today employs up to 100 people. In 1998, WaterPark opened a second location in Moline, Illinois; in 2001, they opened their third location, in Davenport, IA. WaterPark was created by a group of Quad City friends with complimentary business backgrounds. WaterPark's goal is to provide the finest service, value, and quality possible. WaterPark puts the customer first by offering a car wash experience that's unsurpassed. WaterPark's employees, managers and owners choose to provide valued clients of the Quad Cities' a complete car wash. (www.waterparkcarwash.com)

(DES MOINES) - Gov. Branstad announced today that he will be testifying at the EPA's public hearing on a proposed rule to weaken the RFS in Virginia on Thursday at approximately 9:30 a.m. Central/10:30 a.m. Eastern.

The governor will offer strong public support for the Renewable Fuel Standard, which recently the EPA sought to dismantle, potentially causing significant economic harm to Iowa families.

Prior to testifying, Branstad will participate in a Renewable Fuels Association media call, with details below:

Wednesday, Dec. 4, 2013

(December 3, 2013) WASHINGTON – Bob Dinneen, President and CEO of the Renewable Fuels Association, will host a discussion featuring Iowa Governor Terry E. Branstad and American Farm Bureau economist Matt Erickson on the negative impact the proposed 2014 Renewable Fuel Standard (RFS) targets would have on agriculture and rural economies.

WHAT: Teleconference: Discussion and Q&A on the negative
agricultural impact of the EPA's proposal to lower the 2014 RFS
targets.

WHO: Terry E. Branstad, Governor of Iowa

Bob Dinneen, President and CEO of the Renewable Fuels
Association 

Matt Erickson, American Farm Bureau Federation Economist 

WHEN: Wednesday, Dec. 4, 2013, 1:40 p.m. to 2:45 p.m. Central

CALL IN: Dial In: 866-872-7365, Conference Code: 19550507

RSVP: Please RSVP to Chris Findlay  atcfindlay@ethanolrfa.org 

Thursday, December 5, 2013

9:30 CST / 10:30 EST Gov. Branstad testifies at EPA public hearing in favor of the Renewable Fuel Standard

Hyatt Regency Crystal City

2799 Jefferson Davis Highway

Arlington, VA