Farm workers need legal status NOW.

Congress: Farm workers need legal status NOW Farm workers across America are pushing Congress togive farm workers legal status before the end of the year. Farm workers have proven themselves essential to America's communities, economy and food supply over and over again - putting their lives at risk to keep America fed.  Giving the farm workers who feed us the legal status they have earned is crucial to America's food security. Given the result of the midterms, this lame duck session is the last shot to get something done for farm workers before the House of Representatives falls into Republican hands. We need Congress to pass the Farm Workforce Modernization Act NOW.   The week before Thanksgiving, 19-year Mairi, a farm worker from Delano, California, came to Washington D.C. to ask Congress to act. Her parents, also farm workers, are undocumented and need Congress to pass legislation before the end of the year. Below is some of what Mairi told Members of Congress during her first trip to our nation's capital.  "I've been working in the fields since I was 12 years old," said Mairi. "Undocumented farm workers live with constant fear of being separated from their families. A few years ago, my neighbors were on their way to work when they were followed by ICE. They were scared of being separated from their family, so they drove away and ended up crashing and passing away. They left 6 kids behind, the youngest being 6 years old."  Mairi is referring to the 2018 deaths of two farm workers - Santos Hilario Garcia and Marcelina Garcia Profecto  - who were killed during a high-speed pursuit by ICE agents after dropping their teenage daughter off at school. As long as farm workers live without legal status, they will be vulnerable to exploitation and intimidation on the job - and tragedies like the deaths of Mairi's neighbors will continue. Congress must act before it's too late. "Farm workers deserve to be legalized," said Mairi. "They are essential workers who deserve to be recognized."   Please join the UFW in telling Congress that farm workers deserve legal status. We need our friends and allies across the nation to be ready to help us get the Farm Workforce Modernization Act across the finish line. Can we count on you? Sign the pledge today.