FullConTech on September 26 brought 60 participants from the agriculture and technology industries, government, education, and nonprofit organizations to Sleeping Lady in Leavenworth to talk about the Immigrant Workforce. The most intimate FullConTech we’ve hosted, the event gave participants an opportunity to connect with each other in a more personal way and go deeper in their problem-solving discussions, which focused on:

• Building a coalition that could work together to influence immigration policy
• Improving the experience of living in our communities for immigrant workers

Joining us for our afternoon sessions were attendees from the Tech Institute, an invitation-only retreat for our state’s innovation sector leaders hosted by the Tech Alliance. The Tech Institute group  included Tara Senn and Gael Tarleton from the Washington House of Representatives, who took part in our Invent Sessions and added a new perspective to the FullConTech discussions.

Also with us in Leavenworth were representatives from 16 local community and government organizations that support our immigrant population and were taking part in their first FullConTech. These groups included La Casa Hogar, Ethiopian Community in Seattle, Coalition of Immigrants, Refugees and Communities of Color, WA Immigrant Solidarity Network, and Colectiva Legal del Pueblo.

Tahmina Watson of Watson Immigration Law introduced the day by talking about her experience as an immigrant and the challenges she now faces as an immigration lawyer in helping her clients. “Immigration law is so broken,” she said.

Our three Flash Talk speakers each provided a different set of insights regarding immigrant workers in Washington:

• Lazaro Carrion, marketing operations manager for Latin America at Remitly, told his story of coming to the U.S. illegally as a child, picking cherries and pears with his family in western Washington, graduating from Whitman College, and then having to return to Mexico. It took him 20 years to become a U.S. citizen. “Being an immigrant,” he said, “means being able to dream. Being undocumented means giving up hope.”
• Jim McFerson, director for the WSU Tree Fruit Research and Extension Center (TFREC), explained the technology revolution that has been happening in our state’s orchards and packing centers. “Even with increased automation,” he said, “there’s still a need for workers.” And the labor shortage extends beyond the harvest to the labs and technology centers that are delivering the innovations that help fuel the industry’s growth.
• Mike Gempler, director of the Washington Growers League, talked about the risk the ag industry faces without comprehensive immigration reform. He said that at least 50% of agricultural workers in Washington are undocumented, with about 96% of those workers coming from Latin America, primarily rural Mexico. “Our goal,” he said, “is a stable and legal workforce.” The Growers League has been advocating for comprehensive immigration reform for over 20 years.

After lunch, we had the opportunity to hear from Todd Schulte, president of FWD.us. Todd talked about the history of immigration policy in the U.S, pointing out that policy hasn’t really changed since the Johnson administration, while our immigrant population has changed dramatically, as have our workforce needs. Today’s immigrant population, for example, is highly educated – more so than the general U.S. population.

“The consequences of inaction [on immigration reform] are severe,” he said, “But I’m hopeful that change will happen because we have no choice.”

We’re now working to bring  together all the great ideas generated at this FullConTech into a playbook that highlights best practices and ideas for collaboration. Watch for its release in October.