Activist rejects guest worker program

Dolores Huerta, political activist and co-founder of the National Farm Workers Association, denounced President Bush's guest worker program Thursday during a speech at California Lutheran University.

"It's just a form of indentured servitude," she told about 60 people. "We need to certify that there is a shortage of workers."

The guest worker program would allow U.S. employers to sponsornon-U.S. citizens as laborers for three years. A worker could then be deported if he or she had not obtained a green card.

Huerta, 76, spoke on the "Human Side of the Immigration Policy Debate" at Sameulson Chapel as partof the Alma and Clifford PearsonDistinguished Speaker Series hosted by the Center for Leadership and Values.

This year's series has focused on Hispanic issues, specifically immigration.

In response to the election results, Huerta said she hopes that the new Democratic-led Congress will put an end to the proposed wall along the U.S-Mexico border.

"It's not going to stop the problem," she said. "We have to look at why people leave their homes."

She said free trade agreements, which she calls "economic colonization," have put these people out of business by taking out resources and profits.

"The small farmer can't compete with agribusiness," Huerta said.

Discussing education reform, she said she wants to have more integration in the schools and make better use of bilingual classes.

Huerta ended her speech by leading the audience in chants and a solidarity clap. The audience gave her a standing ovation.

Ira Melhman, spokesman for the Federation for American Immigration Reform, a nonprofit organization that seeks to improve border security and stop illegal immigration, agreed that the guest worker program would not be effective.

"We do not know what our labor needs are," he said. "There is no evidence of a labor shortage in the country."

Melhman, who did not attend Huerta's speech, said he believed that the wall along the border would help the immigration problem.

"Anything that makes it more difficult to get across the border will make a difference," he said. "We've had thousands of miles of unprotected border. If we close down more and more popular crossing points, it will discourage people.

"It's not the ultimate answer to this problem. We have to cut off the attractions as to why people come across borders by eliminating the supply of jobs. We need to punish the employers."

Huerta has been a political activist for more than five decades.

As co-founder of the National Farm Workers Association with César Chávez, she organized farmworkers to demand better pay and work conditions.

The organization later became the United Farm Workers, a labor union.

Huerta has continued her activism with the creation of the Dolores Huerta Foundation in 2002, which works to educate people in low-income regions about leadership and community organizing.

She is also a member of the Feminist Majority Foundation, which works toward gender equality.

CLU's Center for Leadership and Values promotes the discussion of values, character, leadership and social progress in the university and larger community. The center was formed in 1999 by the School of Business.