This report gives a brief overview of the American farm and its labor supply before the industrial age. It outlines how the federal government has, over time, intervened in agriculture to assure farmers parity with nonfarm families and how it has not intervened to equalize conditions in farm and nonfarm labor markets. Topics discussed include a review of U.S. immigration policy as it applies to migrant farm workers and the agricultural provisions of the Immigration Reform and Control Act (IRCA). The three major effects of IRCA on agriculture are listed and discussed along with the reform recommendations of the Commission on Agricultural Workers.
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