A director of legislative affairs told the Florida Fruit and Vegetable Association board of directors that if immigration reform doesn’t happen in the next two months it likely won’t happen until 2017.

Kam Quarles, director of legislative affairs for the law firm of McDermott Will & Emery, provided an update to the FFVA board of directors at their summer meeting May 30 and explained where immigration reform stands in the House of Representatives, where it remains stalled.

"The long and short of it is that the end of this process is August," he said. "If we're not successful in the next 60 days, it's over. The window closes until 2017."

FFVA has been working tirelessly as part of the Agriculture Workforce Coalition to drive home the need for reform for agriculture, he said. Should a bill be proposed in the next couple of months, Quarles and FFVA President Mike Stuart stressed the need for individual growers to contact their congressional representative to strongly urge their support for a bill.

"The big question is what comes next? We need to get something across the House floor. Ultimately, the only thing I'm sure of is that if nothing passes, it's done," Quarles told the labor committee.

Other highlights from the board and committee meetings include: