4/5/04
ISSUE: Senate File 717 is designed to allow foreign investors to own and operate mega-dairy operations in Minnesota. The bill allows holders of E-2 non-immigrant investment visas to own Minnesota dairy farms. (Current law already allows immigrants to own farmland and LSP supports that.) The bill has been included in the Omnibus Finance Bill, which will be before the full Senate on Wednesday, April 7. Calls to your legislators are needed immediately.

ACTION: Call your Representative and Senator before Wednesday morning, April 7, and tell them to support removing the Senate File 717 language from the Omnibus Finance Bill. Tell them this bill is about non-immigrant foreign investors owning Minnesota dairy farms. Let them know that immigrants can already own farmland.

Call 1-800-657-3550 for the name and number of your Representative and 888-234-1112 for the name and number of your Senator. Please, call again even if you have called before.

BACKGROUND: Senator Dallas Sams (DFL-Staples) continues to push the “Alien Ownership” bill forward. In an attempt to push it through, he has included the bill as part of the Omnibus Finance Bill. The Finance Bill will be voted on this Wednesday on the Senate Floor. We need legislators to vote to remove this language from the Omnibus bill.

E-2 or treaty investor visas cannot be used for immigration. According to the Web site of the U.S. Embassy in the Netherlands (http://www.usemb.nl/cnvtreat.htm), the “principal applicant [of a E-2 or treaty investment visa] must be a Dutch citizen and must not be immigrating to the U.S. (Individuals who want to stay indefinitely in the U.S. need immigrant visas.)” In other words, these visas are not for people intending to become citizens or permanent residents, only for investors who are in the country for a limited time.

This bill is bad for Minnesota.

Foreign investors could outbid local farmers and drive up the price of farmland making it even harder for beginning farmers and existing farmers who need access to land. In Ohio and Michigan, several foreign financed dairies have caused serious environmental problems. These are large industrial operations with a commitment to investors, not the local community. According to the Dayton Daily News newspaper at least five foreign financed mega-dairies “have received environmental violation notices from the Ohio EPA, primarily for manure spills into creeks and storm water runoff.”

FOR MORE INFORMATION: Contact LSP organizer Bobby King at 507-523-3366 or bking@landstewardshipproject.org, or LSP organizer Paul Sobocinski at 507-342-2323 or 507-430-1509.