Mayors from the cities of Alamo, McAllen and Edinburg — along with local business leaders — held a roundtable on Friday to discuss the local workforce, immigration-related fears and the impact on the area.

Those attending said they want state and federal lawmakers to pass legislation to protect the workforce.

According to the American Immigration Alliance, 65% of farmworkers in the Rio Grande Valley are immigrants. The alliance said 59% of immigrants in the Valley also make up the construction workforce.

"This is not Republican, this is not Democrat, this is real time solutions to help our economy to keep our economy moving forward," Alamo Mayor J.R. Garza said.

Texas International Produce Association President Dante Galeazzi said he's seen an impact in his industry.

"Our folks have often been the ones that come for a season and go home. They get caught up in a lot of these enforcements that not necessarily targeted at them," Galeazzi said.

Immigration agricultural workers can currently work in the states through the H-2A program. It's a program that allows immigrant workers to do seasonal work under certain regulations.

"It's an expensive program. It's not accessible for our small and medium farmers, there's a ton of problems, the government doesn't run it incredibly well, but it's the only program we have, so we're forced into this pigeonhole," Galeazzi said.

Galeazzi said the solution to the labor shortage he and other businesses are facing is to pass new legislation, like the Farm Workforce Modernization Act or President Donald Trump's legal work permit proposal.

To learn more about the H-2A program, click here.

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