Green checked the men's documentation then put them to work on his sprawling 850-acre orchard that stretches near the shore of Lake Champlain, 7 miles south of the Canadian border.

Weeks later, amid heightened concerns over terrorism and border security, the workers' foreign accents attracted attention at a local grocery store in Chazy. Some local residents called the U.S. Border Patrol. The men fled from officers but were eventually caught. Each was in the country illegally.

But Green and farmers like him would be charged with a crime and face thousands of dollars in fines if a bill passed by the U.S. House of Representatives becomes law.

“That law that passed in the House would make me responsible, even though (the workers) presented me with documents,” Green said. “They are putting all of the burden on the employer who does not have the resources or ability to verify these things. That would be extremely unfair.”

Chief among the concerns of most growers is the loss of much-needed labor. They say that without migrant workers, they would face bankruptcy and the cost of food would soar. Many say they'd be hard-pressed to find any U.S.-born workers willing to do tough manual labor. Green says he has to import 156 men from Jamaica through a guest-worker program to get his crop to market.

According to a U.S. Department of Labor survey conducted in 2001 and 2002, 78 percent of the nation's 1.8 million crop workers were born outside the United States, mostly in Mexico.

More than half, 53 percent, weren't authorized to work in the country.

There are about 40,000 migrant workers toiling in New York each year.

The Republican-led House has passed legislation calling for criminal penalties for people illegally in the U.S. and for a fence along stretches of the U.S.-Mexican border to keep illegal immigrants out.

Broader legislation in the Senate would have sought stronger border security, regulated future entry of foreign workers and created a complex set of regulations for the estimated 11 million immigrants illegally in the United States. That bill failed last month.

“They want us to give up our entire work force overnight,” said Austin Perez, director of congressional relations for the American Farm Bureau. “We are not against improving the system. We want to know who is legal and who is not. Our members have been following the law for 20 years now.”

Americans appear divided.

“I don't think they should be allowed in the country,” said Bruce Hansen, 55, a bakery worker in Burlington, Vt. “They're taking jobs from everyone,” he said after lunch at a Chazy diner.

According to a poll by the Pew Research Center for the People and the Press, 53 percent say people who are in the country illegally should be required to go home, while 40 percent say they should be granted some kind of legal status.

But almost half of those who believe illegal immigrants should be required to leave say that some could stay under a temporary work program. Overall, 32 percent would allow the immigrants to stay permanently; 32 percent would let them stay under a temporary worker program, provided they leave eventually and 27 percent think all illegal immigrants should be expelled.

Luis Torres, western New York Director of Rural and Migrant Ministries, a farmworker advocacy group, said most immigrants are taking the House bill with a grain of salt.

“In terms of making people criminals and mass exportation, they don't really consider that as a real option,” he said. “You're talking about 11 million people, you're talking about industries shutting down. I don't think that anyone who understands the situation would think that would be implemented.”