Long Island farmers are voicing their support for the illegal immigrants that help harvest their crops.

Experts estimate that nearly half of the 8,000 people working in Long Island?s agricultural industry are in the United States illegally. Farmers are required to look at two forms of documentation before hiring any worker, but experts say many of these documents are forged.

Farmers say the immigrant workers are necessary to the industry and the Long Island Farm Bureau says losing them would be devastating. Many immigrants say they are in the country looking for work to provide a better life for their families.