A federally funded building meant to house several dozen migrant farmworkers in Olathe sits almost empty and is in jeopardy of closing because of a law that restricts who can live there.

Gov. Bill Ritter, speaking to business leaders in Denver on Thursday, pointed to the conflict as an example of why Congress should push for immigration changes. He also signed a letter Thursday urging Agriculture Secretary Mike Johanns to address the Olathe situation.

"I hereby urgently request that you lift these restrictions," Ritter wrote to Johanns. "I understand you have the authority."

But in Ritter's remarks, he also indicated he would press the issue with Colorado's congressional delegation, a move that could become necessary if the Agriculture Department reiterates its earlier contention that it can't do anything about the rules unless the law changes.

A federal law allows only U.S. citizens or permanent residents to stay in the 72-bed Olathe facility. But demand for the dormitory-style housing comes mainly from workers with temporary visas.

The issue has taken on more urgency this year because of new state laws cracking down on illegal immigration. Farmers in Colorado expect to have to rely more heavily on the H-2A visa program to get enough seasonal help to plant and pick their crops.

And under the visa rules, the growers must supply the temporary workers with housing.

The Olathe housing, built in 1992, was used for about a decade before authorities realized it could not be used to house workers on temporary visas.

It has been virtually empty during the farming season for the past few years, with only a handful of homeless people living there for free right now.

"The growers are really under the gun to make sure they hire these H-2A workers and provide housing as well," said Tim Heavers, executive director of the Montrose County Housing Authority.

Heavers, whose agency oversees the building, called it "sort of silly" to have farmers trying to find employee housing when the county has a "beautiful" building built for the purpose of housing agricultural workers.

The building was built with a low-interest federal loan, and Heavers also has written Johanns urging him to do something before the facility runs into more financial difficulty because it is getting no rental income. Workers are required to pay 15 percent of their wages when they stay there.

"We are running out of money to operate the dorm, and the net result is that it will be permanently closed if something is not done," Heavers wrote to Johanns in September.

John Harold, the grower of Olathe Sweet corn, said he plans to ask for approval to set up a trailer park on his land. Harold said, "I'm going to ask for mercy" on the zoning issue.

"We've got a situation here where our crops might not be harvested because we don't have labor," he said.

Contributing to the worker shortage are a construction boom in Telluride and Aspen that has created jobs paying twice as much and the energy boom on the Western Slope.

Harold said he decided years ago to take the legal route when hiring workers. "I'm not sure the old illegal way isn't better (because) you don't have this bureaucratic boondoggle," he said.

kelleyj@RockyMountainNews.com or 303-954-5068