I do not know that many farmers. Not any more, any way. I spent many summers on my grandfather’s farm in southeast Nebraska. In the days of my youth I knew plenty of farmers. All of my grandfather’s neighbors were farmers. Regardless of the fact that I may not be in touch with many farmers today, the spirit of farming remains within me.
Farming is hard business, and not just because the hours are long, and the work grueling, but also because the amount of effort required to eek out a living is extraordinary. Every cost saving measure is critical just to stay in business, let alone remain competitive.
Farmers need labor. Let the market determine the wages. That is how Free Market economies work, let the market set the cost of labor. This is how that negotiation might play out:
“Will you work for a $1 a day?”Then, if someone comes along and says, “I’ll work for 50 cents an hour,” what are you going to do? All things being equal, if you see yourself maximizing your profits without a loss of quality or production, I would guess that the new wage will be $0.50 an hour.
”No.”
”Will you work for $2 a day?”
”Nope.”
”Will you work for $1 per hour?”
”Hmmmm… okay.”
”OK, so we've got ourselves a deal!”
Free Market.
Now, you want to go about tampering with wages to make sure Life is Fair, then you are dealing with something other than a Free Market economy, perhaps State Capitalism. With State Capitalism, the government exerts control over many of the aspects of the economy.
I like the statement, “Democratic leaders are weighing how many votes they win by doing immigration reform and how many votes they lose by doing immigration reform.” [Mark Rosenblum]
I like it because this is politics, in a nutshell – screw what is best for the people, in this case, farmers – how can I keep myself in office? That is what Politics in the USA has come to..keeping ourselves in office, not working for the people of the United States.
Let’s forget for a moment the fact that this country was founded upon immigration. Immigration helps us in a variety of ways. Obviously, we need the help in agriculture. Immigrants do not steal U.S. jobs. When was the last time an attorney, an accountant, a web designer, a database manager, a doctor, a pharmaceuticals sales representative, chemist, etc., screamed because he/she couldn't find a job because an illegal immigrant was hired in their place? Now, if you want to talk about out-sourcing, then they might complain.
I've also talked to many local farmers. They tell me they have tried to hire high school kids, friends of their sons or daughters. They have put signs up in the high schools, or church. Yes, the farmers do get a few takers. For about a week. The heat, the physical work, the hours, the kids do not want to put the time in. Young farmers, too, tell me that they have hired friends, only to be frustrated when that person quits after a few days. Anecdotal stories, for sure, but the people crying against immigration appear to have little at stake, while those petitioning for immigration reform are pushed to the sidelines.
Illegals do fill jobs in the United States, no doubt. They harvest most of our vegetable crops. Without them, those crops would rot in fields. Illegal immigrants work in meat-packing plants in the Midwest. I remember reading many accounts in the Kansas City Star of a meat-packer in Kansas or Oklahoma or Iowa raided by INS. Dozens of illegals would be rounded-up and sent packing. I would wonder why or how illegals ended up so far from home, and, why Des Moines, why Dodge City?
As I would later find out, from talking to people in the industry - my dad ran in those circles - working at a meat-packing plant is not like working at the florist. Meat-packing plants stink, they smell. You bring that smell home on you. Not just the smell of dead animals, but all the chemicals necessary to kill bacteria. The work is hard, sometimes dangerous. The pay is not great. Turnover in labor is very high, in some plants line workers would turn over 100-150% over the course of year. That means that the plant has new employees every year. No one stays. In fact, employers found that American workers left more frequently than their immigrant counterparts. As an employer, one would have to ask themselves, "Wow, should I hire an local kid and train him, knowing he will stay for a two months; or, should I risk training an illegal who will stay a year or more?"
No, people are not looking at immigration the right way. Chasing illegals is like treating a cough when the patient has tuberculosis.
Immigration also transfers needed to skills to people that would otherwise not achieve those skills in their home country. Immigration helps provide income to families in their home country. Immigration loosens the cultural fears that ignorant people have; we learn about them, they learn about us. Think about this: how many more immigrants might there be if the remittance monies were not sent home to families? That money essentially keeps those people at home. Otherwise, they too, might be tempted to move to some place else. Americans also seem to think that the U.S. is the sole destination for immigrants. Again, our own egos at work. South America, Venezuela, Brazil, Argentina, and Chile are destinations, too. And, strange as it may seem, so is Mexico. If you live in El Salvador, Mexico might look pretty good.
Illegal immigration has more to do with Global Competition and American's vain spending habits, than people wanting to take advantage of us. Hell, we have more than plenty of our native population doing that right now.
If the United States had maintained possession of the territory it captured in the War with Mexico we wouldn’t even be having an Immigration Debate.
And, finally, who can we blame for this debacle? The railroad, .. and Texas, of course. The best plan for a southern rail system lay across the barren wasteland of northern Mexico. Texas, aka The Republic of Texas, was not strong enough to defend itself against the likes of Poncho Villa. Thusly, the Texans enlisted the aid of the U.S. government to aid in their war.
And so it goes.
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