Thread: Farmers beat to quarters defendin' illegal immigration!

ahoy me swabbys, hail!

it seems that the forces in our nation who would deny our agricultural interests access to illegal immigrant labor be risin' up to smite the GOP's effort to promote E-verify.

as i've said before, our nation be dependant on cheap labor...and if conservatives insist on pushin' this issue, they'll find that they'll create some odd alliances who will align thar armadas together. 'tis interestin' how this'll all play out, me friends.

Farmers across the country are rallying to fight a Republican-sponsored bill that would force them and all other employers to verify the legal immigration status of their workers, a move some say could imperil not only future harvests but also the agricultural community’s traditional support for conservative candidates.

Supporters of E-Verify, an electronic system that is currently mandatory for most federal contractors but voluntary for other employers, argue that it would eliminate any doubt about workers’ legal status. But farmers say it could cripple a $390 billion industry that relies on hundreds of thousands of willing, low-wage immigrant workers to pick, sort and package everything from avocados to zucchini.

“This would be an emergency, a dire, dire situation,” said Nancy Foster, president of the U.S. Apple Association, adding that the prospect of an E-Verify check would most likely mean that many immigrant workers would simply not show up. “We will end up closing down.”

“Most of our folks are Republicans,” said Paul Wenger, the president of the California Farm Bureau. “But if the Republicans do this to them without a workable worker program, it will change their voting patterns or at very least their involvement in politics.”

http://www.nytimes.com/2011/07/31/us...agewanted=1&hp

*scratches his noggin'*

them big, rectangular farm states must be very conflicted folk, aye?

on one hand, they seem to be quite conservative...so they all be fer robust immigration policies, and of course bein' conservative, they also want to slash government spendin'...

yet on the other hand, they insist on robust Federal spendin' in the form 'o hefty subsidies, and also insist on havin' illegal slave labor.

i wonder how US agricultural interests would fare if we closed the border and enforced aggressive immigration policies (deport them, yarrr!), whilst also allowin' the "free market" to work its magic (no more subsidies).

*ponders*

- MeadHallPirate

Originally Posted by MeadHallPirate

ahoy me swabbys, hail!

it seems that the forces in our nation who would deny our agricultural interests access to illegal immigrant labor be risin' up to smite the GOP's effort to promote E-verify.

as i've said before, our nation be dependant on cheap labor...and if conservatives insist on pushin' this issue, they'll find that they'll create some odd alliances who will align thar armadas together. 'tis interestin' how this'll all play out, me friends.

http://www.nytimes.com/2011/07/31/us...agewanted=1&hp

*scratches his noggin'*






them big, rectangular farm states must be very conflicted folk, aye?

on one hand, they seem to be quite conservative...so they all be fer robust immigration policies, and of course bein' conservative, they also want to slash government spendin'...

yet on the other hand, they insist on robust Federal spendin' in the form 'o robust subsidies, and also insist on havin' illegal slave labor.

i wonder how US agricultural interests would fare if we closed the border and enforced aggressive immigration policies (deport them, yarrr!), whilst also allowin' the "free market" to work its magic (no more subsidies).

*ponders*

- MeadHallPirate

Well the conventional wisdom is that food prices will rise as the cost of farm labor will rise. However I question by how much. With the exception of picking, fruit, melon, etc. the large corporate farms are automated.

I think, my pirate friend, you have put your finger on a bit of hypocracy aboard the good ship Conservative.

Sticking to the employers is the wrong approach.

Secure the border first, then establish a guest worker program.

Or we can just grow all our produce aquaponically in our own basements.

Typical self centered bullshit.......if it negatively affects the money in my pocket then cast US law to the wind.

It is difficult to take the side of the farmers in this. If we are going to actually enforce our laws on immigration then it would be ridiculous to start giving industry specific exceptions. I get that it will increase costs and I get that we have issues between the federal level and state level in dealing with immigration law, until that is resolved items like this are bound to continue to come up. It was not long ago right here in GA that we passed a AZ type immigration law and similar stories came up where GA farmers complained about a lack of workers. At the time I recall considering it the same in that there was no real reason to conclude that GA farmers should be immune from immigration law, on top of farm subsides. In the end it would be like tax payer funded illegal business activity. Explain to me how that can be acceptable.

Originally Posted by MeadHallPirate

ahoy me swabbys, hail!

it seems that the forces in our nation who would deny our agricultural interests access to illegal immigrant labor be risin' up to smite the GOP's effort to promote E-verify.

as i've said before, our nation be dependant on cheap labor...and if conservatives insist on pushin' this issue, they'll find that they'll create some odd alliances who will align thar armadas together. 'tis interestin' how this'll all play out, me friends.

http://www.nytimes.com/2011/07/31/us...agewanted=1&hp

*scratches his noggin'*

them big, rectangular farm states must be very conflicted folk, aye?

on one hand, they seem to be quite conservative...so they all be fer robust immigration policies, and of course bein' conservative, they also want to slash government spendin'...

yet on the other hand, they insist on robust Federal spendin' in the form 'o hefty subsidies, and also insist on havin' illegal slave labor.

i wonder how US agricultural interests would fare if we closed the border and enforced aggressive immigration policies (deport them, yarrr!), whilst also allowin' the "free market" to work its magic (no more subsidies).

*ponders*

- MeadHallPirate

We need thousands of small farms instead of the megoliths we have morphed into, big corporate farms and such.

Thing is, the truth of the matter lies in the fact that these big farms cannot get folks to harvest the products, at the rate they want to pay. So, they have to rely upon cheap illegal labor. Yet, this could be solved by legal migrant workers, and all that it takes is a change in the rules. It isn't such a huge problem really, and the solution isn't hard. Migrant workers are mostly needed during harvest, and we used to have hordes coming here and then going back to Mexico once upon a time. We could get sane and do that again without working illegals. Course, the famers might have to get off their billfolds to work legal migrant Mexicans. And we sure as hell cannot have that! Afterall, they are Pubs, most of them...

Originally Posted by Commodore

Sticking to the employers is the wrong approach.

Secure the border first, then establish a guest worker program.

Or we can just grow all our produce aquaponically in our own basements.

Yeah just because they are employers they are entitled to break any law that want. That attitude sent our jobs to Communist China. But money is the most important thing on earth, it even supercedes the welfare of fellow Americans. Such is the evil of the love of wealth. And a Pub ingrained belief, right next to the 10 Commandments. On the same level anyways.

Originally Posted by Blue Doggy

Yeah just because they are employers they are entitled to break any law that want. That attitude sent our jobs to Communist China. But money is the most important thing on earth, it even supercedes the welfare of fellow Americans. Such is the evil of the love of wealth. And a Pub ingrained belief, right next to the 10 Commandments. On the same level anyways.

Actually that isn't a Pub ingrained belief.

It's one of the two commandments for politicians. Doesn't matter which party.

Thou shalt not get caught.
Thou shalt profit at others expense.

Originally Posted by MeadHallPirate

ahoy me swabbys, hail!

it seems that the forces in our nation who would deny our agricultural interests access to illegal immigrant labor be risin' up to smite the GOP's effort to promote E-verify.

as i've said before, our nation be dependant on cheap labor...and if conservatives insist on pushin' this issue, they'll find that they'll create some odd alliances who will align thar armadas together. 'tis interestin' how this'll all play out, me friends.

http://www.nytimes.com/2011/07/31/us...agewanted=1&hp

*scratches his noggin'*

them big, rectangular farm states must be very conflicted folk, aye?

on one hand, they seem to be quite conservative...so they all be fer robust immigration policies, and of course bein' conservative, they also want to slash government spendin'...

yet on the other hand, they insist on robust Federal spendin' in the form 'o hefty subsidies, and also insist on havin' illegal slave labor.

i wonder how US agricultural interests would fare if we closed the border and enforced aggressive immigration policies (deport them, yarrr!), whilst also allowin' the "free market" to work its magic (no more subsidies).

*ponders*

- MeadHallPirate

Those poor farmers misunderstood. The GOP is firmly against anything that would reduce the flow of labor across the border.
They will however from time to time pretend to get serious about issue, they do the same thing with abortion, it's a wedge issue, something you talk tough about but never do anything of substance.
The idea is to get the votes of the Mexican hating racists, or the anti-abortion jihadists, but not to actually change anything, because
A) that would end the effectiveness of the wedge issue.
B) the backlash would be horrific.

Originally Posted by Blue Doggy

Yeah just because they are employers they are entitled to break any law that want. That attitude sent our jobs to Communist China. But money is the most important thing on earth, it even supercedes the welfare of fellow Americans. Such is the evil of the love of wealth. And a Pub ingrained belief, right next to the 10 Commandments. On the same level anyways.

No, it's because it is the responsibility of the Federal government to control the border, not the job of the chief/cook/bottle washer/hr person to figure out if documents are forged or not.