ICE immigration sweep in California puts employers and families on edge

You belong in prison dirtbag

This is aimed at poindexter, not the poster!

This is how you get millions to self-deport....

This is the problem, too many white business owners are willing to sell their country out for the dirt cheap labor.

Down here in Texas sometimes there ain’t no nuts to pick. One day the trees are loaded and the next day barren. The illegals and others have already shaken the trees and harvested them. Possibly, they are on their way to Mexico or the local farmers market before the next days sunrise. So I guess Speedy Gonzales wasn’t a misnomer after all.

I also see a lot of “Security Provided by Smith & Wesson” and “We don’t call 911” signs posted by owners in orchards and other properties. Works well against those that comprende Ingles, not so well for those that don’t. I guess the property owners are too cheap to post it in the native language of the thieves.

I would like to address a few of the many false assumptions here:

I am the CEO of Poindexter Nut Company.

We do not choose to hire illegals over legal workers. We use e-verify and have done so for nearly 10 years. Prior to our first ICE audit, that tool was not available to us and it was illegal for us to question documentation that was presented to us. In the early days, e-verify was not very efficient. Think Obamacare website on day one and you would understand. We were limited to 10 checks per day and it would take a week to get a result back. That would be 7 days into training a new employee and then have to let them go 70-80% of the time and start over.

It is much better now, but the system is still not perfect. It cannot catch people using legit documents that belong to a sibling or cousin, for example. Again, illegal for me to question them about it, but if I am liable for them misrepresenting themselves, I am in a tough position where I am in violation one way or the other. Is that a good system for businesses?

I am not a Democrat. Obviously anybody who posts that has never met me. I am also not a commie or an “illegal loving” employer, but when you work with somebody for a decade, it is hard not to view them as people and care about them.

It is not simple to move a farm with a permanent crop to another location. There is a reason there are no walnuts grown in Mexico as well - it is not the right climate there. Moving my business is not the solution - fixing the immigration system is.

To those that assume we have low wages: Starting entry positions are $11/hr and most positions pay more than that. We offer health care (and did before the Obamacare mandate) and paid sick days, paid vacation days, 401k with matching funds and also have a profit sharing program for all full time employees. Speaking of, we do not play games on hours, keeping people at less than full time employment. If somebody works here, they get 40 hours a week (sometimes more - especially during harvest). This isn’t a wage issue and even if we paid astronomical wages, it would not stop people from applying with falsified documents or working under a relatives actual real documents.

To people like Reno89519, maybe you should ask what type of place this is before you assume. We actually have a full Olympic archery range on site here that we allow disabled vets to shoot at free of charge as part of a program (Archery Heroes from http://www.ourheroesdreams.org/) to help disabled vets and first responders using archery to overcome disabilities and PTSD. As a vet yourself, maybe you would appreciate that and perhaps understand that I am not the person you think I am.

I think most of the people on this site would agree the left is full of people who vote with emotions and feelings instead of thinking, yet here we are seeing it happen on this issue with people lashing out without doing any actual research.

As for this latest compliance audit, we don’t know even if anybody has improper documentation. I have had at least 15 people quit, but ICE has not given us any feedback on how many, if any, have false documentation.

Many people think that an employer is complicit if some of their employees have falsified documentation. Do you want to be held legally liable for other people’s crimes even if they are hidden from you? Can we have a system where it is illegal to do business with somebody and also illegal to not do business with them? Our system is broken with both sides trying to bully people into doing their bidding with penalties and fines.

@kaktuskid, while nuts can be harvested with machines, there is still some labor needed there but the bulk of the labor is in the processing plant where some tasks cannot be automated or done with robots. There still does not exist a machine that can pick out insect damage or mold from walnuts - that must be done by hand.

We need the state government and federal government to get together and both parties and hammer out a system that they both can support or at least stop trying to manipulate for political gain - one that works not just for one group or one party but for our country. Until then, we will continue to see people and businesses get trampled underfoot. For those willing to still throw stones, I hope for your sake you never find yourself in a catch-22 with the state government boot on your neck telling you to stay down while the federal boot is kicking you in the ribs telling you to get up.

Thanks, Mike. We provided software and computer systems for growers here in the valley for 20 years prior to starting FR in ‘96. This has always been as tough problem. Our payroll systems easily detected duplicate SS numbers, etc, but we were kind of shocked back in the 80’s when we discovered there was an underground cottage industry providing counterfeit documentation for illegals. Tough nut to crack. Especially with globalist Gov Brown and his sanctuary state boys coming down hard on the illegal alien side.

Thank your “sanctuary” status, butthead. If your state cooperated with ICE they would round up the criminal illegals at the courthouse and leave the rest alone. Since ICE must come in and sweep the whole state, there will be collateral damage. Lets call it.....the Law of Unintended Consequences.