Posted on 07/31/2011 10:12:27 AM PDT by sbMKE
New Holstein - As daylight breaks, David Geiser is already in the barn of the Gold Star Dairy farm tending to more than 300 head of Holsteins on his sprawling farm.
Like his father and grandfather, Geiser has lived and worked on this farm, founded by his Polish and German immigrant ancestors, all his life. Next year the farm will celebrate its 100th anniversary.
Deborah Reinhart, whose Quaker ancestors were dairy farmers in Pennsylvania, works alongside her husband as the farm business manager and also cares for the young livestock. The couple raised three sons, who are now grown and gone to other careers and other locales.
But Geiser and Reinhart remain.
"This is our life," Reinhart said. "It's who we are and what we do. The dairy mentality is deep in my soul. Everything David and I have is tied up in this land."
Now they find themselves caught up in the contentious immigration battle that stretches from the halls of Washington to this quiet rural landscape and Wisconsin's signature industry. They worry that proposed legislation that would require all employers to use a new system - called E-Verify - to confirm employment eligibility could jeopardize their livelihood.
About four in 10 dairy farm workers are immigrants, many believed to be undocumented.
"If E-Verify passes, it will kill the dairy industry in Wisconsin," Reinhart said. "I'm scared to death."
....
Watch the bellyaching on the accompanying video (I don't know how to farm - our cows will starve) and you'll get a sense that these people are plantation-owners, not farmers. Exploitation is a dairy farmer's right !!! http://www.jsonline.com/general/37714089.html?bcpid=8725036001&bctid=1086521612001
PS - the featured farmers (with illegal immigrant workforce) are Deb Reinhart and David Geiser, Land o Lakes Gold Star Farms, New Holstein Wisconsin.
Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) 866-347-2423 1-866-DHS-2ICE Visit ICE Website. Contact ICE Field Offices. Contact ICE to report illegal aliens, employers that hire illegal labor, smugglers, document fraud, and other crimes by illegal aliens. Bilingual services are offered. Confidential reporting is allowed. ICE operates under the Department of Homeland Security (DHS).
Department of Homeland Security (DHS) Operator Number: 202-282-8000 Comment Line: 202-282-8495 Visit DHS Website. Send DHS a message online. The Department of Homeland Security encourages citizens to contact their local law enforcement and local FBI office first especially if the matter involves personal safety. You can contact DHS to provide information and reports about suspected terrorist activity or crimes related to terrorism.
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Internal Revenue Service (IRS) Fraud Line: 800-829-0433 How to report criminal activity with the IRS. While the IRS has the task of making sure we pay the extensive bill for illegal immigration, they can also be an asset to your efforts. Please report employers that hire illegal labor and use illegal alien day laborers to the IRS.
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VA 22203-1838 National Office: 703-276-0100 Visit the BBB website. Find your local BBB chapter. The Better Business Bureau handles complaints about businesses that want to stay in good standing with the community. Issues relating to the employment of illegal labor, identity theft problems, and other business issues should be reported to national and local BBB offices. A business that intentionally hires illegals is not a good neighbor.
Local and State Law Enforcement Contact information for your local and state law enforcement agencies should be listed in your local phone book. These agencies understand the local crime patterns and can provide great assistance to you. These agencies should be encouraged to do as much as they can to make sure illegal aliens that are arrested for crimes are then processed by ICE. Cracking down on illegal immigration reduces crime rates in areas where local police have taken action. These websites might help you in your search. Visit Copseek law enforcement directory. Visit CrimeSpider law enforcement resource.
State Revenue Departments These are usually more active than the IRS is in investigating reports of employers hiring illegal immigrants off the books, and paying cash, etc. Call or email a complaint against construction and lawn care companies, etc.
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Breaking the laws real Americans won’t break.
Deal with it. The cotton industry survived the end of slavery.
We ALL should report the whining lying farmers.
Those whiners can bring in as many LEGAL immigrants as they want to do the ag work and get the LEGAL visas renewed several times.
yes let’s all report them on Monday.
What do you think?
The farmer would have been right at home on one of those east Texas cotton plantations.
“This is our life,” Reinhart said. “It’s who we are and what we do. The dairy mentality is deep in my soul. Everything David and I have is tied up in this land.”
That’s nice but this country shouldn’t subsidize your lifestyle and business needs i.e. slave labor by rewarding illegals and letting rapists and murderers get in.
Any comments on this? Why that high?
E-Verify alone will just chase the businesses back to Canada. This has to be accompanied by a reduction in benefits for those who choose not to work but could take these jobs, thus lowering American wages to the point where they can be competitive.
I have a picture of fat, lazy American youth watching TV or playing with any number of lazy man's hand held electronic gadgets....who should get a job....perhaps David Geiser should demand legal American youths get up off their arses and work...maybe we need a 'draft' of sorts to start this ball rolling. E-Verify makes more sense all the time..........
Are there not enough “LEGAL” immigrants to do the work? How many do we need in this country. How many illegals does it take to milk the cows? Is not the industry pretty much automated anyway?
Some people have a fetish of keeping business in the US.
I doubt the farmers want the average welfare recipients' lack of work ethic. Instead, they will cross back over the Canadian border, just like businesses head out of the US if we don't have cheap enough labor. The problem is, US workers expect things like OSHA protection, but also make wages that are higher than elsewhere, all while we tax businesses so heavily. Those things add up to uncompetitive businesses here.
If we stopped subsidizing the unemployed there would be plenty of hands available in about three weeks. Hunger does that.
No! Its because illegals are willing to work for pay that is below the mandated minimum wage! If the US did away with the minimum wage, there would be US citizens willing to work for that amount (although in the US, people who refuse to work receive more in benefits from the US government than they could receive from working!)
“I have a picture of fat, lazy American youth watching TV or playing with any number of lazy man’s hand held electronic gadgets....”
It could be called GWFYFS program. (Go Work For Your Food Stamps)
I’m concerned less with those who became unemployed, and more with those who are never employed.
The standard intro into every "media" sob story. We know this isn't really about the farmers, it's about allowing illegal aliens to come into this country, get illegal voting cards and vote Democrat.
I live in Wisconsin. I have no problems with e verify.
Whatever we supposedly might “lose”in jobs we will make up in lower taxes from having to provide less social services to illegal immigrants.
I thought I was the only one to remember that! BTW, if anyone doesn't hate them enough for their Clinton dealings, have them look into their other dirty dealings with small farms.
“Those whiners can bring in as many LEGAL immigrants as they want to do the ag work and get the LEGAL visas renewed several times.”
This bears repeating. We already have a system of legal temporary visas for agricultural workers. If the workers play by the rules they can eventually get permanent resident alien status. If they don’t want to play by the rules f&%k ‘em.
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