Posted on 07/02/2011 12:52:33 PM PDT by La Enchiladita
WRAY, Ga., - One of the toughest laws yet to fight illegal immigration went into effect today in Georgia. A federal judge has temporarily blocked the most controversial provision - requiring police to check the immigration status of suspects who don't have proper identification.
But it is now a felony to use false documentation to apply for a job. CBS News correspondent Mark Strassmann says Georgia farmers have been anticipating this day, and the law is already having a big effect.
In south Georgia, it's a banner year for blackberries - but a bad year for berry farmer Gary Paulk.
"There's a lot of what appear to be good berries," Paulk said. "If we had the workers."
On one corner of this family farm, twenty acres of blackberries rot away.
"This is a healthy field. And it should have been picked," Paulk said. "But there's nobody here."
(Excerpt) Read more at cbsnews.com ...
I don’t feel sorry for the farmers.
Except for the fact that our government failed to enforce immigration law because the same farmers, chicken processors, food producers, and US Chamber of Commerce, churches, etc wanted cheap labor and new members at the expense of every American taxpayer. The Dem politicians also wanted beholden voters.
If the farmers had been using legal American workers that were paid a free market wage (enough to entice LEGAL workers to pick fruit) it would have resulted in higher fruit prices but a better and more employed and less costly America.
It also would have resulted in the development of automated mechanical pickers.
Rant: Why are these people “undocumented”. My Filipina wife, after 4 years in the US became an American citizen.I simply went online, printed out the necessary documents, followed their instructions, paid the necessary fees which were not overly burdensome, submitted all to ICE, in stages, and followed the rules regarding the pathway to LEGAL status. What the heck is the problem? Even if you are here illegally, you pay a fine which is not that much, fill out the paperwork and follow the legal steps which are not that hard to understand. What are these people afraid of? Why are they not even willing to try to straighten out their legal status in the US.
I did it. I’m not stupid but I don’t have a huge IQ score (don’t even know or care what that may be).
It’s not that difficult people.
Rant over.
Thank you.
Ping!
The dry spell has hurt Georgia also. I visited my daughter and her farmer husband. They are doing OK but we drove by miles of drought stunted corn and withered cotton. I smell another See BS story (like the Bush national guard papers or the gas tank fires on trucks) etc. It will take a while but I think the guest worker program will be implemented so we can hire honest seasonal farm workers.
I agree and that is one of the messages I have spoken about. Here in south GA it around 17% unemployment. Now it might cost a little bit more, thus the farmers will have to charge their customers more and so on raising the price of the product, inflation and the re-movement of modern day slave labor, but it would cause an eventual balance of cost in the long run.
This has to be done for the good of all, not just US citizens but those whom are living in the shadows as not quite members of the human race.
Reform is needed but before there can be reform you must control the situation and currently we have no control what so ever. An Immigration is one of the few responsibilities Congress has yet they seam so willing to negate it and grab powers they do not have. Wonder why?
So true. I think a majority of the American people feel that way.
Their loyalties are to God, family, Mexico in that order. Loyalty to the USA is not even in the top 10.
They work hard as illegals because without any major government social services net they have to, but I question if these hordes will work as hard once amnesty is granted. I'd like to see an objective study on those given amnesty under Reagan as to their accomplishments, criminal behavior, and work ethics, etc? These people are going to change our culture to Mexico lite. The USA could support a 10-15% underclass when we were a wealthy producing nation, but we can't support a 30% underclass when we aren't. It will bring us all down.
Concerning loyalty to the USA, I truly question the loyalties of many in our own government.
“Perhaps if you paid a decent wage you would get Americans to pick your crops.”
Yes, but what if they ask more than he can afford to pay to make it worthwhile? Or there arent enough Americans showing up? At some too-high price its not affordable and too low a price the US labor is unavailable. This law does have the effect of raising cost of labor for these farmers vs what they were doing and that puts them at a disadvantage w/ farmers in other states, especially if farmers in other states are using those same illegal aliens to get their crops in. ...
For example:
“ ... Martinez is here illegally. She stayed, but her husband left to work farms in Washington state. They wanted to avoid any chance they’d both get arrested.”
... these illegals are moving on to other states.
This is not to say the GA law is bad, but passing it in georgia only will put farmers that used the labor at a disadvantage to other states. It would be different/better if it was done evenly across the nation. The fact that this GA law had an impact telegraphs well the complete and utter failure at the federal level to do its job.
“I’m willing to pay more in the store for crops raised, picked, and packaged by Americans.”
Dittos.
It's a great idea. I did that when I was a child.
$10/hour is enough for even my pampered kids. It's a great bootcamp to teach the value of an education and how much better it is than hard labor.
It's a great idea. I did that when I was a child.
$10/hour is enough for even my pampered kids. It's a great bootcamp to teach the value of an education and how much better it is than hard labor.
In the article it said the pay was $12 an hour.
Not to mention hard work would keep trouble down in the prisons. If you are so tired you can’t move you won’t cause much trouble, no matter how irritated you are about “crowded conditions”.
These people are going to change our culture to Mexico lite.
_________
Come to South Texas and see the culture MEXICO HEAVY!
You can't tell me that there aren't Americans who would do this job.
Ditto, what is the cost of American culture not to mention taking care of leeches?
I guess I grew up spoiled. We live in an area where they grow wild and heaven forbid they ever get a start on your property. However, I would pick the wild berries on old vines that grew by a creek called Sutter Creek in Amador County and in other areas around the home acreage. Mom would then bake the best pies in the world, black berry pies and sometimes black berry cobbler. Just eating them off the vine when they are warm from the sun is a treat and hard to pick enough if you fall to eating to many of them:). kind of old to be out picking them now though.
I saw this on the news and was shouting at the t.v. (I do that alot).
It was pure propoganda. It even had the obligatory sobbing lady who used to do the job.
There are many good solutions on this thread. But I wonder why Mr. Blackberry farmer doesn’t get off his duff and pick at least some the crop himself? Coming from an ag background..I would before I let the entire crop rot.
Or is there crop insurance available for 20 acres of blackberries?
Thanks for the reminder. I now recall hearing this before. In fact, some of these large food businesses --- like the meat processing and packing plants --- have a hot line to villages in Mexico, where they order up the numbers of peons they need in the fields. Yeah, I think there's a lot of BS in this story which also features one of the illegals with tears running down her cheeks, etc.
One of these agribusiness guys was interviewed in NPR this morning and used scare tactics, as in, if we can't get people to work our fields then food will be raised in other countries and we'll only have imports, etc. These guys will do anything to keep their feudal system going, even bringing down the U.S.A.
Oh boy, those wild blackberries that grow along the country roads in northern California are the ones I remember. I also recall they didn’t ripen until late summer, early fall. So it seems early for blackberries to already be rotting on the vine in GA, as this farmer claims.
????
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