"D. Illegal immigrants are not just underpaid; they are very likely to suffer work-related disabilities which are not covered by insurance. They often do not have a place to live. Since they usually do not get any benefits, their care increasingly has become the responsibility of the state government.
"The strawberry has long been known to migrants as la fruta del diablo - the fruit of the devil. Picking strawberries is some of the lowest-paid, most difficult, and therefore least desirable farmwork in California. Strawberries are fragile and bruise easily. They must be picked with great care, especially the berries that will be sold fresh at the market.
...
"You must bend at the waist to pick the fruit, which explains why the job is so difficult. Bending over that way for an hour can cause a stiff back; doing so for ten to twelve hours a day, weeks at a time, can cause excruciating pain and lifelong disabilities. Most strawberry pickers suffer back pain."
http://www.eriposte.com/civil_rights/non-citizens/ca_strawberry_industry.htm
Therefore, illegal immigant pickers create a false economy; certainly a false price for strawberries. that is probably the reason strawberries used to be grown at home.
They are the equivalent of serf labor, and serf/slave labor distorts a free market.
There are *millions* of illegals taking jobs and working in cities like Los Angeles....
Ya ever seen a vegetable field in Los Angeles?
I’ve been around farms most of my life (Oregon). We now have only about 20% of the field crops we used to have ( requiring to be hand picked).. Most fields have so many workers show up that their lucky to have a couple days of work(short days at that, because the fruit plants will accept only a limited amount of crops per day). The times of long days and weeks of work have been gone for a long time.( in the good old days of hard work and long hours, all the work was done by white workers). I don’t know about the work conditions in California , but in Oregon field workers are treated well and make decent money.