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.
I plan to personally file complaints against the farmers featured in this article - in Wisconsin and with the Feds.
Care to join me?
yes I will and hopefully freepers as well
is all the information we need to file a complaint in the article?
Great idea
However, there's another issue. Each individual farmer probably needs only a few workers. Handling the e-verify system would probably run his costs up. There might well be a market for labor contractors who would do the e-verify thing and certify workers to farmers. That would ease the burden on the farmer, and make the process more efficient. It would also make it easier for the Feds to police the system.
E-verify is an online system where you enter an applicant’s name, date of birth, address and social security number. Once it’s entered, you hit submit and it tells you if you have valid and matching information or not.
These people are using the “too time consuming” excuse to defend breaking the law.
I’m sure they also pay cash and don’t withhold taxes - facilitating tax fraud as these “immigrants” are then eligible for EITC tax refunds because they don’t earn enough to be taxed.
These farmers should be in prison.
So farmer is trying to make his employment problem the tax payers problem. How much sense does it make to say my business can only make me money, if I may continue to use illegal workers ?
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