Posted on 09/30/2011 3:26:22 AM PDT by loucon
"We have just passed a law that conforms with federal law," he said. "We will see what happen. We expect them to do their job now and we'll see if they are going to do it."
But when only five pickers showed up Thursday morning to harvest his sweet potatoes, farmer Keith Smith saw possible ruin: the loss of his half-million dollar crop.
"They're running scared because of this new law," said Smith.
"And you're in trouble?" asked Strassman.
"I'm in trouble. Bad trouble."
Smith's 200 acres need 20 pickers, mostly Mexican nationals. "There is not enough documented people here to supply that workforce," he said.
"Most of your workers are here illegally?" asked Strassman.
"Sure," said Smith. "If they got documentation, they got a better job than working for me."
Fernando Aldaman is a Mexican national who has worked Smith's farm since 1992. Strassman asked him if everbody's scared. "Yeah," said Aldaman.
"Now are you here legally?" asked Strassman.
"No."
"Are you scared?
"Yeah I'm scared. I'm scared."
Smith's pickers make about $100 a day. He supports immigration laws -- just not this one that threatens his third-generation family farm.
(Excerpt) Read more at cbsnews.com ...
Smith's comment that he supports immigration laws, just not this one that threatens his farm, kind of rubs me the wrong way too.
Assuming he can’t get legal workers, I guess he’ll have to consider improving his productivity through technology.
As he should have done so by now.
Anybody out there believe he can’t get unemployed ‘murricans to work for $100/day??
Me neither.
Anybody out there believe he can’t get unemployed ‘murricans to work for $100/day??
Me neither.
I agree.
We’ve got..... 14 MILLION.... or 20 MILLION unemployed Americans, and “nobody” legal will pick fruits or vegetables?
That’s BS.
It’s stoop labor. THat might have something to do with it. Surprised no one has figured out a way to mechanize it by now.
If he hires Americans he will have to pay social security, medicaide, federal income tax withholding ... W2s - he’ll need to hire 2 people for HR!
Not that I support it, but I would rather see American workers getting paid under the table illegally than illegal workers.
So you don’t need to round them up after all. Just pass and enforce good laws and they will run for the hills. Interesting.
My college aged son would take $100 a day... that goes a VERY long way.
Alabama’s law is nothing compared to Mexico’s illegal immigration laws.
Go and look for 500 people in Detroit who are unemployed, and offer them a fruit/vegetable job....and all 500 will decline it. Same story in Dallas. Same story in Kentucky. It’s not the 1930s any longer, and people aren’t willing to do a job “beneath” them. This is the reality of 2011...get used to it. And when they do finally find people willing to do the work...expect the going rate to shoot up by 50 percent. Whatever you pay for vegetables and fruit today that from Alabama....will jump by ten to twenty percent at a minimum. Somewhere in the middle of this mess....we all pay more.
The best part of this Alabama story (I’m from there, so I know the system)...when any law enforcement guy comes around to ask questions about who is working in your field....you will offer up a $300 bribe for the guy to just keep moving on. Illegals are safe because of the “cash-cow” method of operations in the state.
Now that I have a cup of coffee in hand, and have thought about it for a few minutes, It seems to me that the government should just wave income tax and pick up the cost for medicare/medicaid, and social security for any un-employed American who is willing to work for minimum wages.
It beats paying them to sit around on their bums and do nothing.
There are far too many people unemployed in this area of the country.
What this guy is saying is that he can’t find anyone he can pay slave wages.
This reminds me of that story from down in Georgia where probationers wouldn’t work the farm, blah blah blah
They claimed to pay $12 an hour (and I know of about 10 people right this second who would have been there in a heartbeat for that) but what the guy actually paid was about $2 an hour. Not even worth the gas money at $3.75 a gallon.
I’ll bet that if you interviewed the people in line for food stamps maybe 1 out of 100 would be willing to forgo the stamps for the ‘opportunity’ to pick vegetables.
Smith is knowingly aiding and abetting criminals. He should face a few consequences for his actions
Maybe it's a logistical thing, but if I was out of work and needed money, $100 dollars a day may not be a lot, but it would be enough
Well if you're getting $300 - $500 a week unemployment for 99 weeks for doing nothing at all or even more than that in your EBT card for sitting on your ass all day why would you work? There is an entire culture (mostly, but by no means exclusively, black) that revolves around getting the government to steal from those who actually get up in the morning and go to work and give the money to those who get up at noon and go to 7-11 to buy cigarettes and the 12 pack of beer for the day along with a handful of scratch-off lottery tickets. Then go home and with watch TV or get "busy" reproducing another dependent chile. Why work if you get paid for doing nothing?
“Self worth and self reliance are subversive thoughts in today’s America.” - Could very well be the quote of the day!
Take the army of welfare bums off the dole and suddenly you have workers.
Only problem with that is those Americans are on welfare and getting all they need now.
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