Farms, Immigrants, And The New York Times
05/17/2009
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Another NYTimes Editorial promoting amnesty,(in the form of AgJobs) and acting as if we'd all starve without immigrant labor stooping in the fields:

Because it's hard to find Americans willing to endure the heat, cold and misery of stooping in the fields — or the low wages — growers overwhelmingly use undocumented workers. An estimated 75 percent or more of the agricultural work force is here illegally. This is bad for everybody. Undocumented workers are easy prey for exploitation and unable to assert their rights. Growers constantly complain about labor shortages and are vulnerable to disruptive immigration raids.[Farms and Immigrants, NYTimes.com, May 16, 2008]

Of course, we can live better without fresh strawberries than we can with massive immigration from Latin America (or Thailand.) Most crops in America are harvested mechanically—this is what made America an agricultural powerhouse. Hand-picked strawberries are a luxury. People can pay more for them, or substitute a fruit that's picked mechanically.I assume the Editorial Board of the New York Times consists largely of people who have never seen a farm. They need to read my post The Needs Of America's Farmers, which describes the situation in less sympathetic terms than the Times does.

 

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