For hardliners who refuse to consider a guest worker program for illegal immigrants, a moment of truth may be approaching. If undocumented workers are truly taking jobs that would otherwise go to Americans, then unskilled workers should be flocking to the fields of states like Arizona and Alabama, which have instituted draconian crackdowns on illegal immigrants.
Alas, it isn’t happening. The American Farm Bureau Federation recently estimated that labor shortages from state crackdowns on illegal immigration are costing the economy between $5 billion and $9 billion. In some states, farms are heavily dependant on undocumented labor both to plant and harvest crops. Now, they simply do not have the bodies to work the fields.
Comments
Elect Romney, let him drastically cut food stamps to families and you'll see Americans flocking to the fields. Men, women, let's get the kids involved too!
www.sfgate.com/business/article/Newt-Gingrich-leads-push-to-ease-child-labor-laws-2413329.php
The Globe is wrong to suggest that opposition to immigration "reform" is due to the loss of jobs to Americans. The real problem with the liberal version of reform is that it grants amnesty to law breakers who have come this country outside of the legal process. Yes, we need immigrants. But there must be a smooth process that is not driven by politics.