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Home > 2007 > August > Thursday, August 23 2007 > Strange Fruit

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Thu23Aug2007

Strange Fruit

07:57 H | Topics: Business - Immigration - Politics

workers.jpgMany who have left comments here at VL have cheered the recent immigrant redadas and the deportations that have followed but what would be really interesting would be to see how the loss of a large number of immigrants impacts individual communities and their economies and then hear people complain. Racewire takes a few stories from papers across the country that have covered the negative impact of the loss of immigrant labor. Immigrants, because of fears of being deported or actually being deported, aren't around to pick fruits, veggies, and crabs, horses aren't being walked, lawns aren't being cut, and pizzas are taking a hell of alot longer to be delivered.

So just hire "American" , you may say. Except that hiring U.S. workers means paying at the very least minimum wage. Farmers, including some in California would much rather rent land elsewhere and outsource their farming. Other farmers are opting to switch to machine picked crops meaning less of your favorite produce for more money. When that doesn't work, farmers are turning to the good ole prison system, replacing one brown labor source for another (Blacks and Latinos make up the majority of the U.S. prison population).

But all of you yelling "send em all back" aren't gonna complain about higher prices and less money being pumped into the economy via undocumented workers, right?

Via / RaceWire

Image Via / Swanton Berry Farm

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Feedback (4) » Share your opinion

1. Michelle ~ Thursday, Aug 23 2007 | 14:40H:

I am *SO* tired of all this racism directed at people who are brown (all shades of it). People think outright racism is now okay, because it's under the guise of economic concerns. Really, it's just the 1950s all over again.

I think your choice of title is especially timely and relevant.

2. bz_myname ~ Thursday, Aug 23 2007 | 17:23H:

Yes I am yelling, "Send them all back"! But at the same time, I'm saying, "Get all those good ole people on public aid who are collecting our tax dollars and sitting on their asses, and make it a requirement for them to go out and pick those crops". They're required to do some kind of activity to receive benefits anyway, put them in the fields and make them actually earn it. I'd bet that would break the vicious welfare cycle.

3. vaquero ~ Tuesday, Aug 28 2007 | 15:21H:

There is no such thing as cheap labor. Was slavery cheap? That cheap labor is extremely expensive for law abiding, tax paying citizens and that doesn't even include the damage to the US internal security during a time of great danger. The US has somewhere between 12 to 30 million illegal aliens in this country and likely closer to 30 million individuals that are disobeying our laws as soon as they step foot in this country and continue to do so by using fals ID's, committing other crimes and stealing the jobs that US Citizens should have...this cannot stand, there are 300 million citizens and 80% of them are becoming extremely disturbed by the law breaking immigrants and their enablers in guvernment and business... a time is coming when we will insist that this be stopped or else we will do so ourselves!!
All illegals need to go back home and fix their own failed countries!

4. Maegan la Mala ~ Tuesday, Aug 28 2007 | 16:13H:

Ok ok so you can repeat the rhetoric well but you haven't exactly dealt with the issue. The problem isn't with the workers but with those in power that have the jobs to give and who don't want to pay a living wage no? The farms cited in the piece would rather outsource than pay more. If labor costs more, say god forbid a living wage , prices for things will rise. Will you pay more for your fruit knowing that it is being picked by "legal" labor or will you bitch and moan and wonder why strawberries got so damn expensive?

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