Many 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