Fox News: Proposed design of NC illegal immigrant licenses sparks concern...

[twa]

The lettuce and tomato line points to the broader reality that a significant portion of our agricultural economy relies on undocumented workers, it is hypocritical to demand them and yet blame them for filling this vital role.

Some form of amnesty is the only way to go forward unless you have a plan to round up and depot 11 million+ people for deportation.

There is some reason any need cannot be filled with legal immigrants(entitled to the full protection of our law) instead of the circus that now exists?

Hypocritical is supporting enabling more of the same.....some form of amnesty is what they enjoy NOW......till we find them inconvenient

[AsburySkinsFan]

There is some reason any need cannot be filled with legal immigrants(entitled to the full protection of our law) instead of the circus that now exists?

Ask Alabama as their crops were rotting in the fields because there was no labor force. BTW, everyone is entitled to the full protection of our laws. Our laws protect everyone, not just legals.

Hypocritical is supporting enabling more of the same.....some form of amnesty is what they enjoy NOW......till we find them inconvenient

It is not any form of amnesty if the people live in fear, any definition of amnesty that ends with "unless you get caught" is a lie. We need them, they need us, it is symbiosis.

[doctorshockalu]

The farms need their cheaper than minimum wage pay to continue more than anything else.

[Hersh]

Not to get this conversation back on track, but what's happening down here is the legislature is playing to the extreme right of their party on almost every issue and this is just another example. They want to be able to say to their constituents that turn out in the primaries that they were tough on them there illegals.

[Boss_Hogg]

I noticed the "comments" section has been removed from all online Faux News articles.

[Jumbo]

Don't eat lettuce, and my kin pick my maters....I mow my own lawn too.

Me too.

[Corcaigh]

I have no problem with anyone that immigrates to this country legally.

Even the Irish?

[pjfootballer]

The farms need their cheaper than minimum wage pay to continue more than anything else.

True. If (big IF) you can actually find Americans that would be willing to harvest crops, they wouldn't do it for minimum wage, they'd form a union and then one tomato would cost $10 and a head of lettuce would be $25. Why should 'mericans work for minimum wage when UC pays them twice as much?

[Larry]

True. If (big IF) you can actually find Americans that would be willing to harvest crops, they wouldn't do it for minimum wage, they'd form a union and then one tomato would cost $10 and a head of lettuce would be $25. Why should 'mericans work for minimum wage when UC pays them twice as much?

Just pointing out that I read an article about this oft-cited (and never, ever, supported in any way whatsoever) claim.

The article pointed out that we do have a historical example of the effects of removing below-market workers out of the agriculture market. Suddenly and without notice.

The bracero program was a kind of work permit for foreign workers. Allowed them to legally work in the US, but only in agricultural jobs. They'd come in, harvest the lettuce or whatever, then move on.

And it was suddenly cut off, without notice. (During Reagan?)

There were howls of outrage. America's farms were doomed. Crops would rot in the fields, followed shortly by the mass starvation of all Americans.

The actual results?

Some parts of agriculture automated. They simply moved to methods that didn't require as much manual labor.

The other parts, had to pay more. After everything settled down, agricultural wages stabilized, at around 40% higher than they had been.

The article then observed that, if we were to assume that the same results would occur, (I admit, a big speculation. But it's the only one that's backed up by actual history.), then raising the cost of agricultural labor, by 40%, across the board, would result in . . .

The average family of four would see their grocery bills rise by $80. A year.

[Disco Dave]

Even the Irish?

It doesn't matter what country people come from as long as they do it legally.

If a person comes here illegally from any country they are illegal. It doesn't matter if they came here from Canada, England, France, Libya, New Zealand etc etc.

My good friend lives here and he is from England and he has his green card. He is here legally. His wife can't live here and she can only come to the U.S.A. to visit. She is trying to get her green card but she hasn't gotten it yet.

[NoCalMike]

It seems that if much of the crop wasn't wasted there would be plenty of food. There was a study done no too long ago about how people falsely equate shiny looking produce with it being better quality, better tasting, more nutritious etc etc.....it's not of course and probably leads to a big portion of the crops being thrown out in order to only send "pristine" looking crops to the vendors.

This is a big reason if you live in a town with some good farmer's markets you will notice that they are often times begging folks to buy their stuff just so they don't have to throw it out.

The local farmer's market here, the prices are cheap to begin with, but if you show at say 30mins until closing time, any Vendor with fruit/vegetables still on their table will suddenly start slashing the prices severely because they'd rather sell it and put it to good use then simply trashing it and letting it rot.