[SJackson]

As enforcement has intensified in recent years and would multiply further under proposals now before Congress, growers like Hallstrom say they are under a strain over whether their fields will have enough workers...Hallstrom remedied her 2001 crisis by hiring farm workers through the federal government's temporary guest agricultural worker program. The program is shunned by most farmers because it's too costly and its bureaucratic delays threaten crops, she said.

Yup, unlawful employers will soon have to follow the more, use more costly labor, and encounter bureaucratic delays. Like the rest of us.

And yes, I know lettuce will be $5 a head and tomatoes unavailable, so it's not necessary to tell me. I'll eat cabbage.

[MizSterious]

We grow our own tomatoes. The bonus--they actually taste like tomatoes, unlike the cardboard tomatoes you get at the supermarket.

[claudiustg]

I'll have an Elk Burger. Hold the lettuce. Hold the tomatoes.

[Darkwolf377]

We are supposed to take them at face value - otherwise you get into these discrimination issues," Hallstrom said.

Oh, please, if you have the same TOUGH standard for the paperwork for everyone there's no discrimination.

You are expected to live by the same rules as the rest of us do. If you can't abide by the labor rules your business requires, get out of the business.

[GeronL]

You know what will happen??

Someone will build a robot to automate their cultivation.

[SandRat]

Duh!!!!!

Ain't nunya boys heard of a Chain-Gang? Ain't that whas we has prisons fer?

[TexasTransplant]

When I was a kid, "Kids" picked fruits and veggies.

TT

[spikeytx86]

If migrant work were to dry up there would be a rather drastic up tick in migrant sensitive crop prices. However, as prices rise and demand starts to drop due to out of equilibrium pricing, producers will demand more efficient, innovative equipment to do the jobs the former migrants did. Robots do a great deal of assembly work on cars, the same could probably be done in agriculture but due to a glut of migrant work there has been no need nor interest in devoting resources to a more efficient automated system.

However another outcome could happen, the Ag lobby could demand the doubling of farm subsidies to offset the increased labor costs and since most of our republicans in the house and senate are from Ag heavy states they rely on farm subsidies to buy the Ag vote so that is something we would need to prevent if we ever really deal with immigration.

[glorgau]

All their documents appeared in order, she said.
Then federal authorities found that three-fourths of the workers were illegal immigrants, and that left the peak harvest in ruins.

I'm sure they tried "real hard" to verify those "documents".

[McGavin999]

Less than 1% of the 11 million illegals are farm workers. Let them come in as guest workers and have them leave after the harvest. That is what guest workers are supposed to be, and that would be fine. Whoever hires them is responsible for getting them fromt the border to their farm, responsible for housing them during picking season, and then responsible for getting them back to the border after harvest.

[NordP]

What's it gonna be....your crops, or your country?

MAKE the RIGHT decision.

[William Terrell]

And yes, I know lettuce will be $5 a head and tomatoes unavailable, so it's not necessary to tell me. I'll eat cabbage.

I'll be willing to eat lettuce and cabbage at $5 a head. Or I'll grow my own. It's easy and doesn't take much space.

[org.whodat]

Luawanna Hallstrom

Why don't you get a life, I don't need your stinking tomato's.

[coladirienzi]

"...lettuce will be $5 a head..."

Campesino picks 100 heads of lettuce an hour for $5 an hour. Cost to pick a head of lettuce: 5 cents.

I can buy lettuce for $1.28 a head.

For lettuce to be $5 a head, all else staying the same, the picker would have to be paid $3.77 a head. Times 100 heads an hour= $377.00/hour. or $754K per year, based on a 40 hour week.

Where do I sign up?

[curiosity]

Good. I'm happy when criminals are afraid.