I suppose, but there's no question that consumers benefit from the low wages paid to these workers.
That doesn't excuse the fact that they're here illegally, and it doesn't address the costs that are passed onto the consumer in such notable areas as health care and other social benefits.
I don't know how to weigh this. If we had to pay workers $25 an hour to pick strawberries, the cost for strawberries would probably be too high for me to want to buy them.
On the other hand, my health care costs are skyrocketing. There's no question that we have to do a better job of making sure everyone in this country is here legally, or not at all.
I have no problem with giving Mexican workers seasonal permits to work, especially doing those menial jobs that none of us aspire to. But that shouldn't put them on the path to citizenship or entitle them to benefits we should reserve for citizens.
Even if strawberry pickers made $25 an hour, you wouldn't have to have prices go up that dramatically. You just set a skill level. I am sure a decent amount of people would be willing to work fast. You could easily pick 100 baskets worth of strawberries an hour. That would be .25 a basket. They are already paying the illegals something. A few dollars an hour. It might at worst cost .20 more for a $4.00 container if that. Labor is not always what is driving these prices. Alot of the food and garments the price is in the mark up. Not the making of it.