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These U.S. industries can't work without illegal immigrants
CBS ^ | January 10, 2019 | Mary Jo Dudley

Posted on 01/14/2019 4:51:54 AM PST by lowbridge

The nation's attention is once again focused on the southern border, where President Trump claims the U.S. is facing a "crisis" over illegal immigration.

Sometimes forgotten as the nation focuses attention on migrants currently trying to cross the border is that millions of undocumented immigrants continue to live in the U.S. – and most of them work. 

-snip

Since agriculture is the industry that's most reliant on undocumented workers – and it's my area of expertise and research – let's zoom in on it.

Overall, the agricultural industry in the United States has been on the decline since 1950. Back then, farming was a family business that employed more than 10 million workers, 77 percent of whom were classified as "family." As of 2000 – the latest such data available – only 3 million work on farms, and as noted earlier, an estimated half are undocumented.

Increasingly, dairy farms such as those in New York rely on workers from Mexico and Guatemala, many of whom are believed to be undocumented. Currently, there is no visa program for year-round workers on dairy farms, so the precarious status of these workers poses serious concerns for the economic viability of the dairy industry.

In 2017 research conducted by the Cornell Farmworker Program, 30 New York dairy farmers told us they turned to undocumented workers because they were unable to find and keep reliable U.S. citizens to do the jobs. That's in part because farm work can be physically demanding, dirty and socially denigrated work. More importantly, it is one the most dangerous occupations in the U.S.

(Excerpt) Read more at cbsnews.com ...


TOPICS: Business/Economy; Culture/Society; News/Current Events
KEYWORDS: aliens; illegalimmigration; immigration
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1 posted on 01/14/2019 4:51:54 AM PST by lowbridge
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To: lowbridge

Horsecrap!


2 posted on 01/14/2019 4:53:28 AM PST by dfwgator (Endut! Hoch Hech!)
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To: lowbridge

Then raise the pay.


3 posted on 01/14/2019 4:54:08 AM PST by marajade (Skywalker)
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To: lowbridge

End welfare and you would be surprised how many workers become available to do the work currently done by illegals.

(Welfare and charity should be provided by voluntary organizations. Those that can screen out the needed from the greedy).


4 posted on 01/14/2019 4:55:16 AM PST by CIB-173RDABN (I am not an expert in anything, and my opinion is just that, an opinion. I may be wrong.)
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To: lowbridge

See B.S.


5 posted on 01/14/2019 4:55:48 AM PST by bryan999
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To: lowbridge

Trotting out the old; “Doing the jobs Americans won’t do.” nonsense again.


6 posted on 01/14/2019 4:56:34 AM PST by DakotaGator (Weep for the lost Republic! And keep your powder dry!!)
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To: lowbridge

Legal immigrants can work as hard or harder than illegals... work harder because that have a stake in the country.


7 posted on 01/14/2019 4:56:56 AM PST by IncPen ("Inside of every progressive is a Totalitarian screaming to get out" ~ David Horowitz)
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To: lowbridge

SeeBS FakeNews


8 posted on 01/14/2019 4:57:57 AM PST by Carl Vehse
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To: lowbridge

Maybe the dairy industry ought to be looking for innovation.


9 posted on 01/14/2019 4:58:34 AM PST by marajade (Skywalker)
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To: lowbridge

They can’t keep people at the wages they wish to offer.

Increase labor costs, and they will invest in automation.


10 posted on 01/14/2019 4:59:51 AM PST by PapaBear3625 ("Those who can make you believe absurdities, can make you commit atrocities." -- Voltaire)
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To: lowbridge

I recall a number of months back, someone on Facebook lectured to me about restaurant workers on the Upper East Side and trusting that I would not want to check on their legal status. And it made me think privately that if these companies employ “undocumented” persons, shouldn’t liberals be angry about this? Because that’s how these companies evade minimum wage laws, workers’ compensation insurance, Employer Health Tax (what we have here in Ontario to cover health care costs), and the rest of the apparatus that liberals helped to create for ordinary citizens.


11 posted on 01/14/2019 5:00:12 AM PST by OttawaFreeper ("The Gardens was founded by men-sportsmen-who fought for their country" Conn Smythe, 1966)
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To: lowbridge
I worked construction during the early 90s. There was a housing boom in Colorado and they'd hire anyone who could swing a hammer for $10/hr starting pay which was more than double the minimum wage. It was hard work but at the time it was the most money I'd ever made.

Don't tell me there aren't Americans who won't do this work if you paid them well.

12 posted on 01/14/2019 5:00:59 AM PST by Drew68
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To: CIB-173RDABN

Exactly. Good post. I am not against the government helping people in need out.

I am against doing it extravagantly and for life.

If they didn’t make welfare such a lucrative alternative, we would fill “those jobs” no problem.


13 posted on 01/14/2019 5:02:02 AM PST by rlmorel (Leftists: They believe in the "Invisible Hand" only when it is guided by government.)
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To: lowbridge
Wasn't that the rationale for slavery? "Can't have a cotton industry without slaves"?

Citizens and LEGAL immigrants can work, too. Remember when high school and college students could earn money by actually, you know, "working"? I earned money in high school, at 16 years of age, working in a laundry.

So, my dear employers, get legal employees. Better your wages and working conditions.

Or mechanize.

14 posted on 01/14/2019 5:02:42 AM PST by Mrs. Don-o ("In Christ we form one body, and each member belongs to all the others." Romans 12:5)
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To: lowbridge

Not word one about how Wisconsin ‘gets it done’ with American workers & technology...hmmmm!


15 posted on 01/14/2019 5:02:58 AM PST by harpu ( "...it's better to be hated for who you are than loved for someone you're not!")
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To: lowbridge

Sweat shops used to depend upon illegal workers; they’d hire gangs to kidnap people, bring them to the workplace/living quarters and hold them in chains. They’re highly impacted by human trafficking laws, and those laws should be eliminated so that they can return to those practices so that the prices of jeans can drop by $3.

Also I love how the author blends legitimate legal immigrants in with illegals, treating them as equal when citing statistics. Here’s a study on (legal) immigrants and their impact on this industry, you remove legal immigrants from the equation, prices go up dramatically. No one is suggesting removing legal immigrants.


16 posted on 01/14/2019 5:06:28 AM PST by kingu (Everything starts with slashing the size and scope of the federal government.)
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To: marajade

Tons of cheese bought by the government while dairy prices are propped up are signs of a decadent industry.


17 posted on 01/14/2019 5:09:47 AM PST by sparklite2 (Don't mind me. I'm just a contrarian.)
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To: lowbridge

That’s a lie


18 posted on 01/14/2019 5:10:25 AM PST by Altura Ct.
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To: lowbridge

They hire those people because they have got so GD big they cant handle the farm anymore.

This is the biggest lie I have ever seen. Maybe these greedy I am the biggest yack yack yack...if they would have kept a nice farm that could be run by the family they’d have something.


19 posted on 01/14/2019 5:11:17 AM PST by crz
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To: sparklite2

Maybe the gov’t ought to consider giving it out to those who don’t qualify. I just bought cheese the other day at the grocery store. How much is the gov’t paying to store it and watch it mold?


20 posted on 01/14/2019 5:12:43 AM PST by marajade (Skywalker)
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