immigration agriculture

immigration agriculture: Page 1

Discussed in (click each link for the full post):

Carol Pogash fails at reporting (New York Times, Nicholas Bogel-Burroughs) - 12/21/19

In the New York Times, Carol Pogash and Nicholas Bogel Burroughs blog "Democrats Sparred Over a Wine Cave Fund-Raiser. Its Billionaire Owner Isn't Pleased" [1]:

Why the AFB study claiming immigration enforcement will devastate agriculture is wrong - 02/10/14

The American Farm Bureau has released a one-dimensional study claiming a veritable armageddon if farmers don't get all the cheap labor they want. Over the decades, farmers have become hooked on cheap foreign serf labor. Rather than kicking the habit, they constantly spread propaganda designed to get more of their "drug".

GOP "Standards for Immigration Reform": how it's wrong, how it won't work, what you can do - 01/30/14

The GOP "Standards for Immigration Reform" have been released. It's a short summary of the guidelines the Republican Party leadership will use for their own amnesty push. First I'll quote the full document, followed by a discussion of some of the ways it won't work and it misleads. That's followed by some very effective things you can do to stop the GOP effort.

Ben Powell promotes Red Card plan, H1Bs using shaky economics (immigration, Forbes) - 10/19/13

In Forbes, Ben Powell of Texas Tech University offers "A U.S. Worker Shortage Calls For 'Red Card' Immigration Reform" ( peekURL.com/zKuax6f ). A discussion of how the article is wrong follows this excerpt:

Study: amnesty could shift agricultural workers to cities, decrease wages for Americans - 01/29/13

From this: Granting residency to undocumented immigrants in California could increase competition for low-end jobs as agricultural laborers shift to cities, while boosting tax revenues as other undocumented workers seek higher-paying positions previously denied to them, experts say.

Howard Buffett shouts "Viva Mexico!"; supports amnesty and guest workers; enables illegal immigration; wins Mex. govt award - 12/02/12

That very long title is more than justified since Howard Buffett - son of Warren Buffett - has been very busy supporting very bad immigration policies.

Matt Yglesias' crooked, libertarian, cheap serf labor scheme (immigration, Slate, DREAM Act) - 06/20/12

I'm more (traditionally) liberal on immigration than Matt Yglesias of Slate: I want to raise wages and working conditions, while Yglesias peddles libertarian concepts designed to reduce wages and working conditions.

Julia Preston can't or won't follow the money and power (Mark Shurtleff, New York Times, immigration) - 06/15/12

In April, Julia Preston of the New York Times offered "A Die-Hard Conservative, but Not on Immigrants" [1] about Utah's former Attorney General Mark Shurtleff, a supporter of illegal immigration.

USDA: millions fewer illegal aliens wouldn't devastate agriculture (farm labor supply economic models, guest workers) - 06/12/12

The table at [1] is from a Department of Agriculture study (link) showing the impacts of two different immigration scenarios:

Fareed Zakaria's GPS Road Map for immigration (CNN, Bloomberg, globalism, Kobach) - 06/06/12

On Sunday, June 10th, CNN will be broadcasting a Fareed Zakaria show [1] called "Global Lessons: The GPS Road Map for Making Immigration Work".

Tom Vilsack promotes illegal activity, uses bogus "crops rotting" line - 02/24/12

At the Department of Agriculture's 2012 Agricultural Outlook Forum, Ag secretary Tom Vilsack once again promoted illegal activity now and an amnesty or guest workers program for illegal aliens in the future.

With millions of Americans unemployed, Keith Olbermann promotes cheap, exploitable foreign labor (Georgia immigration law, Matt Ramsey) - 06/25/11

On his June 23 show, Keith Olbermann supported cheap, illegal foreign labor working in sometimes dangerous conditions rather than legal workers working for acceptable wages under safe conditions. And, he either fell for or tried to promote pro-illegal immigration propaganda.

With millions unemployed, Ag Secy Tom Vilsack demeans American workers, promotes amnesty, opposes enforcement, uses bogus talking points, opposes eVerify - 05/27/11

Secretary of the Department of Agriculture Tom Vilsack held a press conference on Wednesday in which he demeaned American workers, promoted immigration "reform", opposed immigration enforcement, and used a series of bogus immigration talking points. An account of his remarks is here, with more excerpts at [1]. 1. Vilsack ran down American workers, saying: "While some American citizens step up and take (farm) jobs, the truth is even when farmers make their best effort to recruit a domestic workforce, few citizens express interest. In large part that's because this is hard, tough work." The...

Georgia farmers, landscapers plead for cheap, illegal labor (HB 87, SB 40, Farm Bureau, Agribusiness Council) - 04/05/11

Republicans in Georgia have introduced two Arizona-style immigration bills: House Bill 87 and Senate Bill 40. They'd require businesses to use the eVerify system with new hires and would also allow police to question suspects about their immigration status. Needless to say, that would cut into the profits of companies that employ large numbers of illegal aliens, and they've responded with an open letter (link): A group of 270 farmers and other businessmen mostly representing Georgia’s agricultural and landscaping industries is warning lawmakers about the impact their immigration enforcement...

Stephen Colbert shills for growers, supports bad policy in Congressional appearance (+rightwinger fail) - 09/24/10

Stephen Colbert testified before Congress earlier today and shilled for Big Agriculture and promoted bad, anti-American and anti-Mexican policy. And, the wider issue is also yet another example of failure by the rightwing commentariat, tea parties, and similar groups. 1. Coverage of Colbert's remarks is here and here. 2. Colbert is working with the United Farmworkers of America to promote their anti-American, pro-abuse TakeOurJobs effort. I've already written three posts about that effort, the latest was on Wednesday at that link. The two previous are here and here. 3. From his remarks: This...

Mike Thomas of Orlando Sentinel supports exploitation of farm workers to keep prices low (UFW's anti-American takeourjobs) - 07/14/10

Mike Thomas of the Orlando Sentinel offers "If illegal immigrants go, produce prices would skyrocket" (link), a breezy attempt to put a happy face on the United Farmworkers of America's anti-

Juliana Barbassa of AP promotes UFW's anti-American "joke" (yes, Americans do field work) - 06/25/10

Juliana Barbassa of the Associated Press offers "Immigrant farm workers' challenge: Take our jobs" (link) about a new satirical campaign from the United Farmworkers of America. The UFW's campaign is anti-American; if you aren't familiar with this story see the last link. This post only deals with Barbassa's treatment. She says: According to the Labor Department, three out of four farm workers were born abroad, and more than half are illegal immigrants. Apparently Jullianna Barbassa can't do math: that means that one out of four farm workers were born in the U.S., and somewhere between one...

UFW's anti-American satire: citizens should take illegal aliens' farmworker jobs (Stephen Colbert) - 06/23/10

The United Farmworkers of America are playing a cute, anti-American game (link): Take Our Jobs - please. That’s the message from the United Farm Workers union, which is turning the tables on Congress after years of inaction on comprehensive immigration reform. Through the campaign, United Farm Workers plans to push members of Congress to make a plea to constituents across the country: Put illegal immigrants out of work by working in the fields and packinghouses. ...The campaign “spotlights the immigrant labor issue and underscores the need for reforms without which the domestic agricultural...

Before donating to Human Rights Watch, ask them about child labor on U.S. farms - 06/02/10

When it comes to immigration matters, far-left organizations love to complain about various downsides of a situation and at the same time support policies that make the situation worse. An example is offered by "Fields of Peril: Child Labor in US Agriculture", a recent report from Human Rights Watch [1]. If you're considering sending them money, please read the following first.

Bush to ease H-2A agricultural "guest" worker program; pulls plans from DOL site - 12/11/08

From this: [Pending Bush administration rules would make] controversial changes to the so-called H-2A guest-worker program [that] could cut wages and speed worker recruitment. They also would relax requirements for providing foreign workers with housing and transportation. A Labor Department spokesman said Wednesday night that the final rules would be made public Thursday and published in the Federal Register on Dec. 18, which means they'd take effect two days before Barack Obama is sworn in as president Jan. 20. ...American farmers, though, consider the 50-year-old program slow and...

Western Growers promoted Napolitano as DHS secretary - 12/11/08

Back on November 20, 2008, Western Growers issued this press release: Western Growers President and CEO Tom Nassif sent a letter to President-elect Barack Obama today commending him on his election victory and encouraging him to choose Arizona Governor Janet Napolitano to serve in his administration as Secretary of Department of Homeland Security. ...Indeed, over the years, Western Growers, whose members primarily operate in Arizona and California, has worked with the Governor on myriad immigration related policy issues including the Arizona employer sanctions law, port-of-entry...

Is Collin Peterson (D-Minnesota) a liar? (fruit, vegetable prices would double!) - 09/11/07

I'm pretty sure that Collin Peterson (D-Minnesota) is a liar, but we won't know for sure until the "worst" happens: Consumers could see the price of fruits and vegetables double if the nation does not address a looming farm labor shortage in the wake of tightening immigration enforcement, House Agriculture Committee Chairman Collin Peterson said [collinpeterson.house.gov]. Peterson, D-Minn., told producers attending the Kansas State Fair this weekend that the agriculture committee will focus on the immigration issue as it strives to do its part to make sure there is adequate labor. He said...

White House listening to pork producers, La Raza, Mexico-linked NALEO, NRA... just not you - 06/21/07

The White House offers a PDF entitled "What They're Saying: Border Security And Immigration Reform Agreement" and subtitled 'Business And Agriculture Groups Say "It Is Critical That The Process Moves Forward"' (PDF) [1]. It's just a collection of quotes from press releases from those few groups that support the Bush/Senate massive illegal immigration amnesty, and it contains no accompaning text other than the titles. As simply a collection of quotes, it's not that shocking. However, it's interesting that these are the special interest groups that the White House chooses to use to bolster...

John Quinones/ABC News: brazen illegal immigration-supporting hack - 11/24/06

John Quinones of ABC Nightly News offers "Pear Crop Rots as Field Hands Kept from Crossing Border", a brazen pro-cheap labor slab of propaganda that reports on what growers say without offering even the slightest bit of contradictory information. It is so biased it could have been - and might have been - written by the growers themselves. It even includes a grower being emotional: If the migrants don't show up for the next harvest, Ivicevich said he'll have to destroy entire orchards that were planted more than a century ago. ..."That makes them 120 years old," he said, in tears. "So, I mean...

[JOB] US-AZ-YUMA: Pick lettuce. $50 an hour. - 04/16/06

** Job offered ** Job description: Picking lettuce (link) Rate: $50.00 per hour (must work for one year) Contact: John McCain, Supervisor of Lettuce Operations, U.S. Senate (link)

Bush is lying to you about "guest" workers - 02/18/06

Speaking in Tampa yesterday, president Bush offered a fairly standard recitation of his immigration talking points (link), albeit a bit more incoherent than usual. Let's just look at this one lie-rich paragraph:

How Much Is that Tomato in the Window? - 02/09/05

The next time someone suggests that we need illegal aliens to pick our produce or lettuce would go to five dollars a head, please refer them to this 1996 study by a Professor of Economics and Agricultural Economics at Iowa State University: How Much Is that Tomato in the Window?Retail Produce Prices Without Illegal Farmworkers

"In Florida Groves, Cheap Labor Means Machines" - 03/25/04

Some Florida orange growers are getting smart and using machines rather than foreign serf labor. From the NYT: IMMOKALEE, Fla. - Chugging down a row of trees, the pair of canopy shakers in Paul Meador's orange grove here seem like a cross between a bulldozer and a hairbrush, their hungry steel bristles working through the tree crowns as if untangling colossal heads of hair. In under 15 minutes, the machines shake loose 36,000 pounds of oranges from 100 trees, catch the fruit and drop it into a large storage car. "This would have taken four pickers all day long," Mr. Meador said... But as...

"The Mirage of Mexican Guest Workers" - 01/12/04

The highly recommended article "The Mirage of Mexican Guest Workers" from Foreign Affairs magazine (80 Foreign Affairs No. 6, November/December 2001) is required reading for anyone concerned about the Bush/Fox Amnesty. It was written in response to the amnesty Bush had proposed shortly before 9/11, however it's just as timely as if it was written last week. The authors are Philip L. Martin (UC Davis) and Michael S. Teitelbaum (Alfred P. Sloan Foundation). Unfortunately, the full text is not available online. You can buy a copy here, or do as I did: go to your local library. Here are some...