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This argument is similar to the one used to justify Brexit, that immigrants are in some way taking farm jobs away from locals. The reality though is very diffe
by awjr 9y ago
This argument is similar to the one used to justify Brexit, that immigrants are in some way taking farm jobs away from locals.
The reality though is very different. The jobs that are seasonal, tough, and do not pay well. Literaly the way nature works requires a transient workforce to harvest produce.
We need to accept that many farms are reliant on cheap migrant labour and that this needs accommodating.
We're putting our ability to feed ourselves as a country at risk.
- kodfodrasz 9y agoIf you need illegal immigrants, paid absymal wages, and not subject to worker protections (aka. slaves) to produce food, then you are not feeding yourself. Your slaves feed you. Another alternative is buying the food from the market, from other countries, until the prize is lower than the price covering the costs for the farms to use legal workers.
- programmernews3 9y agoAgree with this. Illegal immigration, especially in America, is modern day slavery that has been co-opted by the left for their own political gain.
- DoofusOfDeath 9y ago> The reality though is very different. The jobs that are seasonal, tough, and do not pay well. I've never understood this line of reasoning. Given the crucial nature of food, I would expect that were illegal immigrants to leave the picture, the agriculture system would adapt by some combination of (a) higher wages and (b) more automation. Presumably this would lead to food becoming more expensive (at least until automation improved), but I doubt we'd see famine. > The jobs that are seasonal, tough, and do not pay well. When I was a kid, kids on summer vacation did exactly this kind of work.
- raesene6 9y agoTo me, far more likely is that locally grown food would be displaced by food grown in lower cost countries. That already happens to quite a degree in the UK, but it's mainly to make things available "out of season" from what I've seen. A significant hike in UK grown food costs, would just lead to more being imported, unless of course you start going down the line of more import tariffs which is of course possible but tends to have other consequences in terms of things like trade wars and reciprocal tariffs on UK produced goods. Of course you could eschew tariff protection and allow food production to move to other countries, but that in itself has potentially serious consequences as a trade war or some kind of event which disrupts supply from those other countries could endanger the food security of your country...
- golergka 9y agoI downvoted your comment (which I do rarely) and would like to offer an explanation. You're having a conversation about immigration, in a thread that talked explicitly about illegal immigration. But you decide to conflate the two, and start talking about "immigrants" without specifying whether you're talking about illegal or legal ones. In my opinion, this lowers the level of conversation, regardless of your political views. Please, don't do that.
- DanBC 9y agoWhy does the transient workforce have to be undocumented migrants from a different country, and not people from a poor part of the US with high unemployment?
- LoSboccacc 9y agominimum wage laws, safety and security laws, etc they don't need it per se but sure helps the bottom line
- deleted 9y ago[deleted]
- rdtsc 9y agoOr at least documented migrants. There is a visa for seasonal agricultural work already. But that also means having to pay a fee, not abusing the workers, probably paying taxes and so on
- lsjdfkljdfwkwdf 9y agoCan you make Americans on welfare work?
- mattmanser 9y ago"ability to feed ourselves as a country" What do you mean? In times of war, foreign imports would stop? For reference, the US presently has a surplus of food. It exports more than it imports.
- throwaway-1209 9y agoAnd your argument is not new either. It was used to justify slavery.