Surge in Immigration Laws Around U.S.

[yesman065]

Originally Posted by Bullitt

From the link: "Fifty-three percent of all respondents were not authorized to work in the United States."

So more than half of them entered illegally and thats from '00 & '01 - I'm sure the numbers only get worse.

As far as the income levels - these are mostly temp/part time jobs as well - correct? I mean these are not year round positions - therefore the annual income figures are skewed - no? I understand that the $$$ per hour is very low and most americans refuse to work that hard for that little. but thats another issue.

I read that article Blue, basically nothing new - farmers want the cheap labor to maximize their profits - so???

Dana - I respect your opinions and usually you have something insightful or helpful to ad - why just sarcasm here? - any solutions, ideas, thoughts?

[Bullitt]

Originally Posted by yesman065

As far as the income levels - these are mostly temp/part time jobs as well - correct? I mean these are not year round positions - therefore the annual income figures are skewed - no? I understand that the $$$ per hour is very low and most americans refuse to work that hard for that little. but thats another issue.

Not really.
"* Seventy-two percent of the workers had one farm employer in the previous 12 months.
* The number of farm workdays in the previous year increased with the number of U.S. farm employers and by years of U.S. farm experience.
* The majority of the workers (72%) said that they expected to continue doing farm work for at least five years."

That majority is doing what they can to support themselves/any family until something better (higher paying) comes along. If you look back that the income estimates, you will see that the average individual income for a farm worker is $10,000 - $12,499. Whereas the average family income is $15,000 - $17,499. That worker's small pay is the foundation of the family's income. Without it they would likely be on the streets or in a shelter

[bluecuracao]

Not only better in terms of higher-paying, but also less grueling--long hours picking crops is about the crappiest job you can have.

Originally Posted by yesman065

I read that article Blue, basically nothing new - farmers want the cheap labor to maximize their profits - so???

Well, there's more to it than that. But if you were already familiar with all the information in the article, then I don't quite understand why you were wondering about Americans working those kinds of jobs...