The need for immigrant labor
The L.A. Times has an intriguing story on a California town, Lindsay, that is struggling to persuade its Mexican immigrants—many of whom are undocumented—to stay. Desperate to have the necessary labor to pick and process oranges, the town is promoting local projects to provide employment when the season ends. The recent freeze meant fewer oranges and less work, thus putting pressure on those immigrants to find more stable jobs elsewhere.
The town’s elected officials are all Republican, but are promoting an FDR-inspired program to keep their illegal immigrants happy. The simple reason is that many local economies depend on immigrants:
"It helps all of us," said 71-year-old Bill Martin, who owns a tire shop in town. "I don't particularly care for illegal people in the U.S., but if they come in and want to buy a tire, I'll accommodate them. If you don't have people come, you won't get the fruit picked. And if the fruit doesn't get picked, nobody will have money to buy anything."
2 comments:
It’s unfortunate that economic issues seem to be the only thing persuasive enough to unite people in favor of an immigration reform. People aren’t interested in the humanitarian crisis, civil rights problems or our own foreign policy failures. Instead, we decide whether someone is desirable or not based on how they benefit us financially.
True. On the other hand, however, it is fortunate that something is pushing people to change their views, whereas in the past they might not have.
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