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07-16-2007, 11:11 PM #1
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U.S. workers will pick that lettuce -- for $1,000 a week
Commentary: U.S. workers will pick that lettuce -- for $1,000 a weekNext Article in U.S. »
Ruben Navarrette Jr.
Special to CNN
Fresno, CALIFORNIA (CNN) -- There is nothing like coming home, and I got the chance to do that today thanks to an invitation to join in a lunch forum hosted by the Kenneth L. Maddy Institute at California State University, Fresno, which sets out to train new leaders.
Ruben Navarrette Jr.: Workers' sense of entitlement opens jobs for immigrants.
I like the sound of that. We need new leaders. Just look at the recent shoving match over immigration reform, which happens to be the topic that we'll be discussing over lunch. I'm told that many in the audience will have some connection to agriculture.
Big surprise. Everyone in Fresno is connected to agriculture, whether they realize it or not. That's the whole point. While many Americans tell themselves that they don't benefit in the least from illegal immigration, my friends in the San Joaquin Valley don't have that luxury. They're up to their necks in benefit. Oh, there are costs, too -- to schools, hospitals, jails, etc. But, after it's all said and done, Fresno and other agri-cities come out way ahead.
How do I know? Because they're not exactly asking illegal immigrants to leave. In fact, farm groups were part of the chorus calling for comprehensive immigration reform, including a call for new shipments of guest workers. That's because they know that without immigrant labor -- legal if can be, illegal if must be -- my beloved hometown would shrivel up like a raisin in the sun.
While you're just as likely to find illegal immigrants working on construction sites, or making beds in hotels, or cooking up breakfast in the local diner, many of them still gravitate to farms and ranches. And it's a good thing they do, farmers and ranchers say, because these are not jobs that Americans want.
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Consider the strawberry farmer in Oxnard, California, who told CNN that not once in 25 years of planting and harvesting had an American citizen ever asked for a job picking strawberries.
Immigration restrictionists claim that Americans would line up for even the dirtiest and most distasteful jobs if only wages were higher. How much higher? A reader told me that he'd gladly go pick lettuce around Salinas, California -- for $1,000 a week.
I can't wait to share that story with the farmers. I hope they don't cough up their Caesar salads. It's not just that, at those wages, lettuce pickers would earn more than many cops and firefighters, nurses and teachers. Or that salads would cost as much as caviar.
What I find interesting is that the reader -- as a proud American worker -- didn't hesitate to make the demand and, in fact, he felt that earning any less would be beneath him. And we're surprised that many farmers and ranchers -- and countless other employers -- prefer to hire immigrants and rarely give those of us born in the country a second look.
It's not just the money. It's our sense of entitlement. And for what -- all the effort we put into being born on this side of the border?
Ruben Navarrette Jr. is a member of the editorial board of The San Diego Union-Tribune and a nationally syndicated columnist. You can read his column here.
The opinions expressed in this commentary are solely those of the writer. E-mail to a friend
http://www.cnn.com/2007/US/07/16/navarr ... topstoriesJoin our efforts to Secure America's Borders and End Illegal Immigration by Joining ALIPAC's E-Mail Alerts network (CLICK HERE)
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07-16-2007, 11:15 PM #2
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Here's the part you can be 100% sure is correct:
The opinions expressed in this commentary are solely those of the writerJoin our efforts to Secure America's Borders and End Illegal Immigration by Joining ALIPAC's E-Mail Alerts network (CLICK HERE)
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07-16-2007, 11:26 PM #3
How many heads of lettuce do you think a person can pick in a week??? At the price of lettuce, what would that come to?? Just an interesting exercise. Kinda explains why these farmers are wealthy even though they will constantly moan about everything!
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07-16-2007, 11:32 PM #4
I grow my own......
Never look at another flag. Remember, that behind Government, there is your country, and that you belong to her as you do belong to your own mother. Stand by her as you would stand by your own mother
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07-16-2007, 11:38 PM #5Originally Posted by redbadger
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07-16-2007, 11:42 PM #6
Navarette how much do you make a week? Would you work for half of what you get now, or do you think you are entitled to your big salary? Why?
I think we should all e-mail Navarette's editor, and demand they cut his salary in half, he is not entitled to it.Join our efforts to Secure America's Borders and End Illegal Immigration by Joining ALIPAC's E-Mail Alerts network (CLICK HERE)
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07-16-2007, 11:44 PM #7
Yes...I grow lettuce
Never look at another flag. Remember, that behind Government, there is your country, and that you belong to her as you do belong to your own mother. Stand by her as you would stand by your own mother
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07-16-2007, 11:47 PM #8
IT IS EASY TO GROW YOUR OWN VEGGIES AND FRUIT. YOU JUST HAVE TO PLANT SOME SEEDS FCOL.
LETTUCE? WHY DO PEOPLE EVEN EAT LETTUCE? IT HAS NO REAL NUTRITION. THERE ARE OTHER LEAFY GREENS THAT DO SUPPLY MUCH MORE NUTRITION.
WHEN YOU MAKE A SALAD YOU CAN MIX CUT UP RAW VEGGIES WITHOUT ADDING LEAVES TO IT. HERE IS A RECIPE. CHERRY TOMATOES, CUCUMBERS, CARROTS, GARBANZO BEANS. TOP WITH SEASONED OLIVE OIL.
THIS MAKES A GREAT SALAD, AND AS YOU CAN SEE YOU DONT NEED LEAVES IN YOUR SALAD. WHY DO WE NEED LEAVES?Join our efforts to Secure America's Borders and End Illegal Immigration by Joining ALIPAC's E-Mail Alerts network (CLICK HERE)
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07-16-2007, 11:53 PM #9
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Originally Posted by redpony353"You tell 'em I'm coming...and hell's coming with me, you hear!?"
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07-16-2007, 11:54 PM #10
I grow all kinds of yummy things....I love eating from my garden.....I love the cherry tomatoes and basil...I grow my own Sun Flowers for me and the birds...its a win win.....
Never look at another flag. Remember, that behind Government, there is your country, and that you belong to her as you do belong to your own mother. Stand by her as you would stand by your own mother
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