Thread: Maryland bringing in foreign workers!! UGH!!!

WHY ARE WE BRINGING IN FOREIGN WORKERS WHEN AMERICAN CITIZENS ARE LOSING JOBS?

Crab picking plants to get visas for workers
By PAMELA WOOD, Staff Writer
Published 08/06/09

Maryland's seafood industry got a boost Thursday, as the federal government agreed to issue thousands of permits for foreign workers to pick crabs.

The workers - all women, mostly from Mexico - spend months each year in Eastern Shore plants, picking meat from local blue crabs. They work under a special visa program for seasonal industries called H2B.

The H2B program has a limit of 66,000, and most of Maryland's picking plants were unable to obtain visas for their workers this year.

The Department of Homeland Security announced Thursday an additional 25,000 visas will be granted. This will enable the Maryland crab plants to bring their workers here just in time for the fall rush, officials said.

Fall is a busy time for picking plants, as Eastern Shore watermen catch female crabs on their annual southward migration. Female crabs make up the bulk of picked crab meat.

In a statement, U.S. Rep. Frank Kratovil, D-Stevensville, praised the decision.

"Today's announcement is good news for the watermen, picking house owners and employees, truck drivers, restaurant owners, community bankers, and everyone else whose livelihood is impacted by the crabbing industry," said Kratovil, who has been working on the H2B issue along with U.S. Sen. Barbara A. Mikulski.

Owners and managers of the picking houses got busy finishing their H2B paperwork as soon as they heard the news.

"This is literally a lifesaver for us down here," said Jack Brooks of Cambridge's J.M. Clayton Co., who also is president of the Dorchester County Seafood Packers Association.



http://www.hometownannapolis.com/news/b ... rkers.html

The Department of Homeland Security announced Thursday an additional 25,000 visas will be granted. This will enable the Maryland crab plants to bring their workers here just in time for the fall rush, officials said.

How can the DHS do that? I thought the 66,000 limit was set by Congress.

It's hard to believe there are no American workers eager to work, especially with unemployment rates rising across the country. It must be a minimum wage job with no benefits. Either that or the crabbers aren't actively recruiting American help.

Originally Posted by MW

The Department of Homeland Security announced Thursday an additional 25,000 visas will be granted. This will enable the Maryland crab plants to bring their workers here just in time for the fall rush, officials said.

How can the DHS do that? I thought the 66,000 limit was set by Congress.

It's hard to believe there are no American workers eager to work, especially with unemployment rates rising across the country. It must be a minimum wage job with no benefits. Either that or the crabbers aren't actively recruiting American help.

i will NOT buy crabs anymore this season. i love maryland. i love maryland crabs. but to know these crabbers are seeking out low-wage help, while i'm being asked to spend $75 for a dozen of crabs, well screw them. i'll be sure to let everyone i know in maryland that crabbers are looking to give jobs to foreign workers in order to save themselves a buck at OUR expense.....

Let me explain the crab industry in Maryland.

Before there was so much development, crabbing was a family industry and the whole family worked at, harvesting and preparing the crabs for market. Also most of the land was rural and local kids always took summer jobs in the industry.

HOWEVER, when greedy developers bought up so much land on the Eastern Shore, they just about killed the crab industry. They certainly killed it as a family business. So now with all the liberal elites living on the Eastern Shore, there is no one who wants to work at shucking crabs. Back before the elites bought up all the land, local kids worked for crabbers in the summertime. Well those kids aren't around any more = and the children of the liberal elite don't want to spend their summer shucking crabs. And there are no crab-shucking machines -- it is hand work.

Hence the only way the industry can survive is with foreign labor. Let me say that this labor is TEMPORARY - they have SHORT TERM VISAS and they GO BACK TO MEXICO at the end of the crab season.

The whole area on the Eastern Shore is so over-developed that people who might want the jobs, would have a VERY LONG COMMUTE which they could NOT afford with today's gas prices. So blame the develpers for the need for foreign labor.

Yes it is truly amazing how they hire CHEAP labor but still charge a high price for their goods. Who is going to be able to afford them when everyone loses his or her job or only get low paying jobs? And you can compare this with the tax system. where is this government going to get money when the tax dollars quit rolling in like they have been with higher paying jobs.

Thanks for the insight judyweller! The only thing I know about crabs are from Venereal Disease awareness, and "Deadliest Catch."

Watching the show, they don't have foreign workers on the boats. It is so sad to see the industry taking away family legacies in exchange for unsafe, unreliable visa holders. I guess we'll be seeing more deaths as a result.

Judyweler wrote:

Hence the only way the industry can survive is with foreign labor. Let me say that this labor is TEMPORARY - they have SHORT TERM VISAS and they GO BACK TO MEXICO at the end of the crab season.

Judy - What would keep these "temp" employees from staying here illegally after their seasonal employment is over, just like the other 20 million who have stayed here illegally? There are at least 12 million Mexicans here illegally already, why not give some of them "temp visas", why do we need to bring in more? They can just get pregnant, have anchor babies while they're here, and then cry that they shouldn't be deported because that is "breaking up families".

True "judyweller" but there are a lot of other jobs in America that corporations are hiring foreign laborers for cheap labor costs

The developers would also be the ones bringing in or hiring more illegal aliens to build their dream communities. We could also compare this with Wal-Mart destroying the mom and pop stores and/or shops in each individual community

judyweller wrote:

Hence the only way the industry can survive is with foreign labor. Let me say that this labor is TEMPORARY - they have SHORT TERM VISAS and they GO BACK TO MEXICO at the end of the crab season

.
Seriously, I have SO SO had it with all this crap. At this point, I say if an industry can't survive without foreign labor, then maybe it shouldn't survive. I understand the greedy developers are the main cause of the problem, but the greedy developers need to be stopped sooner if this is the end result of their actions. I don't believe in run-away capitalism and free markets at any price to everyone else and to our country. Sorry to all crab-lovers, but you can't have your crab and eat it too. (I know, that was bad.)