Thread: TX A&M Agrilife:Migrant or foreign labor is a must

Without resolve, labor issues could affect food prices

December 23, 2008
Writer(s): Kay Ledbetter, 806-677-5600,SKledbetter@ag.tamu.edu
Contact(s): Dr. David Anderson, 979-845-4351, danderson@ag.tamu.edu

AMARILLO – Migrant or foreign labor is a must for the dairy industry and other parts of agriculture, and a reduction in the workforce could cost consumers considerably, a Texas AgriLife Extension Service expert said.

Labor and immigration are tied together, and it includes both legal and illegal immigration, said Dr. David Anderson, AgriLife Extension economist in College Station.

While immigration can be from another state or another region of the U.S., many minds turn to illegal immigration coming from other countries, Anderson said.

“We’ve always restricted immigration through the number of visas, which are much fewer than the demand, and so that encourages illegal immigration,â€

Maybe it is time to slow ecomonic growth...maybe you are trying to grow it to fast so you can keep your cheap lobor.....this is all just more propaganda and we are not believing it.
With millions of Americans out of work it is going to be really hard to make them believe we need more people in this country, legal or illegal!

Well, whaddya' expect from a cuckoo who grew up in the University of Arizona. I'd bet my boots he's an open borders activist turned left by other cuckoos who constantly pressure the Arizona border. I doubt this turkey has ever considered improving the immigration laws or eliminating chain migration or using African labor or Chinese labor or reversing the jus soli principle or enforcing the law to force implementation of any of these alternatives. He may be good in his field of alternative livestock, dairy and crop programs but he's an amateur in the field of immigration, especially illegal immigration. He should leave that to the citizens who, as we speak, are lighting their torches and sharpening their pitchforks.

Agriculture has much at stake in this issue, he said. It needs to get the debate away from the big issues . . .

Don't try to change the subject. We like discussing the big issues, like the cost of illegal labor to the American taxpayer.

Foreign labor represents an estimated 43 percent of the nation’s dairy workforce, Anderson said.

The value of milk production is $28.7 billion and this part of the dairy industry alone provides 147,000 jobs nationwide, he said. If the related industries are added in, it is a $55 billion industry with 363,000 jobs.

And those are 363,000 jobs that should go to Americans, if only you would pay a living wage. $55 billion pales in comparison to the $400+ billion your workers cost our country's taxpayers.

There is absolutely no reason I or any other taxpayer should subsidize the dairy industry by providing health and education benefits to it's cheap workers.

[quote]“If you had a foreign labor reduction of only 20 percent, you would lose 33,000 employees, $5.5 billion in sales and $1.5 billion in income,â€

Originally Posted by SOSADFORUS

Maybe it is time to slow ecomonic growth...maybe you are trying to grow it to fast so you can keep your cheap lobor.....this is all just more propaganda and we are not believing it.
With millions of Americans out of work it is going to be really hard to make them believe we need more people in this country, legal or illegal!

Yep, that's my theory....we have grown beyond our resources....we need to reduce and then stabilize.

I never had a problem with migrant workers. But that was before we started so many public benefits and legal advocacy that would induce them to have lots of children and remain in this country on a permanent basis. Just how much labor are anchor babies capable of, anyway?

Adults who come here and work and then return to their families are one thing; soaring use of our overtaxed social services are another.

Dairy farming has come a long ways in the last hundred years. There are probably other advances waiting to be discovered.

The size of the market in America-- and its need, has been markedly affected by the (approx) 20 million additional mouths to feed taht heve entered our country illegally. Growth economics is the standard. With the exception of the NPG (Net Population Growth) group, all economists base their plans on growth. This country will never stabilize until these alleged "expert" economists can cobble a plan that matches the growth of our own American citizen population. Letting so many illegals enter creates a temporary boom market. The additional consumption by illegals causes the market place to grow (domestically) and creates a false temporary market. The economic theories of the past must be scrapped. The economy should embody the good of the American population, not just the growth of revenue and profit. Call it idealistic if you wish, but as far as the financial well being of American citizens are concerned, it is realistic.

When the production of goods exceeds the consumption, ( as happened in the Great Depression), jobs disappear, businesses fold, banks and the stock market take major hits. So, the population grows uncontrollably under illegal immigration. That in itself creates a temporary need for even more people to meet the new demand created by the influx of illegally entered workers. With the new workers, supply increases and eventually exceeds demand. One does not have to be an economics wizard to know the result of that circumstance.

So, we wind up with 100,000 more homes than eligible buyers under the older practical rules of finance. Then we have a glut of automobile sales to people who could never afford to buy automobiles had they stayed in their old countries. Bingo, another catch 22. Carmakers are happy--more sales--more profits. More jobs. Unions scramble to enroll the illegals. Greed sweeps over, under and into the beings of business people. All temporary and all easily seen years ago. The balance sheet, the increase in revenues and profit become paramount to practicality. The government officials make laws and rules to enhance the balance sheets and refuse to enforce laws that may restrict the revenues and profits. It was bound to burst. Look at who pays for it though. Do you suppose for a minute that any higly placed individuals are going to los their homes?? How many directors, VPs, Presidents are going to have to settle for $295 a week unemployment checks???

What is the difference now compared to 1929?? Answer--The number of illegal immigrants, the properties they bought in violation of the US laws as well as the lowering of wages as the illegals are sought by employers. The employer that deliberately hires illegals forces the competition up the street to do the same to remain competitive. Then American citizens stop applying for jobs when the wages diminish to the point where they can stay home and collect as much money on the dole as to work for it. Also, Americans do not come from circumstances where they are willing to live twenty to a home to make ends meet.

Folks---supply now exceeds demand. The people who cannot distinguish between need and greed are the worst offenders. It took World War II to rescue the economy in the last depression. We are already at war this time--there will be no military equipment bubble to save the economy.

We are a republic where every person has the right to pursue his or her goals and objectives in life. Controlling that via government is the last thing a free society should want, but if we had shed a small amount of "business" freedom, elected people who were interested in American sovereignty and enforced our immigration laws instead of the success of the business people who financed the campaigns, we would have a far more stable economy.

I say, we must enforce our laws. We must remove illegal immigrants from our seciety or it will not be OUR society anymore. We would have fewer people unemployed. Folks who have to downsize their careers would, at least, not have to compete with an additional 12 million additional job seekers who do not belong here.

Do you suppose the execurtive getting the multimillion bonuses or buyouts are willing to put that money into the coffers of the state unemployment offices?

Now the agribusinesses are saying they cannot survive without immigrant help. They argue that E-Verify is too hard to use and too erratic. Why?? Because they can hire braceros and you and I can pay the health, education and associated costs via our taxes. Then they have the audacity to tell us if they hire Americans our cost at the supermarket will be higher--so what!-- we are paying it through taxes. I would rather pay it at the market and know Americans had jobs. (This may sound ambivalent-but -I am not opposed to a temporary agri-work permit program It needs to be monitored to ensure they return to their country of origin.)

Every fiber of our economy is threatened and it has all been caused by the pursuit of profit growth. Prospering, in my opinion, does not mean the wealthy few have more , while the good working citizens have less. Under The Declaration of Independenc and the Constitution, we all are supposed to prosper, not just a few.

Support the constitution, enforce our laws and we will, gradually return to a prosperous, sharing nation.