NY farmers whine about labor shortage

NOTE: OK ALIPAC'ers, as soon as the DREAM Act battle is over, we are going to have to move swiftly onto Ag Jobs. The propaganda is out there still and will only ratchet up in the near term. No rest for the weary. Eat well and take your vitamins!
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Threatened harvest in Upstate
From apples to grapes, foreign workers pick our food, but tougher immigration laws reduce labor supply Immigration reform failure will show up in your shopping cart

http://www.theithacajournal.com/apps/pb ... 20349/1002
Diana Louise Carter
Gannett News Service

If this year is like others, the sounds of droning cicadas and buzzing bees in local apple orchards will soon be supplanted by the cadence of Spanish speech and Jamaican accents as migrant workers arrive to pick the Upstate New York apple crop.

The harvest requires about 8,000 temporary workers each year, according to James Allen, president of the New York Apple Association. And those workers typically come from south of the U.S. border.

But apple farmers are worrying that the only sound they'll hear in their orchards this fall will be the “thunkâ€

This will be an excellent opportunity for automation manufacturing businesses to flourish!!!

If these idiots realized that they could be expanding their profits and didn't have to rely on unreliable people they would be dancing in their fields! I think this is just more political propaganda!!

More Whining:

Farmers feel pinch of Immigration raids
http://www.whec.com/article/stories/S20 ... ml?cat=566
ORLEANS COUNTY, NY - Area farmers say the political atmosphere over illegal immigration is making it close to impossible to harvest their crops. The farmers say they are completely dependent on migrant workers, many of them undocumented, to work their fields. Some say agents from Immigration and Customs Enforcement have raided their farms and deported seasonal workers on repeated occasions this growing season.

"We didn't have this problem 30 years ago," said one Orleans County farmer. "American kids used to want to do this work."

Most farmers do not want to be identified out of fear that ICE will raid them in retaliation for speaking out.

"It makes you wonder what kind of country you're living in," said another farmer. "It reminds me of Germany when the Nazis were in power."

Michael Gilhooly, a spokesperson for Immigration and Customs Enforcement, said his agency does not keep records on illegal immigration sweeps in Western New York but says ICE does keep track of the number of overall deportations in upstate New York. Those figures were never made available, however, and Gilhooly did not respond to requests for an on camera interview.

Bob King, a farm industry expert at Monroe Community College, says area farmers are looking at a chronic labor situation. He points out that many of the seasonal jobs can pay between $10 and $20 an hour but adds area farmers still can't fill the jobs with American workers.

Agriculture is Western New York's top land-based industry. Farmland accounts for a quarter of all private property owned in Monroe County. King says if farms are forced to foreclose because of a labor shortage the ripple effect on rural towns and villages could be considerable.

Now here is something you won't hear. Williamson which is located in Wayne county is the core of apple county in upstate NY. The farmers run the town; they sit in the judges seat; they make the laws to suit themselves when necessary and the town can't always stop it cause they hold closed meetings where no announcement were made till one day prior so people miss it. Now for the most part this does not happen often but it has happened when it suited their needs. They raise the property taxes on the rest. The farmers pay no taxes on their houses because their houses are on the farm. So the rest in the town picks up the slack when taxes are raised. They have raised taxes every three years now and some once a year. Right now people are paying more then they can sell their homes for in many cases.

As far as the illegal immigration shortage goes; yes the slight crackdown that the federal government managed to do did have an effect this year. Not many illegals are picking their precious apples. Instead something else is happening; more poor black Americans are now in the fields picking but they are American citizens. This year has been a particularly dry year in rain. Most of the crop was rotten on the tree way before picking time. But there is no need to worry; cause like a bad frost; nature kills their apples from time to time and its all government subsidized. They recoup their losses at the taxpayers expense. They buy new trucks every year and pay no taxes on them as it is a necessary farm equipment. (HA) Some use these for personal transportation and that's it. Others I will say are honest and actually use it for the intended work.


Years ago; over 18 years ago there were no illegal immigrants at all working in the fields. They were all American citizens; the poor blacks came then or anyone else. In the last decade they decided to try a new labor force. That's when all the illegals started to come.

Over the last few years there have been raids; people called the INS then and they came and carted them away. Farmers were angry but the town people were glad not all because this is NY. I will tell you this. If you spoke to the illegal immigrants all Mexican from my experience and others also; they couldn't speak one word of English. Not one word, how more obvious can it be; can anyone say illegal immigrant. If you talk to them in Spanish you will know they are illegals it's that simple. The farmers have a big Union here in upstate NY. Maybe it was last year but they went to Senator Schumer to make sure they would have their illegals. Senator Schumer knowing he wants their votes their support since they have a rather large group which transforms into power assured them that he would do all in his power to make sure that they would have their needed farm help.

Now I have no problem in paying extra for fruit or anything if they can't get the workforce. But now its back to what it was before mostly. There are many Americans picking this year and then the illegal immigrants. In the papers you will see advertisements in Spanish and English for free medical care for them. Housing is given to them free also; its supplied by the farmers; but who actually pays in the end is another matter. I have not seen any Ice vehicles around lately perhaps one INS this year. But they are here. NY is a sanctuary state; a very liberal state with our tax paid dollars. I see new students entering the school system now; their parents are Mexican. The kids can hardly speak English and are shipped off to special schools to teach them. I guess their rich parents are paying that too. Some are in the regular schools. I don't understand how since I had to prove with documentation of a social security card; birth certificate and a doctors statement of shots given etc to enter my child how they are entering the system.

Oh and the kind of illegal immigrants they are getting is not all good. There are many you should stay clear of unless you wish to be a crime victim. Its sad I met this type and changed my hiking pattern because of it. I don't want trouble but I don't want to lose my freedoms either. People tell their kids to stay out of the orchards when they are young when they arrive. Some are naive and have no idea. Yes there have been problems, things have happened within the illegal community that shows itself every fall. Knife fights; someone stabbing somebody its all hushed pretty fast. The farmers tell some of us because they care.

A fascinating expose, skeptic. In fact, it's so fascinating that 60 minutes, Night Line or another of those types of programs should run an investigatory segment on it. It"s obvious that you live right in the middle of the NY farming areas as described in these articles. Several things are disturbing. One is the "secret cabal government" that the farmers have stacked in their favor. The is very disturbing. Another is their buying (you know it happens) the protection of Chuckie "the Smirker" Schumer. Another is the continued exixtence of the farm subsidity program, a program that should be shut down because it has outlived it's usefulness as it only enriches rich farmers more. Not to mention it is corrupt and incompetently managed. Last year, millions of subsidity dollars were paid to DEAD farmers. I kid you not. Another is, of course, the drug like addiction of the farmers to cheap illegal labor that destroys our economy, culture, schools and safety. There is absolutely NO REASON that these farmers cannot operate their operations within our existing employment, guest worker and immigration laws. But the problem is, they've gotten away with not abiding by the laws for so long, it's like trying to get a bone from a hungry dog. As far as I'm concerned...you have no business being in business if you can't conduct your business legally. Some of these big boy farmners need to be arrested and charged with knowingly hiring illegal alien labor. The others will get the picture real quick. Thanks for writing up your first person experience. Please keep us posted.

This is unmitigated greed on the part of the farmers. They would have numerous U.S. laws broken, rob us of our culture and resources, and promote chaos in our cities to increase their profits.