Thread: Texas economy braces for immigration bill impact

Originally Posted by curiouspat

I KNOW WHAT I'M ABOUT TO SAY IS NOT PC.

That qualification made, here goes.

The USA has sooo many people in jail...why not pull a Sheriff Joe Arpaio?

Take the NON-violent offenders (no gang members) and if they volunteer and do a good job, contributing to our country, by picking, or working in the fields or aforementioned shrimp boats, etc., and behave themselves while working,...then they will have some time taken off their sentences.

Right now, they sit in jail, watch TV, get a jail house education, work out on equipment I can't afford, and cost us taxpayers a lot of money. Let them contribute for a change. Maybe it would raise their self-esteem!

OK, I'm dreaming!

Sounds like a plan to me!!! And with the numbers of illegals in our jails, the whining farmers will still have their wonderful illegal workforce and much cheaper than they would if they had to pay them!!!!

''Losing the guest worker program is going to be very difficult to my industry, the fresh fruit and vegetable businesses in Texas," said John McClung, president of the Texas Produce Association in McAllen. ''We have known for a long while that approximately 70 percent of our field labor is illegal."

It makes me so mad that these people can admit they have been breaking the law hiring illegals and probably evading taxes on their wages right in the newspapers with impunity.

This is what burns me up the most. They KNOW no one will do anything about it.

Mayday,

This actually already happens on some farms. A popular-in-the-media example are the Roloff Farms, which is run by the stars of the popular TV series "Little People Big World." They've had several episodes where when the pears and apples are in season, the people come to the farm, pick them themselves, and they are charged by weight. Same with the pumpkin patches. It seems to be a very family-friendly activity, and kids seem to love it!!

The farmers markets are what thrive in the big cities, though, as most city dwellers won't drive miles outside of the city to get onions! The gas and time cost alone wouldn't make it worth it!


Curiouspat,

Many ALIPACers have thought this is a great idea for a long time!! Too bad no one has implemented it yet! But I'd bet you'd see less criminals going back to jail if they knew they'd have to work in the fields, rather than sit in their cells with cable TV's and earn a degree behind bars! (Yes, I'm all for rehabilitation, but for goodness sake, prison is supposed to be a punishment! Getting a free college education behind bars, on the taxpayer's dime, is a little annoying to me when so many law-abiding citizens struggle to pay for their kids college education).

TexasGal

Originally Posted by curiouspat

I KNOW WHAT I'M ABOUT TO SAY IS NOT PC.

That qualification made, here goes.

The USA has sooo many people in jail...why not pull a Sheriff Joe Arpaio?

Take the NON-violent offenders (no gang members) and if they volunteer and do a good job, contributing to our country, by picking, or working in the fields or aforementioned shrimp boats, etc., and behave themselves while working,...then they will have some time taken off their sentences.

Right now, they sit in jail, watch TV, get a jail house education, work out on equipment I can't afford, and cost us taxpayers a lot of money. Let them contribute for a change. Maybe it would raise their self-esteem!

OK, I'm dreaming!

I agree! I have been advocating them building the border fence for a long time. Why not? Our taxes are paying to house them. Bring em all out and have them build the fence, pick the vegetables, etc etc.

Thanks TGal,

Fresh air and sunshine and work is good for the soul.

Oh, one on my jobs as a child was working on a farm, ok, only for the summer. My friend's grandpa owned a farm mid-Fl. He grew the huge watermelons and pigs. We worked hard! I learned a lot. Watermelons are heavy! Getting them into a truck bed, manually, which we did, was backbreaking work. Pigs stink and while the babies are cute, the big 'uns are dangerous. You get dirty. You work hard.

And you feel great knowing you've really accomplished something important helping to supply 'FOOD' at the end of the day.

So. Fl. is a big truck garden. We picked strawberries every summer.
In Ohio (while I was married), we picked apples. Before anyone protests...I DO REALIZE that this was NOT our only means of making a living and that we were NOT at the mercy of unscrupulous employers.

Point for this thread: It would NOT hurt jailed offenders to contribute to our nation in this fashion. I did!