Thread: E-Verify, immigration must be linked

E-Verify, immigration must be linked
THE OLYMPIAN | • Published August 11, 2011

Skagit Valley strawberry grower Steve Sakuma doesn’t mince words when he talks about the unintended consequences of a bill introduced in Congress requiring employers to electronically verify the immigration status of their employees.

Based on his own candid assessment of his work force, 80 percent of his more than 200 seasonal laborers are illegal immigrants.

Sure, they show him paperwork that says they are here legally, but Sakuma and thousands of other farmers who rely on migrant labor to harvest their fruits and vegetables know better.

Send those migrant laborers back to where they came from and those crops would rot in the fields and in the orchards.

“They are here doing what other people won’t do,â€

Typical Liberal blather to shove shamnesty down our UNWILLING throats.

And any complete overhaul has to include some sort of amnesty provision so businesses that depend on illegal migrant labor out of necessity – not desire – aren’t left high and dry.

BS, I say , total BS!

Originally Posted by nomas

Typical Liberal blather to shove shamnesty down our UNWILLING throats.

And any complete overhaul has to include some sort of amnesty provision so businesses that depend on illegal migrant labor out of necessity – not desire – aren’t left high and dry.

BS, I say , total BS!

Agree. Once the illegals become amnestied, these companies will claim they now need new illegals because the old ones want higher pay.

There are already numerous programs under which these employers can hire foreign labor. The choose to be lazy and hire whoever shows up at the gate.

Based on his own candid assessment of his work force, 80 percent of his more than 200 seasonal laborers are illegal immigrants.

Sure, they show him paperwork that says they are here legally, but Sakuma and thousands of other farmers who rely on migrant labor to harvest their fruits and vegetables know better.

So he's admitting to KNOWINGLY hiring illegal aliens? Time for ICE, ICE baby!

Seriously Sakuma, if you can't do business legally, then shut it down! Haven't you heard? It's cheaper to farm in mexico and ship produce here, plus we don't have to subsidize your cheap labor.

Let the crops rot then, your cheap labor is costing us way too much!

So he doesn't know about the unlimited H-2A visas already available for agricultural workers? Yeah, sure.

[quote]“They are here doing what other people won’t do,â€

Based on his own candid assessment of his work force, 80 percent of his more than 200 seasonal laborers are illegal immigrants.

Seasonal, indicates to me that these people are only required for what, 2 months out of the year? So taxpayers have to subsidize them the rest of the year. Convenient how that's not mentioned.

Another thing left out of the conversation is the fact that most of these people will leave the fields and find other types of work asap. Effectively this is a never ending cycle of demand for cheap labor.

Lets say a CIR plan is put in place, one which ends illegal immigration with actual enforcement. You know, like what was promised in the 86 IRCA. These damn farmers would eventually have to pay a fair wage to keep laborers coming back.

So my conclusion is this is the Agra business squeezing the last bit of profit they can derive from the American taxpayer. Eventually they'll have to mechanize or pay higher wages and they know it.