Stable farm labor seems elusive in global economy
In 1986, immigration reform tried to legalize undocumented farmworkers and offer farmers a stable, legal work force. But it failed to deter illegal immigration.
The Immigration Reform and Control Act granted legal status to more than a million agricultural workers. It also introduced sanctions for employers who knowingly hire undocumented workers and increased border enforcement.
But as the unauthorized work force turned legal and gained job mobility, there was substantial "leakage" of legal workers from agriculture to better-paying or more stable employment, the National Agricultural Workers Survey shows. Ten years after the immigration act, half of all farmworkers were again illegal, the survey shows.
This was one small part of the story in The Oregonian that asked how local farmers can compete in the global marketplace.
The proponents of using illegal aliens as their labor make the same arguments that proponents of slavery made. But after abolition the industry adjusted. Mechanization and efficiencies actually made farming BETTER in America.
Illegal aliens are a crutch that keep us from innovation and improvement in food production. If we legalize the current bunch they will quite their jobs and more criminals will flow across the border to take their place.