Illegal immigration and immigration reform are supplying lots of media content lately. The Justice department is suing to block the Arizona immigration law. A majority of Americans agree with the law, polls show, and Utah is considering a copycat law. In the mean time, unemployed Americans are less than enthusiastic about a campaign offering them low-paying, labor-intensive jobs filled by illegal immigrants.
{|Article resource: Unemployed refuse offers for jobs filled by illegal immigration by Personal Money Store
American agriculture and illegal immigration
To draw attention to immigration reform, the United Farm Workers Union launched a campaign called “Take Our Jobs”. The union stands behind the AgJobs bill, legislation being held up on Congress that gives temporary legal status to immigrants that can become permanent if they stick around on American farms. CNN reports that at least half a million applicants are needed to replace the immigrant workforce. Anyone who wants to work on a farm can fill out an application at takeourjobs.org.
Unemployed shun back-breaking labor
Union president Arturo Rodriguez told CNN that at least 4,000 people have responded to the application. Some of the responses are hate mail, others are serious. Only a few dozen have followed through. Most applicants quickly lose interest once the reality sinks in that the jobs involve back-breaking labor in triple-digit temperatures and minimum wage, typically without benefits.
Anti-immigration groups vs. farm labor reality
The Department of Agriculture counts nearly 1 million farm workers in the U.S.. the Migrant Farm Worker Justice project claims that 85 percent of farm workers are immigrants and as many as 70 percent of them are illegal. Even so, a crackdown on illegal immigration is favored by most Americans, surveys show. Allheadlinlenews.com reports that 59 percent of those surveyed by the Pew Research Center support the Arizona immigration law. Nearly 20 states are drawing up comparable legislation, including Arkansas, Idaho, Indiana, Maryland, Michigan, Minnesota, Missouri, Nebraska, Nevada, New Jersey, Ohio, Oklahoma, Pennsylvania, Rhode Island, South Carolina, Texas and Utah.
Illegal immigration puts food on the table
The United Farm Workers Union, in support of the AgJobs bill, insists that illegal immigration helps, not hinders, the economy. The CNN article quotes Rob Williams, director of the Migrant Farm Worker Justice Project as saying that in The United States it is pretty clear that the least desirable job to have is being a migrant farm worker. A labor crisis would result if the anti-immigration movement got its wish, Williams said. Because everybody has to eat, he said, immigrants do the work when nobody else is willing.
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cnn.com
allheadlinenews.com
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