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Post by blueneck on Dec 31, 2006 7:45:54 GMT -6
A recent op ed piece by globalization and illegal immigration apologist Linda Chavez used the same old tired argument that if illegal immigration were curbed we would pay for it in increased food prices.
But would we really? most produce is done on large scale factory farms with huge volumes, does a few dollars in higher wages really make that much of a difference?
I maintain that food costs have been held artificially low, to maximize profit. A few dollars rise in production labor cost might only add up to pennies at the checkout counter.
Meat packing is the same. Personally I wouldn't have a problem paying 10 cents more for my hamburger if it meant less illegal immigration.
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Post by graybeard on Dec 31, 2006 10:38:33 GMT -6
Lou Dobbs reported last summer that doubling the farm wage would raise the price of a head of letuce just ten cents. Also, just 11% of illegal aliens are working in agriculture.
When they refuse to distinguish illegal aliens from legal immigrants, their whole argument is false. GB
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Post by unlawflcombatnt on Dec 31, 2006 14:31:21 GMT -6
According to the New York Times, from an article earlier this year, raising the wages of farm workers who harvest produce would increase the price only 2-3%. Below is NYT's graphic showing this. Also note that over 7 million illegal immigrants are known to be employed in the United States. To put that in perspective, there are 145 million workers currently employed in the United States, and 7 million of them are illegal. The U.S. has 230 million individuals of working age. (The "Work Force" number in the graphic is just the workers considered to be "participating" in the work force, not the total number of working age individuals.) We don't certainly don't need any expansion of our potential labor force through illegal immigration. Also, with 7 million illegal immigrants working in the United States, we certainly have a lot of employers who could (and should) be prosecuted for illegal hiring. Addendum:Since it's impossible to print out the above graphic on 1 page due to its lenght and width, I made a modified copy of the right-sided 2/3 of it that can be printed on 1 sheet of paper.
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Post by blueneck on Dec 31, 2006 15:29:41 GMT -6
exactly - you'd be hard pressed to find someone against legal immigration. although it may be time to rethink who is let in legally as well.
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Post by unlawflcombatnt on Jan 1, 2007 18:43:55 GMT -6
although it may be time to rethink who is let in legally as well. I agree. We can't keep increasing legal avenues, such as increasing the limit on H1B visas. We have 230 million working age Americans, and only 145 million are employed. We don't have any labor "shortage" whatsoever. However, we do have a shortage of employers willing to pay American workers the market rate for wages.
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