Illegal Immigration: The Other Side of the Coin
Posted by Karoli in News April 17th, 2006
This is a strawberry field behind our church. It looks just like the strawberry fields that surround our community, Sticks’ school, and are the pride of this little niche of the world. Out here, the strawberries are like garlic in Gilroy, festival and all.
The fruit in this field is ready for harvest, which means hand-picking berries directly into flats. It must be done quickly once the fruit is ripe, and with all the rain we’ve had lately the farmers are concerned. Very concerned.
While we were eating our strawberry shortcake for dessert, these folks were picking the berries for the next round of shortcake. Out in the fields at sunrise, they were at it when I drove by shortly before sunset. Easter is a huge holiday in our Hispanic community (in any Hispanic community!), and seeing these folks in the fields really drove home the sacrifice they were making to put food on their table and contribute to our local economy.
I’m reasonably certain that the workers in these fields were a mixture of legal and illegal immigrants — they usually are. Our local economy would be in a heap of trouble without workers, illegal and legal, who are willing to go out and pick the berries. If it were left up to those of us who consume them they wouldn’t be picked.
The next time you hear about what a drain illegal immigrants are on our economy, remember these folks.
Technorati Tags: illegal immigration, farm workers, society, politics
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…living life in 19/7 time 
You are, of course, correct. But on the other hand, if only LEGAL immigrants and citizens were permitted to obtain these jobs, would not the wages paid to workers also rise due to increased demand?
In this country we’ve been focused on “supply side” economics for so long that we’ve forgotten the “other side of the coin”- labor.
When a job is so undesirable that folks won’t do it for the wages offered, then the wages must increase.
Higher wages for honest work leads to a better standard of living.
The laws of supply and demand should be allowed to work for labor, as the government allows it to work for capital.
For capitalism to fly, it needs both wings; capital and labor.
Personally, I don’t mind paying a few cents more for my strawberries if it means that the men and women who pick them also get paid a living wage.
Great post and great pictures! Who took those photographs?
EdWonk:
If these workers COULD be legal, don’t you think they would be? The process is incredibly difficult, nearly impossible to navigate. Let’s start with that and move ahead from there to the issues of paying them more, which is absolutely necessary.
Alexander:
Thank you! I took both of them yesterday.
DnW
[...] DrumsnWhistles blogged a photo essay with commentary about the “problem” of “illegal immigration”. It is worth viewing and reflecting upon. [...]
It’s nice to read a positive blog on this issue. Most of the things I read are not only exaggerating the impact illegal immigration has on wages without taking into account how many higher paying jobs it creates for the greater, educated public, but they are also quite unwilling to see things from another perspective.
nice pics btw.
[...] Related: Illegal Immigration: The Other Side of the Coin Add to:These icons link to social bookmarking sites where readers can share and discover new web pages. [...]
Andy,
Thank you!
DnW