Kansas farmers call for increased immigration

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Very interesting article here about the desperate need for more immigrants in the American midwest, an area heavily dependent on agricultural labour.

Perfectly good food is getting thrown away because there aren't enough workers to harvest it. This is harming businesses and the people who rely on them.

As well as farms, apparently this is having a serious impact on the construction industry. Americans aren't getting the houses they need because the immigration policy is causing a shortage of builders.

America's size means that it needs immigrants more than almost anywhere, but this highlights the importance of immigration reform for all countries. Immigration is very good for the economy and society at large because it increases the amount of work done. Make it easy for people to immigrate and everyone benefits.

I'm not trying to stir a pot here, but it's a genuine question: why can't existing members of the the citizenry take up these jobs first and foremost?

I was about to say "Americans" but I do more widely mean just "people who already live there" no matter who they are.

I don't see why more people need to be imported into a country to take jobs -- even so-called undesirable jobs -- as long as there is an unemployment figure in the existing population.

Britain has the same situation and yet there are many unskilled unemployed who turn their noses up at such work. If they were to be given the choice of getting kicked off the dole or take one of these positions, you'd instantly have your workers from the local population without even needing to invite more immigration to fill these positions.

foodproduction needs lowsalaried persons, but new ones evey year ??
this is a long term problem you cant resolve by creating ever more problems
silicon valley wants more immigrants for cheap too, and they have big profits

since food must be cheap, for some strange reason we won't pay decent money for food, more cellphones that's great for environmental issues, regular pay for the hard labour in food production, never that'll pass
gouvernment payouts to keep some economic activity going in a semi planned-economy

the regular farmer gets endetted more everyday, by working very hard
see how long you can feed yourself on creditcards and cellphones

not travelling goods worldwide, for taxreductions and primes btw, would help your rotten CC-saga a lot
or : https://www.counterpunch.org/2015/12/04 ... oot-print/

If they want workers they should pay more and ideally hire Americans. I'm not against people coming here to try and make a buck however if even the immigrants aren't coming to work for you then you definitely aren't paying enough.

And when it comes to "labor shortages" this is pretty much always the problem.

This is nonsense the majority of the agricultural industry is ran by large corporations usually associated with large and wealthy families. Just take a look at all the equipment and technology required to keep food costs at the current level.

Perhaps these people just don't want to lose a virtual slave labor force that have to rights to cliam - regarding illegal immigration that is.

Last edited by EzraS on 22 Jun 2017, 9:15 am, edited 1 time in total.

Kansas has an unemployment rate of around 2%. That's very very low. Many of those people are not suitable for jobs in agriculture or construction. They might have mobility problems, or they're graduates seeking (and capable of performing) skilled work, or they aren't suitable for physical jobs, or they're just temporarily between jobs in a promising career, There simply aren't the people to take the jobs without immigration.

There isn't a huge magic pile of people "sitting on the dole" refusing to do the jobs.

Even if sloth were an issue, it doesn't make a difference whether a job is performed by a native or an immigrant. However, bringing in immigrants has other economic benefits, like increasing demand and custom to other businesses.

Pay workers a fair wage or go out of business, plain and simple. Kansas does not need illegal immigrants. Slave labor in all forms should be opposed.

No. They don't need more immigrants. The article you quoted said they wanted more undocumented immigrants. They don't want people who are legally here who are desperate for work but who know their rights as workers and can advocate for their rights because they're here legally. They "need" a labor force that they can hire and fire at will, who nobody is going to ask about the feeding, sheltering, and health of, who are willing to take a slave's wages (or no wages at all) because they are here illegally and thus have no recourse. Very odd that they "need" such a labor force when there are plenty of legal immigrants and college students etc. desperate for work/a way to pay off student debt. Odd that they need that when we have prisoners in the system who wouldn't mind the chance to be outside. The thing is though, when you hire those people, even when you hire prisoners who can and are willing to work for the same slave wage as an illegal immigrant, you are still expected to provide certain things- regular access to clean water, regular access to a sanitary place to relieve themselves, etc. Those people have rights and aren't at all afraid to speak up about them.

This whole idea of "needing" illegal immigrants is a false narrative.



Good for that man trying to "get his paperwork in order." I mean that sincerely. There's a lot of ways to legally enter this country, especially if you only want to do it temporarily. Good for him.



Pretty odd and pretty sad that they can't just say to the local food banks and shelters- "hey, I'm really bad at math and I forgot about the entire legal system that governs this country is on occasion enforced. Would you be a doll/teddy bear and come on over and pick some stuff to feed the people in my own country who are starving? I'll try not to screw up so bad next year. Anybody at the shelter looking for work?"

Once upon a time, people grew what they could harvest. And no a days we have robots that can pick as well. They aren't as good at harvesting as humans- they miss some of the low down stuff where snakes like to hide, for instance.


No. We have people who can swing a hammer. We even have people who were trained to do so. We might have even have paid for their education with our taxes. I certainly don't have a problem with my tax money being used to educate a citizen or be used to re-train them. Even if they're prisoners. They need to work when they get out. They're more likely to re-offend if they don't get work. We have legal immigrants, which we've always had. We have college students, which we've always had. We have moms and dads here who've lost their job but still need to put food on the table, which we've always had as well. They can swing a hammer.

Also, the effect of the bailout/recession/etc. on real estate cannot be ignored. A lot of people lost their homes. Other people, and banks, bought those homes. They rent them out. That is (an often ignored part of) why there aren't a ton of houses to buy.



Legal immigration does that. It also protects us from disease by screening legal immigrants for things like TB. It also protects us from people who are criminals of real crimes in their own countries. It also puts a cap on how many may enter as immigrants at any given time from any given place, thus allowing the melting (in the melting pot) to occur.



The system we have isn't without fault, but it isn't entirely made of fault either.



I thoroughly agree.

The bases for the building of America from coast to coast WERE immigrants.

In reality, many native-born Americans don't want to take agricultural jobs.

I believe they should revive the "guest worker" program.

Legal ones. Documented ones. Who were subject to quarantine if they were sick, and who were screened as much as possible before computers existed.



In which reality is this? My parents, aunts, uncles, and neighbors of that age all worked on farms to pay for college (or just a car or whatever) during break. The reality is, farmers don't want to pay a proper wage, or provide regular access to water or a sanitary place for people to relieve themselves etc.


Nobody killed it. It doesn't need resuscitation. It still exists.

Once you get unemployment rates under about 5%, it falls into what's known as structural unemployment. That mostly accounts for people simply changing jobs, etc.

So, if you're in an area where unemployment is less than this, it pretty much really does indicate that there's a labor shortage.

I live in a region that borders the south and midwest (specifically Kansas). The economy is dominated by agriculture and meatpacking and there is a legitimate labor shortage here.

It is caused by a lack of people--certainly not because people would rather "live on the dole" or because they are too precious to do dirty jobs. Since welfare reform under Clinton, there's no such thing as living off welfare in the south and midwest because that sort of welfare just does not exist anymore. Sure, some people live on SSI or SSDI, but that requires a medically documented disability. In most places in America today, for able-bodied people, if you don't work, you don't eat--certainly not in Kansas or my state...

There's no such thing as a minimum wage job here. Despite the fact that the cost of living is relatively low, the labor market is so tight that fast food jobs start at more than $10/hr--I know this because every drive-thru window has a help wanted sign with wages listed...

Nasty, unskilled poultry jobs average $14/hrs plus benefits with all the overtime you can handle and employers cannot keep positions filled.

I'm not in favor of uncontrolled illegal immigration--it's bad for immigrants and bad for native workers. However, we need some kind of guest worker program here because many regions/industries are facing a real labor shortage and it is a serious drag on the economy.

Last edited by GoonSquad on 22 Jun 2017, 2:21 pm, edited 1 time in total.

This is seriously one of the arguments used in favor of the preservation of slavery, exploitative illegal labor must stop. Most agricultural land in this country is controlled by huge corporations, if they cannot break even then they should be broken up and the land returned to the people who would gladly farm it. It's funny talking to my dad, he remembers growing up in a farming community and how everybody wanted to get out but now this generation, at least from our experience, seems eager to return. The death of the family farm has been a huge tragedy for this country, corporate farming needs illegal immigrants so it can put all the family farms out of business.

They're still not paying enough then simple as that, if the positions were better than people would come to the jobs.

Also a lot of these 'labor shortages' are completely fictional since they are required to prove they looked for American workers before applying for guest ones and most of the time Americans couldn't get these jobs if they tried. It's straight up exploitation, we won't go hungry because Monsanto or whoever in the agribusiness is getting a fat enough cut. There should be some major trust busting down to these corporations which control such important sectors of the economy. Pay workers a fair wage in fair working conditions or go out of business, the land could be better used by families like the ones they stole the land from to begin with.

I know two people who grew up on midwest family farms, a man and a woman. The both got jobs as managers in Connecticut that allowed them to buy single family homes The guy lost one his arms in a farming accident.

Better be careful, the Romans killed the Graccus brothers for saying stuff like that!

We have several. And the employers aren't crying out for more legal immigrants and legal workers. They are crying out for undocumented ones. They can't provide basic things like regular access to water or a sanitary place for workers to relieve themselves. They want workers to work long hours in brutal conditions and pay them next to nothing or cheat them. They want the illegal workers to use part of what they're "paid" to lodge in an old trailer unfit for human habitation on that property. They want modern slavery.