Started up the old (50's) Farmall Cub - put the plow on and turned two
gardens under. Always a fun thing to do. I don't understand when farmers say
they can't get American help and need to depend on illegal immigrants. I had
mowed the vines & weeds in the garden to mulch them up a bit and now after
plowing there is no sign of any growth - just nice, dark, fresh earth. In
the spring I'll just drag a disc harrow over it and we'll be good to go.

Srgnt Billko said:

[...]

I don't understand when farmers say they can't get American help and need
to depend on illegal immigrants.

Sarge, not /all/ immigrants are illegal.

We get a crew of 8-10 Mexican workers every summer. We try to get the same
crew each year, and usually succeed in that. One of the pre-requisites is
that we run an ad in the local paper, first. This ad has to be structurally
worded to /EXACT/ specifications. The ad costs us $1200 for three days, due
to it's size. We then have to wait a certain amount of time, while we get
maybe 3 or 4 local respondents (of which *maybe* 1 will be qualified, and
worth hiring).

Then, after the mountain of paperwork, and several thousand more dollars in
fees, bus tickets (we pay their round trip from the border), etc., we wait.
For months (thanks to how ****ed up "The Chimp" has made this country).
About that time, some ****head from Homeland *cough* Security decides that
some date, somewhere on one of the pages is wrong, and rejects the whole
thing. We then pay several hundred more dollars for an immigration attorney
to send a letter to said ****head, pointing out his error. Only *then* do
we get our "Amigos".

This is each and every spring. We don't get qualified respondents because
Americans, by and large, are lazy, useless ****s. They want the quick buck,
but don't want to work for it. The Mexican crew we get can run circles
around their American counterparts. They /rarely/ complain about their
tasks, and are quite happy to perform them. They're not "cheap labor" by
any means. They're labor.

Don't get me wrong. I'm *far* from anti-American. I'm a Vet (and quite
proud of it). I love this country for what it stands for, and the ability
to pursue whatever goals we wish. But, I get ****ed when people describe
all Mexican workers as illegals. They do the shit that Americans don't want
to. They show up, on time, every day. Last summer, most of our Mexican crew
took ONE day off, the ENTIRE time they were here (April-October). Show me 8
Americans that would do that. I'd bet my house that you can't.

Because a couple of idiot managers blew our yearly budget on an unnecessary
project, we had to let our Mexican crew go a month and a half early (and
because of that ****head at HS, we didn't get them until a month later than
normal). Instead of working for us until the end of November (a month
longer than normal, which we worked hard to get), their last day is Sunday.
Most were done a week ago. The last 3 have been invited to my house, this
Sunday, after I return from a camping trip, for some beers (and probably
some tequila, heh). I'm proud to have them in my home, and proud to call
each of them a friend. They'd do anything for me, and likewise, I'd do
anything I could for them.

Please don't consider the Mexicans you see, bent over in a field somewhere,
illegals. Most likely, they're not.

/rant

Sorry to take away from your topic. I'm glad you got your garden plowed.
There's nothing like getting everything ready for Spring, when it's still
October. =) That statement just rubbed me a bit wrong, and I felt I needed
to point out it was incorrect. =)

Now.. where'd I put those new lantern mantles...

--

Eggs

I'd give my right arm to be ambidextrous.

"Eggs Zachtly" wrote in message
...
Srgnt Billko said:

[...]

I don't understand when farmers say they can't get American help and need
to depend on illegal immigrants.

Sarge, not /all/ immigrants are illegal.

I realize that - but the topic seems to only come up when illegals are the
subject.
And thanks for your real-life explanations. I just read (or heard) some big
farmer (midwest I think) was importing help from South Africa because of the
shortage / difficulty getting people from Mexico. (Paying round-trip
airfare) We've had an influx of Mexicans and other Latinos in our small (
25,000) town over the past few years - aside from those migrants working
farms on the outskirts. They seem to be fitting in quite nicely - no
problems. At first it was mostly young guys on bicycles - now more families
and driving vehicles. I notice males and females working in diners and fast
food places - and a crew of about 10 working landscaping+ together. They
impressed me so I stopped and got their number for a possible job or two.
My only bitch is seeing everything in English and Spanish now. I
acknowledge the economics of it - business trying to attract Hispanics as
customers - but it wasn't done widespread for other immigrants so I don't
like it done for Spanish.

Thanks again for your personal experience.



We get a crew of 8-10 Mexican workers every summer. We try to get the same
crew each year, and usually succeed in that. One of the pre-requisites is
that we run an ad in the local paper, first. This ad has to be
structurally
worded to /EXACT/ specifications. The ad costs us $1200 for three days,
due
to it's size. We then have to wait a certain amount of time, while we get
maybe 3 or 4 local respondents (of which *maybe* 1 will be qualified, and
worth hiring).

Then, after the mountain of paperwork, and several thousand more dollars
in
fees, bus tickets (we pay their round trip from the border), etc., we
wait.
For months (thanks to how ****ed up "The Chimp" has made this country).
About that time, some ****head from Homeland *cough* Security decides that
some date, somewhere on one of the pages is wrong, and rejects the whole
thing. We then pay several hundred more dollars for an immigration
attorney
to send a letter to said ****head, pointing out his error. Only *then* do
we get our "Amigos".

This is each and every spring. We don't get qualified respondents because
Americans, by and large, are lazy, useless ****s. They want the quick
buck,
but don't want to work for it. The Mexican crew we get can run circles
around their American counterparts. They /rarely/ complain about their
tasks, and are quite happy to perform them. They're not "cheap labor" by
any means. They're labor.

Don't get me wrong. I'm *far* from anti-American. I'm a Vet (and quite
proud of it). I love this country for what it stands for, and the ability
to pursue whatever goals we wish. But, I get ****ed when people describe
all Mexican workers as illegals. They do the shit that Americans don't
want
to. They show up, on time, every day. Last summer, most of our Mexican
crew
took ONE day off, the ENTIRE time they were here (April-October). Show me
8
Americans that would do that. I'd bet my house that you can't.

Because a couple of idiot managers blew our yearly budget on an
unnecessary
project, we had to let our Mexican crew go a month and a half early (and
because of that ****head at HS, we didn't get them until a month later
than
normal). Instead of working for us until the end of November (a month
longer than normal, which we worked hard to get), their last day is
Sunday.
Most were done a week ago. The last 3 have been invited to my house, this
Sunday, after I return from a camping trip, for some beers (and probably
some tequila, heh). I'm proud to have them in my home, and proud to call
each of them a friend. They'd do anything for me, and likewise, I'd do
anything I could for them.

Please don't consider the Mexicans you see, bent over in a field
somewhere,
illegals. Most likely, they're not.

/rant

Sorry to take away from your topic. I'm glad you got your garden plowed.
There's nothing like getting everything ready for Spring, when it's still
October. =) That statement just rubbed me a bit wrong, and I felt I
needed
to point out it was incorrect. =)

Now.. where'd I put those new lantern mantles...

--

Eggs

I'd give my right arm to be ambidextrous.

I've observed that Mexicans do jobs that Americans won't do *at the
wages offered*. Everyone that makes the statement that "Mexicans are
doing the jobs American refuse to do" seems to think that while *they*
are a hard working decent American the rest of the country is nothing
but a bunch of shiftless layabouts. I don't think that's true. I think
the country is better than that.

Fact is, most Americans take the jobs that offer the best wage for the
skill set they have to offer, which is absolutely reasonable. Yes, most
American won't pick lettuce for $8/hr because they can make a better
wage doing easier work. Wouldn't you do the same? Would you work for
seven to eight dollars an hour doing manual labor when you could make
$15/hr doing something that requires a bit more skill? If you would
you've failed basic economics, go to the back of the class.

If you shut off the supply of cheap unskilled labor (i.e. actually
controlled illegal immigration), wages for these type jobs would rise
(i.e. basic supply and demand). At some point (meaning at some wage
level), you *would* see Americans starting to do these jobs that so many
arrogantly say "American won't do". Yes, prices for some things would
rise but not dramatically. The labor component of the total cost to
bring a head of lettuce or a pound of tomatoes to market is actually a
fairly small percentage (about 7% last time I looked).

Basically, we have uncontrolled illegal immigration because the two
major American political parties tacitly support it, though for
different reasons. Republicans are generally supported by medium to
large businesses which use illegal immigrants to force down wages for
low skill jobs. Democrats on the other hand view every illegal
immigrant as a future Democrat voter. They bet they'll either legalize
the illegal immigrant in some future "Immigration Reform" legislation or
at least the birthright citizen offspring of the illegal immigrant will
vote Democrat over Republican by at least a 2 to 1 margin.

People in the middle class and above will get their lawn cut cheaply,
get their lettuce a little cheaper, and maybe buy their next home for a
little less than they would have otherwise have paid. The lower class
on the other hand will pay a much higher cost as they will have to
compete with cheap illegal immigrants at the bottom of the job pool.

Future generations will pay a cost as well. To the extent that any
group of immigrants remain unassimilated the country will be a bit less
American and indeed in some areas it will be more Mexican than American.
To the extent that South American political culture is imported and
takes root our children and grandchildren could well be less free and
less safe than we are today. Unfortunately, they won't get to vote in
whether or not to fix the country's immigration policy.