|
FAIR Staff Contributions |
||
|
Latest Research
FAIR Press Release
7 Principles of Immigration Reform Resources & Links
All e-mail is subject to print, including your name. If you don't want us to publish your e-mail, or if you would like to remain anonymous, just let us know.
Add Stein Report headlines to your website or blog A notice to our readers: Comments on the Stein Report will only be posted when they seek to advance constructive debate and discussion, whether or not the poster agrees with the initial posting. Thank you. | ||
|
Check out FAIR on:
|
|
|
July 03, 2012 The "Farm Worker Shortage" Helps Local Agriculture "A looming shortage of migrant workers, with fewer Mexicans coming north in recent years, could create a kind of rural-urban divide if it continues, with mass-production farms that depend on cheap labor losing some of their price advantages over locally grown food, which tends to be more expensive. From the vineyards of California to the cherry orchards of Oregon, big agriculture has struggled this year to find willing hands. Local farm sales are becoming more stable, predictable and measurable. A study last fall by the Department of Agriculture said that local revenues had been radically undercounted in previous analyses that mainly focused on road stands and markets. When sales to restaurants and stores were factored in, the study said, the local food industry was four times bigger than in any previous count, upward of $4.8 billion," the New York Times writes. "Labor, as it has been for generations in the United States, is still the big wrinkle for local growers. But in many cases, experts like Professor Duffy say, the local food system is increasingly going its own way, differentiated from the traditional labor pool of migrant workers that the United States' mainstream produce system depends on. Many larger local farms hire Hispanic workers, but at more farm stands and markets, buying local also means, in subtle or not so subtle ways, buying native." Localharvest.org maintains a database of CSA (community supported agriculture) programs, farm-shares and farmers' markets.
Farm Scare Tactics Ramp Up for Harvest; Enforcement Working "The American Farm Bureau Federation projects $5 billion to $9 billion in annual produce-industry losses because of the labor shortages, which have become commonplace for farmers such as Torrey, who said there were 10 applicants for every job five years ago," McClatchyDC.com reports. "Because labor makes up nearly half the production cost for fruit and 35 percent for vegetables, farmers who face labor shortages are switching to crops that require less manpower, such as corn, soybeans, cotton and peanuts." Check out today's other posting for an explanation of why mass producing farms want/need a supply of cheap labor - to suppress competition from smaller, local producers.
Rubio Renews Charge That Obama Wants Immigration Issue Unsolved "Sen. Marco Rubio (R-Fla.) accused Democrats of wanting American immigration policy to be an "unsolved issue" for political gain," The Hill reports. "Rubio said the only way to institute substantial immigration reform is for Democrats to stop using it as a political weapon against Republicans."
As Expected, Fraudsters Target DREAM Act Eligible Aliens "Five Tulsa college students split up the numbers to cold call lawyers claiming to help immigrants file for the latest administrative relief. In one afternoon, they found two disbarred attorneys, one "notario" claiming the ability to do legal work, an attorney charging $2,000 for an application that doesn't yet exist and several more with no idea of President Barack Obama's recent announcement to shift policy aimed to help undocumented youth," the Tulsa World reports.
Mexican Immigrants' Nixon Problem: They Don't Know Anyone Who Voted PRI "The vast majority of the 40,000 Mexican expatriates who voted in Sunday's election cast ballots against President-elect Enrique Pena Nieto. Many immigrants said Monday that they were shocked his Institutional Revolutionary Party -- which largely convinced them to leave their homeland -- has returned to power," the AP reports. Film reviewer Pauline Kael once famously said, "I can't believe Nixon won. I don't know anyone who voted for him."
|
