Nice try, but not true. According to the U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA), "Between 2007 and 2021, the percent of U.S. fresh fruit and vegetable availability supplied by imports grew from 50 to 60 percent for fresh fruit and from 20 to 38 percent for fresh vegetables."
In other words, good old-fashioned capitalism keeps prices competitive. Moreover, the Center for Immigration Studies did extensive research on the price of produce without using illegal farmworkers and concluded that the increase would be marginal:
"The removal of illegal workers from the seasonal agricultural workforce would increase the summer-fall supermarket prices of fresh fruits and vegetables by about 6 percent in the short run and 3 percent in the intermediate term."
In addition, large corporate farms can well afford to swallow a few percentage points because they have made big profits in recent years. According to the USDA, "the net farm income in 2023 was 31.4 percent above its 20-year average (2003-22) of $115.0 billion in inflation-adjusted dollars."
The truth is, the only reason we have an immigration crisis is because it serves the interests of Big Business owners who hypocritically pretend to be against the influx of undocumented workers into the country while at the same time hiring them en masse to do their dirty work.
And the easiest way to fix this? Instead of having light penalties on employers who hire undocumented workers that are rarely enforced, the government needs to mandate tough penalties on employers that are strictly enforced.
Here's a suggestion: First offense: Two years mandatory jail time and a $10,000 fine per illegal employee for any employer who hires undocumented workers. Second offense: Five years in jail and a $20,000 fine per undocumented worker.
If this law were implemented and strictly enforced, employers would stop hiring illegals immediately. And once the word spread south of the border that jobs were no longer available in el norte, no one would come. Problem solved!
Of course, this would take an act of courage on the part of politicians to pass this type of legislation. And it would also take an act of courage for the mainstream media to cross their corporate masters and report the truth.
Until then, our country is stuck with the status quo as millions of illegal immigrants pour into the good old USA and perpetuate The Big Farce.
(Note: You can view every article as one long page if you sign up as an Advocate Member, or higher).
