Current Edition- California Business Practice

The Peacemaker Quarterly- April 2014

Tuesday, June 7, 2011

Twin immigration laws create labor crisis for American farmers

This article discusses the new immigration laws passed in Utah, Georgia, and Alabama; similar to the one passed in Arizona. I feel that this is a good example of state and federal government and their involvement in the issue. The states have their own authority to regulate their police powers in checking the immigration status of their citizens, which is what this law is allowing more of. The unintended negative side effect of this law (like we discussed a little in class, but forgot the term) is that farms in these states are losing half, if not more of their workforce. Yes this is freeing up job opportunities for unemployed Americans, like it intended to, but the article goes on to say that only a few percentage are actually taking these vacant jobs. Farmers are having to increase wages, which they can barely afford, and it still isn't enough incentive. Farms across these states are reporting losses in crops. If trends continue like this, and farms continue to decline, how long before exporting these crops to other states become an issue? Is this when the federal government steps in because it's affecting interstate commerce? This article and law are focused primarily on each state specifically, but to me it seems like it could evolve more into an interstate issue if these jobs are continued to be left unfilled



http://news.yahoo.com/s/yblog_thelookout/20110606/ts_yblog_thelookout/twin-immigration-laws-create-labor-crisis-for-american-farmers

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