Wednesday, April 26, 2006

Letters

I usually read the letters to the editor every day and I have noticed a recurring theme lately. A lot of writers are suggesting that we deport or jail all the illegal immigrants and then use our existing prisoners to pick the crops. But not one mentioned the fact that maybe; just maybe the farmer doesn’t want prisoners picking his crop? The farmer probably wants willing workers and knowledgeable workers and I doubt that prisoners qualify. And then what about liabilities? The illegals picking his crop now don’t have insurance coverage and that’s the way the farmer likes it. If he accidentally sprays them with pesticide, it’s no big deal…but if they were prisoners? Who knows what liabilities the farmer would face? And since illegals do a lot more than just pick produce, what about those other jobs? Will we have prisoners mowing our lawns and being nanny’s for our children? Just wondering…

2 comments:

  1. Well the unions have fits when prison labor is used. It has been a problem and remains so. Just like when the union got pissed because my former company volunteered to paint a classroom for free when they believed it should have beenn a paid union job.

    In my intro to corrections course I wrote a paper proposing that we use prison labor to build products to be sold only overseas (i.e. Asia). That way we can ship T.V.'s to China at lower prices.

    We need to make the business owners the felons not the people only hoping to better their lives. Imagine how many Americans would head North if they could make $70.00 a hour more than they are making now.

    I wish Bush were a temporary guest worker.

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  2. The ag workers don't have much in the way of union representation...so that won't be a problem.

    But doesn't the farmer get a say in this? It's his product.

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