Farm workers ditch work in fear of ICE raids as food prices set to soar
Farm workers ditch work in fear of ICE raids as food prices set to soar
Scores of immigrant farm workers in the U.S. are avoiding work after President Trump removed "sensitive area" protections amid his immigration crackdown.
Around 75% of immigrant farm workers in Bakersfield, California, ditched their shifts after Trump ramped up his threats by removing protections against ICE raids in "sensitive areas," including schools and workplaces.
We told you so.
Not many conservatives on lemmy I'm guessing.
There are some.
Doesn’t matter really, people were saying it in other places I’d imagine.
This also highlight how many companies are taking advantage of these people in a modern form of slavery..
Funny how we never demonize the fucking companies taking advantage of these people.
I’m torn.
Obviously taking advantage of cheap, desperate labor to maximize profit is wrong.
On the other hand, the whole thing feels like a deliberate act by the ruling class to turn the working class against each other. I’m hesitant to hate on farmers when billionaires are also suppressing wages so harshly all of society.
In Canada too, we just gussie it up as the "temporary foreign workers" program, and bring immigrants over here for a while to do shit jobs we white people don't want to do, like work in Tim Hortons or drive for Uber, and leave them trying to afford housing and cost of living, and many just come here and move into shelters, or live in extremely large family settings, which makes locals hate them more because of the housing crisis.
I think immigration needs huge reform in Canada, and that the pathways to citizenship through massive tuition fees bumping out citizens from higher education and using diploma mill "colleges" need to be closed, but the temporary worker program is just slightly polished up slavery and nothing more. If we're going to offer immigration it should be to skilled people who can work in their field here and can afford to live here, and not just dangling scraps in front of vulnerable people because it's somewhat better than living in an underdeveloped country's slums so they can be our slaves, while we all fight over housing and resent each other. At least the migrant agricultural worker program doesn't hide the fact it is farm labour and temporary.
Mmm, can't wait to pay $15 for produce. Fucking idiot Americans voting against their own interests.
I think the real issue is we're using undocumented immigrants to do these jobs. They don't get the same protections that legal workers get.
Absolutely, but we are well past people using logic and reason. We wouldn't be in this situation in the first place, and we could have spent time actually solving legal immigration (among many other things) instead of years of focus on her emails and all the nonsense of 2016-2020.
Start your "vistory" garden now.
Let me start to say that I'm on our side (probably), but are you implying that you want those workers to be underpaid and have no worker rights so your produce price stays low?
Let the farms try to hire us citizens for this work. No one will take jobs that pay dollars per hour with no benefits. Let the farms raise salaries and charge Americans triple for produce. Let Americans bitch.... Then watch Trump and GOP blame the liberals for it.
Howdy, a reminder that we live in a market economy. What will happen is that if no one shows up for work at the wage offered to illegal workers, gradually, the rates offered will increase until someone shows. You'll notice America has no shortage of other classes of workers, such as sewer maintenance engineer or garbage collector. The reason is those jobs were never held by illegal workers. Will produce be as cheap as it was before? No, but then again it should not be a fundamental part of our economy to employ illegal workers. Either reform immigration law to allow for migrant workers or get rid of them. This weird middle-ground where we tolerate illegal employment in exchange for subsidized prices for produce is ridiculous. If we wouldn't have allowed this in the first place, the problem would not be so hard to solve today.
There are lots of legal migrant workers. One of the many problems with these mass deportations is that even legal immigrants, maybe even citizens, have to be afraid to show up.
The question is what percentage of these workers are undocumented? I don’t recall reading any actual numbers.
And to spread the icing on this shit-cake, I do remember reading months ago the claim that most illegals are people overstaying a work or student visa. Are we demonizing these people for nothing?
I think most people agree with you, and I don’t really think anyone would say that hiring illegal workers to lower prices and pay them lower wages is a solution.
People are upset not because they can’t exploit illegal immigrants anymore, but because the solution should’ve been to provide the working immigrants with worker protections and easier paths to citizenship (which you suggested something similar). Instead they’re attempting to suddenly and forcefully deport all of them.
That was fast! You people are already blaming someone else for this shitshow.
Then watch Trump and GOP blame the liberals for it.
... and more than half of Americans will agree with that conclusion.
How about if you are hiring undocumented immigrants for this work, let's not arrest the immigrants, let's arrest the owners of the farm.
Then we'll sell the farm off to someone who is willing to pay a living wage to people, and not slaves with no other options.
Or just give the farm to the workers and have them run it as a coop.
If socialist-welfare-handout farming subsidies were paid it be great if they were forced to be returned by people that employed those not legal to work in the us as well. Misusing government funds and all that jazz.
Naturally this will never happen but it'd be a good idea lol
most farms cant turn a profit that way unless they make some more bs being subsidized like corn, we need less corn
I'm sure they will blame the libs and the Democrats for it because they are the ones pushing for a bigger minimum wage. Without it, employer's can collude to drive down wages, making higher paying alternative jobs non existent. Everything pays pennies!
Our farming system needs an overhaul, but I agree that this isn't the way to make that happen. But I am hoping this bullshit will force us to take a closer look at how we produce and approach it in a more sustainable fashion.
Sounds like you're very familiar with how things work over here :(
Oh no. What an unexpected development! Who could have predicted this?
Don't worry, I'm sure the tariffs will help bring food prices down.
The spring season is coming... No one planting seeds to sow. That's gonna be fun. Plus hey, if you don't plant nothing, you don't need nobody to pick nothing. And we'll loose some weight? All beautiful skinny ass Americans again! Yey!
Planting is easier to automate than harvesting. Pretty sure everything has been using seed drills for a while now. Harvesting and meat packing are going to get hosed though.
I don't understand how this is supposed to make eggs cheaper.
(obligatory FUCK ICE)
Wow the exact fucking thing everyone with a brain said would happen! Amazing! Depopulation is TERRIBLE for your economy and wellbeing!
But wait. There’s more. When are the tariffs coming in? My money is on next week.
No, eggs will be cheaper, I'm sure of it. /s
What does ICE stand for? I guess its some form of border/immigration police?
Apart from that this is probably one of the things the american population will notice quite fast. But I don't think I have to tell you that trump supporters voted against their own interest.
Immigration and Customs Enforcement
Thanks
Internal Combustion Engine.
So yeah… this is going quicker than I thought. I was expecting a couple of months.
He needs more lead in his diet.
Or a very brief, yet intimate, familiarity with the inside of a wicker basket. One of many, ideally.
Oh I love a good wicker basket. Or a beautiful rope. So many acceptable options!
All I can say is that Americans, myself included who voted for Harris because I'm not a dumbass, deserves all of this.
Voters every other election, after four years of people fixing shit: