Illegal Immigration & Texas Farmers
By: Import User
Updated: July 17, 2008
Lubbock farmers like Bernie Thiel rely on migrant workers to harvest their crops. But now that the federal government is increasing efforts to shut down illegal immigration, Texas farmers are suffering.
"We just spent several days cutting off and throwing on the ground because we don't have enough people to pick it at the right size and right time," said Thiel.
Sunburst Farms has lost between 50 and 60 thousand dollars in vegetables because it's short 50 percent of its laborers.
Steve Camarota, of the Center for Immigration Studies, is an advocate for stricter immigration. He said farmers showed they could manage without migrant workers in the 1960's when a guest program with Mexico ended. The farmers grew a different shape of tomato and developed machines to compensate for lost laborers.
On the other side, the Texas Farm Bureau supports a five year plan that creates a guest worker program for migrant workers. This will buy time for the federal government to address overall immigration reform.
In the meantime, Thiel said that local farmers will have to downsize or resort to another type of work.
"We just spent several days cutting off and throwing on the ground because we don't have enough people to pick it at the right size and right time," said Thiel.
Sunburst Farms has lost between 50 and 60 thousand dollars in vegetables because it's short 50 percent of its laborers.
Steve Camarota, of the Center for Immigration Studies, is an advocate for stricter immigration. He said farmers showed they could manage without migrant workers in the 1960's when a guest program with Mexico ended. The farmers grew a different shape of tomato and developed machines to compensate for lost laborers.
On the other side, the Texas Farm Bureau supports a five year plan that creates a guest worker program for migrant workers. This will buy time for the federal government to address overall immigration reform.
In the meantime, Thiel said that local farmers will have to downsize or resort to another type of work.
