Repeat that ten times to yourself to make sure you hear it, and then think.
THAT is and has been one of the main drivers (read why congresscritters get bought) for decades now.
California agriculture is HUGE, and is largely dependent on illegal labor being winked at forever and forever and forever. Hell, the main plot point of Steinbeck’s Grapes of Wrath starred the Okies that were exploited up until WWII and Bakersfield oil gave them other work; then the long existent Mexicans became and remain essential.
Sigh. I remain perpetually on repeat, but I will add that e-verify was a successful last ditch effort to avoid useful reliable SS linked national identity system. People need to wake up, oh oops, I am being woke again. Good for me, but so so so sorry for the self-righteous snoozers out there…..
Because ag companies don’t wanna. They face zero penalties in hiring undocumented workers. They can pay them less, don’t have to provide housing, and can exploit them without having to jump through the hoops of H-2A visas. Congress has been bought and represents big business.
You might as well ask why we don’t contract unicorns and leprechauns to harvest our food.
Hell yeah brother! Preach it! I did a playlist for my nephew’s high school graduation last weekend. I did mostly crowd pleasers for both the adults and the kids. I slipped in Maggie’s Farm on the sly. RATM doing a Bob Dylan cover. Some of my nephew’s friends picked up on the beat and asked my wife who it was. She said “It is Rage. You need to check them out.” They said they definitely would.
There is hope for the youth of today.
The National Guard Stands around his door I ain’t gonna work for, nah I ain’t gonna work for Maggie’s pa, no more
And a bonus relating to events of this weekend:
What we don’t know keeps the contracts alive and movin’ They don’t gotta burn the books they just remove 'em
California Big Agriculture is all about massive extremely profitable exploitation of labor that is expert(!), cheap(!!), cannot vote(!!!), cannot be organized (!!!), and that is often kept in place by belligerent racism. Similar happens with meat packing and etc.
And there is therefore TONS of money that can be used to buy congresscritters.
"Our Nation’s ICE Officers have shown incredible strength, determination, and courage as they facilitate a very important mission, the largest Mass Deportation Operation of Illegal Aliens in History," Trump wrote. “Every day, the Brave Men and Women of ICE are subjected to violence, harassment, and even threats from Radical Democrat Politicians, but nothing will stop us from executing our mission, and fulfilling our Mandate to the American People.”
Well, I’m shocked. We went from deport everybody, to spare the farmers and hospitality businesses, to a rage rant targeting the lunatic left in no time!
“These, and other such Cities, are the core of the Democrat Power Center, where they use Illegal Aliens to expand their Voter Base, cheat in Elections, and grow the Welfare State, robbing good paying Jobs and Benefits from Hardworking American Citizens,” Trump claimed. “These Radical Left Democrats are sick of mind, hate our Country, and actually want to destroy our Inner Cities — And they are doing a good job of it! There is something wrong with them.”
Coming right after the execution and attempted murder in MN - This is what incitement of violence looks like.
Fear is the goal, hardly a recipe for good outcomes. Making people afraid to go to work will impact many sectors of the economy that depend on immigrant labor. Political instability and fear hinders macroeconomic performance.
That is what hate looks like. They are going after the most productive parts of the United States because they are so jealous they can’t keep up. People do not like other people who are doing better. They always want to drag them down.
And now, ICE says it’s running out of money due the cost of the ethnic purge.
Any bets they pivot to grabbing people with property the government can steal, to raise money? “Civil forfeiture” has provided substantial income to Michigan police forces for years.
So if Ice is spending all of Doge’s savings then how are they going to pay for the big beautiful bill? If Ice would have stuck to only going after the violent criminals everyone would have been happy.
I recently dated a Latina woman who works in LA. She is a citizen from birth, but has started carrying her passport with her at all times because she is afraid of getting caught up in an ICE sweep.
Fear is a powerful motivator, but it works both ways - motivating both the MA[i][\i]GA and US citizens/voters who are tired of their baloney.
I know people in very rural north Texas dairy and farm counties and you are exactly right about that. They will repeat all the Fox News talking points about “illegals”, and in the next sentence brag (really) about the illegals they have working their farms and how little they pay them.
…and all those years ago, when I was in High School, I strongly supported and worked for Cesar Chavez, his movement, his positions, and I still do. That is why I get so rude with 99% of the discussions on this issue that I hear, as it is critical for building a just and prosperous society that national borders and laws be maintained.
Well I did say “both sides were engaging in politics”, which I think fairly neutral. And I would also note that while illegal immigration increased during Biden’s term, so did deportations and arrests. In the realm of “two sides to the story” I offer:
The Biden administration took office amid heightened debate in some circles over the merits and tactics of deportations, yet it is on track to carry out as many removals and returns as the Trump administration did. The 1.1 million deportations since the beginning of fiscal year (FY) 2021 through February 2024 (the most recent data available) are on pace to match the 1.5 million deportations carried out during the four years President Donald Trump was in office. These deportations are in addition to the 3 million expulsions of migrants crossing the border irregularly that occurred under the pandemic-era Title 42 order between March 2020 and May 2023—the vast majority of which occurred under the Biden administration. Combining deportations with expulsions and other actions to block migrants without permission to enter the United States, the Biden administration’s nearly 4.4 million repatriations are already more than any single presidential term since the George W. Bush administration (5 million in its second term).
Now I’m not going to say there wasn’t a problem - there was, a big one. But Biden attempted to handle it with the Constitution in mind, and only when that became too obviously insufficient did he resort to “emergency measures” which effectively stopped immigrants without prior authorization from applying for asylum.
In the 12 months after Title 42 ended, the Biden administration ramped up deportations under the standard U.S. immigration framework, Title 8, and removed or returned 775,000 unauthorized migrants—more than in any previous fiscal year since 2010. From May 2023 through March 2024, 316,000 migrants were processed via expedited removal, more than in any prior full fiscal year. And for the first time since FY 2010, in FY 2023 more migrants were returned directly across the border, mostly to Mexico, than were removed from the U.S. interior. Whereas President Barack Obama was labeled by some as the “deporter in chief,” this new trend may earn President Joe Biden the title of “returner in chief.” Notably, authorities have deported migrants to more than 170 countries during the current administration, which may be the most ever.
[Here is an AI evaluation of migrationpolicy.org: Yes, [migrationpolicy.org], also known as the Migration Policy Institute (MPI), is a nonpartisan organization, according to multiple sources. It is an independent, non-profit think tank focused on research and analysis of migration and refugee policies at local, national, and international levels. MPI aims to improve these policies through research, learning opportunities, and the development of new ideas. ]
So yes, I acknowledge that illegal migration got out of control. I also acknowledge that the first response was to try to handle it within the legal framework we (supposedly) cherish, and only when that didn’t work was an “emergency declaration” used. But by then the public perception was set, and no amount of charts and graphs would have changed the framework of the debate.
