Georgia Learns a Hard Truth: Illegal Immigrants Keep Us Fed

Barry Estabrook wrote in The Atlantic Georgia Learns a Hard Truth: Illegal Immigrants Keep Us Fed "The state's immigration crackdown has led to a return to the Jim Crow era—and fruits and vegetables rotting in the fields"

A new anti-immigration law goes into effect July 1. "Nothing if not mobile, many of the 400,000 or so migrant workers (about 70 percent of whom are undocumented, according to United Farmworkers of America) who pick Georgia's onions, cucumbers, watermelons, and peaches decided to bypass Georgia in their northward pursuit of ripening crops this spring. The result is a dire labor shortage in the state's $11-billion agricultural sector. With more than 11,000 positions unfilled, nearly half of Georgia's farmers report that they have too few workers. They stand to lose $300 million as a result. In some cases the crops have already rotted in the fields and have been plowed under. "

Now I'm not sure how 11,000 is "many" of 400,000. The Governor offered "unemployed probationers" some of the positions. Apparently they mostly quit their first day or did a really bad job (producing low yields).

"Instead of moving Georgia a step back to the Jim Crow era, Governor Deal could do the intelligent thing and fix an obviously poorly thought-out law to reflect reality: The U.S. food system is built upon the backs of illegal workers. It's high time legislators recognize this fact and enact laws that allow the people who produce our food to gain legal status. "

I'm surprised he skips the whole, what about other unemployed Georgian citizens? Wolfram says GA has a 9.8 unemployment rate. Are the wages offered too low? Could they raise them? There's more here that I want to know.