Illegal immigration

Title: illegal immigration Name: University: Date: Effects of illegal immigration on Agriculture Industry There are several factors that contribute to immigration and migration. These include oppression and poverty. We are able to understand the connection between immigration and Agriculture by having the knowledge of labor demands. The main immigrants were the braceros who moved into the US following the construction of the US –Mexico railway. These people were allowed to work and return to Mexico only during emergency situations and were required to have written permission from their employers. On expiry of the contracts they were allowed to hand over their permits and return to Mexico. In the farms their work was picking cucumbers, and tomatoes, weeding and picking cotton as well as thinning sugar beets. Increased demand for perishable crops such as fruits and vegetables When there is illegal immigration into a country, there are many people who are able to work as employees in farms. They provide labor at low cost which contributes to high profits for farmers and high output of the produce. This leads to reduced selling price of these produce that results into high demand for them. For instance in California, the cost of production of fruits and vegetables was considerably reduced due to the immigration of the Mexicans who provided cheap labor. Thus the exploitation of the cheap Mexican labor for Agriculture in California results in low cost of production and higher profits. This low cost measure has contributed to California’s success in Agricultural production. Because of this success, the special provisions were made in the IRCA to ensure supply of a good number of legal immigrants for the fruits and vegetable industry (Hoffman, 1974). Due to the cheap labor and profit potential, California has been dominant in the agricultural export sector since 1963. These exports mainly go to Pacific Rim, and Canada and Mexico under North American Free trade Agreement. This global demand for California’s Agricultural produce has resulted into the recognition of California as a demand point for Agricultural products. Secondly, increased illegal immigration can result into increased acreage for agricultural land. This is because there are many workers but the land to work on is small. This is seen in the Mexican immigration into California resulted into increased demand for more land allocation for planting of perishable crops and increased demand for labor. Because of this, there was an increase in land allocation for fruits and vegetable industry by 200 per cent .This acreage has been increasing steadily as demand increases for these agricultural produce. This expansion mainly took place between 1981 and 1990 following increased global demand for fruits and vegetables. Between 1987 and 1990, there was an increase in acreage of harvested vegetables and melons with the peak of acreage of harvest in 1988. This increase in acreage is accompanied with increase in demand for labor. The increased acreage also resulted into high output of the specialty crops which yielded high profits locally and internationally. Role played by state policy Because of the contribution of the cheap labor in farms caused by employment of immigrants in these farms, laws were formulated that ensured the immigrants were enough to work in these farms. For instance, during the hearing of 1987 IRCA Hearings, farmers reported that IRCA law would result into labor shortages, which would damage the perishable crop industry. As a result of this, Special Agricultural Worker (SAW) program and Replenishment Agricultural Worker. (RAW) program were formulated to ensure that the farmers received enough labor supply during the peak of labor periods. These periods were like during harvesting and planting. As a result, politicians approved a dependency of California‘s agribusiness on labor for its success. Because of the positive results of the immigration of the Mexicans into California, the politicians so it convenient and easier to practice these patterns which can be referred to as addictive. Secondly, it can be concluded that illegal immigration results into the provision of cheap labor by the immigrants which results into high production at low cost. This is evidence that these immigrants are the core of these agribusinesses. The economy of a country also depends partly on the industry. The politicians therefore have no choice but to amend the laws restricting these immigrants from entering their countries. This is evidenced by the signing of the IRCA by the Californians authorities to allow more Mexican immigrants into the country to help in the farms as laborers. It has also been observed that when the public put pressure on the government to reduce the number of illegal immigrants, farmers made sure that their requirement is fulfilled by pushing for legalization of illegal immigrant labor. According to observation by Juan Vicente Palerm, California Agriculture is addicted to immigration because it needs immi...