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As Trump's immigration-policy threatens their wallet, rep voters suddenly care about immigrants.
https://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/2017-06-20/-i-need-more-mexicans-a-kansas-farmer-s-message-to-trump?cmpid=socialflow-twitter-businessweek&utm_content=businessweek&utm_campaign=socialflow-organic&utm_source=twitter&utm_medium=socialUndocumented immigrants make up about half the workforce in U.S. agriculture, according to various estimates. But that pool of labor is shrinking, which could spell trouble for farms, feedlots, dairies, and meatpacking plants—particularly in a state such as Kansas, where unemployment in many counties is barely half the already tight national rate. “Two weeks ago, my boss told me, ‘I need more Mexicans like you,’” says a 25-year-old immigrant employed at a farm in the southwest part of the state, who spoke on condition of anonymity because he’s trying to get his paperwork in order. “I said, ‘Well, they’re kind of hard to find.’”
...
In Haskell County, where Cattle Empire is the biggest employer, 77 percent of voters cast ballots for Trump, compared with 57 percent statewide. But Priest and other employers interviewed for this story complained that the immigration policies emanating from Washington, 1,500 miles away, clash with the needs of local businesses.
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Representative Roger Marshall, a Republican whose district includes southwest Kansas, says immigration is the No. 1 concern he hears about from constituents. The freshman congressman says he’s confident that once the border is secure, “President Trump will look at this, too, as an economic problem.”
...
“For us the immigration issue is not about cheap labor. It’s been about finding people who have the aptitude and want to work in our industry.”
Averhoff’s pain extends beyond Kansas. An extreme shortage of agriculture workers, attributed to “recent changes in immigration policy,” was responsible for some growers in California discarding portions of their harvest in April and May, according to the Federal Reserve’s Beige Book, which surveys businesses. Meanwhile, U.S. homebuilders, whose optimism soared after the election on promises of deregulation and tax reform, are back to citing severe labor shortages as a big reason for their subdued spirits, according to survey data from the National Association of Home Builders and Wells Fargo & Co.
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Yeah! Kick them out! Build the wall! Oh, dang. I need farmhands...
5 replies
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and you still voted for him you stupid ****ers. Did you not think about the impact in your livelihood? Other people's livelihoods?
The only empathy I feel is for the immigrants having to leave and the locals whose jobs are now in jeopardy because some of these farms will go out of business.
F--- you if you're the owner of a farm or business who uses/used immigrant labor and voted for Trump. F--- yuo! 
