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Judi Lynn

(160,545 posts)
Mon Jun 18, 2018, 11:26 PM Jun 2018

New migrant rules could shutter some Maryland crab houses

Source: Associated Press

Updated 6:52 pm, Monday, June 18, 2018

BALTIMORE (AP) — Many Maryland crab houses expect to stay idle this summer after U.S. immigration officials approved additional migrant worker visas this month for only one picking house.

The Baltimore Sun reports the H-2B visas for seasonal workers were awarded by lottery for the first time this year due to high demand for workers from multiple industries. The crab houses that lost out will have to function without more than a third of their regular seasonal workers. Idle crab houses could drive up the price of Maryland's crab meat.

Bill Sieling is the director of the Chesapeake Bay Seafood Industries Association. He says the move to a lottery system threatens the future of the state's crab houses. The Sun reports that seafood companies say they can't find U.S. citizens willing to do the difficult work.

Read more: https://www.chron.com/news/us/article/New-migrant-rules-could-shutter-some-Maryland-13005303.php



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BigmanPigman

(51,609 posts)
3. Between tariffs and loss of immigrant labor a lot of businesses are not going to be happy
Tue Jun 19, 2018, 01:58 AM
Jun 2018

with the GOP's new policies that most of them probably voted for.

KY_EnviroGuy

(14,492 posts)
4. What is tRump's cabinet trying to achieve here? Zero unemployment?
Tue Jun 19, 2018, 05:36 AM
Jun 2018

Good luck with that, as most Americans will not do those jobs done by hundreds of thousands of migrant laborers - at the hourly rate they are typically paid. I suspect tRump's Repugs are dumb enough think some Americans somewhere will.

I find it the ultimate in hypocrisy that Republican-backing American businesses profited enormously for many decades off cheap migrant laborers, much of which was "illegal" labor - and now suddenly want them all gone.

Do they even realize the extent of work done in this nation by migrant workers? I've witnessed it for many years, seeing clean-up crews in industry, crop pickers, restaurant and hotel workers, packing house workers, roofers and grounds care people all over the country in my travels.

Do these idiots think they can suddenly shut off the flow of immigrants and run off the illegals, and replace them overnight with white American boys and girls?

........ ..........

TexasBushwhacker

(20,202 posts)
9. I was a bookkeeper for a commercial landscaping company
Tue Jun 19, 2018, 12:05 PM
Jun 2018

At least 80% of our crews were Hispanic. Some were US citizens. Some had legit green cards and some probably had fake green cards and Social Security cards.

The feds only require that we keep copies of those cards, as well as their ID, in their personnel file. You can verify that these documents are legitmate through a government website, BUT IT IS VOLUNTARY. I volunteered to start verifying and was told not to.

The thing is, we would gladly hire other races and ethnicities, they just didn't apply often. When they did and got hired, they often didn't last long. Starting pay was $10 an hour for regular crew members, plus overtime and $12 an hour for drivers.

KY_EnviroGuy

(14,492 posts)
10. Yes, Tex and it's so pervasive in our society....
Tue Jun 19, 2018, 01:04 PM
Jun 2018

I can't comprehend the hypocrisy of Repugs because these immigrants have been a huge part of our GDP for a very long time. They have known about that all along and turned a blind eye. How do they propose to replace all that labor force?

All of these hypocrites have had roofs replaced on their homes, had lawn work done, stayed in the hotels, ate in the restaurants and bought tons of fruits, vegetables and meats where most of the labor producing that product or service were immigrants - illegal or not.

I worked many industrial plant jobs where clean-up and other labor crews were brought in during plant outages and they typically would have one guy that spoke rough English (good enough to communicate the tasks). They all hung together and never caused any problem (usually a very jovial bunch) and worked their butts off. The contractors made a killing providing those services.

Some days I think I'm living in a very bad dream.....

keithbvadu2

(36,828 posts)
8. Job openings for coal miners... Right, Donald?
Tue Jun 19, 2018, 10:04 AM
Jun 2018

Job openings for coal miners... Right, Donald?

That's if they would rather work than stay on unemployment.

Sunlei

(22,651 posts)
11. they'll start to use USA 13th amed. legal slavery EVEN MORE & have millions of chain gangs
Tue Jun 19, 2018, 01:33 PM
Jun 2018

leased by corporations and businesses of all types.


'for profit' detention camps and 'for profit' prisons can collect the $250 a day per prisoner from state/federal government, charge the business $7.25 an hour for the worker (they have to charge the minimum wage) and pay the prisoner 20 cents an hour.

Slavery is alive and well in USA and legal. Now new Republican concentration camps will supply more slaves.

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