Lynn Woolley: Winners and losers in the illegal workers debate

12:00 AM CDT on Monday, June 30, 2008
"The Lynn Woolley Show" is broadcast weeknights at 8 on KVCE 1160 AM in Dallas-Fort Worth. He can be reached through www.BeLogical.com.

There are so many crises affecting the besieged American farmer that it's hard to tell which is worse. The flooding in the Midwest? The possibility that the latest farm bill might get vetoed? New enforcement procedures that threaten to stem the never-ending flow of cheap labor?

Actually, it's that last one. The floods will abate eventually, and the chance of a pork-laden farm bill not passing is slim to none. But, by golly, the administration has started enforcing immigration laws! What is President Bush thinking?

Obviously, he's not considering what enforcement might lead to. J Carnes, president of Winter Garden Produce in Uvalde and head of the Texas Vegetable Association, says enforcement is downright dangerous. But we're doing it anyway, he says, and "damn the consequences."

Perhaps your brethren in the dairy business would fork over some cheese to go with that whine.

The consequences, according to Mr. Carnes, are the loss of domestic farms and the shifting of food production to other countries. You know, like we see in most other industries. If we don't wink and nod and keep a steady supply of illegal fruit and vegetable pickers, Mr. Carnes believes that military and school lunches will be stocked with fruit and milk from – where? Mexico? Isn't it kind of like that now?

So allow me to ask the question. If all our immigration laws suddenly were strictly enforced and the pool of cheap illegal labor vanished on the spot, would our food costs go up? Maybe so, but if we imported a lot more food from poor nations, it would likely still be cheap. That's market forces – something Mr. Carnes doesn't understand.

Those American growers who tough it out would have to pay higher wages to attract American workers or legal immigrants from a smaller supply. That would make food prices rise. That's market forces, too.

Illegal immigration is an under-the-table government subsidy that suppresses wages and redistributes wealth. That's not a free-market approach any more than the farm bill is. Most Americans would gladly pay higher prices for veggies than deal with the consequences Mr. Carnes never mentions.

Most would – but not all. Illegal immigration creates winners and losers, depending on what part of society is affected. Schools are winners because they get to educate all the kids from other countries and rake in the government subsidies that come with them. Society loses because the schools become multicultural centers of social change, graduating kids who can't read in any language.

But damn the consequences.

Hospitals are losers. They can't turn anyone away, so their emergency rooms become the "family doctor" to hordes of illegals. And so some ERs shut down. Some are subsidized by taxpayers. Taxpayers are losers.

But damn the consequences.

Winners include those who own and operate poultry and meat packing plants, hotels, construction companies, roofing companies and lawn-care companies – assuming they hire illegals on the sly. Losers include those who would take the jobs, if only they paid a fair wage.

Winners include liberals and the Democratic Party. The Party of Change is looking forward to millions more people from impoverished countries whom they can get on a path to citizenship and a parallel path to vote Democratic. Taxing, spending and more government programs – all winners. Losers include the Republican Party, conservatism and taxpayers.

Since most of our immigrants – legal and illegal – are from a single region, they see no need to assimilate. So the American melting pot is a loser. America is balkanizing into communities based on race and ethnicity.

But damn the consequences.

So what if we enforce our laws, and a head of lettuce goes from a buck to $5? It'd be worth it to put English back in the classroom, keep our emergency rooms open and restore some unity to the good old USA.

You choose your consequences, Mr. Carnes. I'll choose mine.


"The Lynn Woolley Show" is broadcast weeknights at 8 on KVCE 1160 AM in Dallas-Fort Worth. He can be reached through www.BeLogical.com.

READ J Carnes' op-ed, "Texas farms are suffering from a labor crisis." dallasnews.