Alabama tried this

A retired friend commented on an earlier post “Undocumented immigrants deserve some humanity” by citing his research into the poor treatment of migrant and undocumented immigrants harvesting crops. I mentioned to him an unsuccessful effort by Alabama to restrict employment in harvesting to citizens. Here is an AI search summary on the effort:

“Alabama’s 2011 HB 56 law, which aimed to make life untenable for undocumented immigrants, caused a massive, immediate, and devastating labor shortage in the state’s agricultural sector. Known for strict enforcement, it triggered a ‘self-deportation’ exodus of workers, causing crops to rot and creating intense economic distress for farmers.

Key impacts and details include:

Worker Shortage: Farmers reported that up to 50–60% of their labor force vanished within days of the law’s implementation.

Crop Losses: The lack of labor meant crops like tomatoes, peaches, and cucumbers were not harvested, causing significant financial losses.

“Hard” Labor Shift: Efforts to replace undocumented workers with local citizens largely failed, as farmers reported that U.S.-born laborers were not accustomed to or willing to perform the demanding, labor-intensive work.

Legal Challenges: Following legal challenges, particularly by the Southern Poverty Law Center, many of the most severe provisions of HB 56 were blocked or settled in 2013.

Economic Impact: The law was criticized for potentially costing the state’s economy millions of dollars in lost agricultural revenue.

While some provisions were scaled back, the law’s initial impact in 2011 is frequently cited as a major, albeit chaotic, anti-immigrant action in the U.S.”

I won’t add too much only to say undocumented immigrants have been hired in more than a few industries and in some cases bolster those industries. This was just one failed example. Right now, the hospitality industry was recently reported as suffering as are other industries. A heavy dose of humanity and due process are needed, but so is a lot of planning. Rash, heavy handedness accomplishes little other than notoriety.

Undocumented immigrants deserve some humanity

I wrote the following as a comment on Jill’s blog to rebut a comment that undocumented immigrants deserve no quarter here and should be denied entry and removed forcibly if here.

“Regardless of how one feels about undocumented immigrants, there are three key points that concern me as an Independent and former Republican voter:

-people are owed due process within the borders of our country;

-many undocumented immigrants have been hired by managers and owners of all political persuasions to bolster numerous industries – construction, roofing, landscaping, food processing, restaurant, hospitality, healthcare, crop harvesting, etc. (transition planning would have been helpful);

-people deserve a less heavy handed approach than has been used. To me, it seems we have done a disservice by being harmful as we round up folks.

If the mission is to exit undocumented immigrants, I understand that, but the process could have been far better planned and executed, in my view.”

The one point I will add is this. Managers and owners who hired all of these undocumented immigrants were not necessarily altruistic. The reasons were varied and several. They hired them to fill jobs that others did not want; they hired them because they could pay them in cash with not added benefit costs or FICA taxes; they hired them because if they were injured on the job, they did not have to pay workers compensation; and they hired them because they were as close to slave labor as they could get.

If we did not want undocumented immigrants, then why did elected officials turn a blind eye and let these managers hire them for multiple decades. Let me close with a true story – when a major textile company declared full bankruptcy, federal officials spoke to an auditorium of workers to tell them how they could be helped. They said if you don’t have a Social Security number, we can’t help you. 1/3 of the audience stood up and left.