View Full Version : AL: Inmates Can Replace Illegal Hispanic Farmhands
Eureka! Now, why didn't I think of that? :confused:
http://www.politico.com/news/stories/1011/65405.html
Alabama farmers frantically looking for workers to replace those that have fled the state in the wake of its tough new immigration law should just stop by their local prison, according to the head of Alabama’s agriculture department.
John McMillan, commissioner of the Alabama Department of Agriculture and Industries, told the Montgomery Advertiser on Thursday that inmate labor through the state’s work-release program offers a short-term solution to the sudden labor shortage that has hit Alabama since enforcement of its illegal immigration law kicked in.
Some farmers have said the state’s new law has driven away Hispanic migrant farm workers — and without another potential labor source, they say produce may have to be left to rot in the fields.
“We are optimistic that by Monday, we will have some help for farmers,” McMillan said.
Under the law, employers must use the E-Verify system to check workers’ legality and police can ask for documentation of anyone they stop, detain or arrest.
Snip
cat in the hat
10-07-2011, 18:09
let the inmates do the nastiest field work and anyone on welfare can do rest. if they don't want to do the work they can go hungry.
Real rehab...learn a skill!
Surgicalcric
10-07-2011, 18:41
let the inmates do the nastiest field work and anyone on welfare can do rest. if they don't want to do the work they can go hungry.
Well said...very well said!!!
Crip
Oldrotorhead
10-07-2011, 19:10
let the inmates do the nastiest field work and anyone on welfare can do rest. if they don't want to do the work they can go hungry.
But! But! you'll hurt their self esteem!:D:D:D
Ask the soviets how conscripted farm labor worked out for them.
Ask the soviets how conscripted farm labor worked out for them.
That was for the collective. This would be for profit. :D
Eagle5US
10-08-2011, 09:00
Ask the soviets how conscripted farm labor worked out for them.
I wouldn't consider either of these cases to be conscripted farm labor.
You have one group who sits on their ass all day while we feed and house them (inmates) and we have another group who sits on their ass all day while we feed, house AND PAY them (welfare recipients)
Heaven forbid we actually ask people to WORK.:rolleyes:
Ambush Master
10-08-2011, 09:22
Harris County, Texas used to have a "Pea Farm" down by Sugarland. It was a "CHOICE ASSIGNMENT" for an inmate to be sent there. They were outside in the fields and tending cattle, a dairy, etc. rather that in a 6X12 or whatever!! They produced enough produce, milk products, eggs, and meat to not only feed the inmates of Harris County, but for most of the STATE!!! There were other operations throughout the State that were similar and the Penal system was somewhat self supporting UNTIL THE ACLU got involved and this activity was deemed CRUEL AND UNUSUAL PUNISHMENT!!!
Mind you that the inmates enjoyed the "limited freedom" granted to them to work in the fields etc. but the greater LIBERAL contingent thought that we should just pay for their incarcerations and not "enslave them to support themselves"!!!
This whole thing just really pisses me off!!!
Later
Martin
Utah Bob
10-08-2011, 09:31
Luke. Fetch my rifle.:D
I wouldn't consider either of these cases to be conscripted farm labor.
You have one group who sits on their ass all day while we feed and house them (inmates) and we have another group who sits on their ass all day while we feed, house AND PAY them (welfare recipients)
Heaven forbid we actually ask people to WORK.:rolleyes:
I am simply saying that if it is not a choice then we would not get them to lift a finger without whips and threatening to to put them in the preverbal "box". Further without constant close supervision we would not get them them actually work at anything but destroying and sabotage what they were press ganged into producing. Migrant workers get the job done with minimal fuss because they want to do it for the offered pay.
The Texas inmate farm program and programs like it in Indiana (and all over) work because it offers a better alternative for the nonviolent low risk inmates who then choose to do it as a privilege, that privilege can be stripped for failing to meet requirements.
It might feel good to do something like this but in reality it is destined to fail as miserably as any liberal program. It is a hugely complicated issue that due to unforeseen complications would cause this simple idea to bloat into some horrible governmental program with buses, drivers, security, managers, case workers buildings, executive directors...
For the record I feel that all entitlement programs need to be fixed. I think that all Americans who can go to work, should go to work. I think we should protect the least among us from all forms of abuse. And I have no idea how to do this one, I think the "playing field" should be a level as possible. I know that greed is bad but it is here to stay and like gravity a force of nature so... Lastly I know that girls don't like boys, they like money and cars.
I have no idea how to do this one, I think the "playing field" should be a level as possible.
Sounds like something Harry Reid, Jesse Jackass Jackson or Max Thing Waters would say.
Oldrotorhead
10-08-2011, 10:58
Ask the soviets how conscripted farm labor worked out for them.
This would not be conscripted labor. The inmates are paid for labor now and this would be a way for them to add to their commissary fund., keep in shape and get some fresh air.
Harris County, Texas used to have a "Pea Farm" down by Sugarland. It was a "CHOICE ASSIGNMENT" for an inmate to be sent there. They were outside in the fields and tending cattle, a dairy, etc. rather that in a 6X12 or whatever!! They produced enough produce, milk products, eggs, and meat to not only feed the inmates of Harris County, but for most of the STATE!!! There were other operations throughout the State that were similar and the Penal system was somewhat self supporting UNTIL THE ACLU got involved and this activity was deemed CRUEL AND UNUSUAL PUNISHMENT!!!
Mind you that the inmates enjoyed the "limited freedom" granted to them to work in the fields etc. but the greater LIBERAL contingent thought that we should just pay for their incarcerations and not "enslave them to support themselves"!!!
This whole thing just really pisses me off!!!
Later
MartinGod forbid IF, you'd have too work for food...I guess most of us not incarcerated get food for free...
"Pissed off about illegals working the fields...use inmates!":lifter
Stay safe.
mojaveman
10-08-2011, 15:06
It's an interesting idea but I wonder how easy it would be to get those type of people to do hard manual labor. Many of them were incarcerated in the first place because they tried to take the easy way and got caught.
It's an interesting idea but I wonder how easy it would be to get those type of people to do hard manual labor. Many of them were incarcerated because they tried to take the easy way and got caught.
Tasers.
It's an interesting idea but I wonder how easy it would be to get those type of people to do hard manual labor. Many of them were incarcerated because they tried to take the easy way and got caught.Google prison farms....:munchin
Stay safe.
cat in the hat
10-08-2011, 15:45
Harris County, Texas used to have a "Pea Farm" down by Sugarland. It was a "CHOICE ASSIGNMENT" for an inmate to be sent there. They were outside in the fields and tending cattle, a dairy, etc. rather that in a 6X12 or whatever!! They produced enough produce, milk products, eggs, and meat to not only feed the inmates of Harris County, but for most of the STATE!!! There were other operations throughout the State that were similar and the Penal system was somewhat self supporting UNTIL THE ACLU got involved and this activity was deemed CRUEL AND UNUSUAL PUNISHMENT!!!
Mind you that the inmates enjoyed the "limited freedom" granted to them to work in the fields etc. but the greater LIBERAL contingent thought that we should just pay for their incarcerations and not "enslave them to support themselves"!!!
This whole thing just really pisses me off!!!
Later
Martin
My Father was a Correctional Officer and the best assignment he ever had was at a fire camp. inmates went out and helped department of forestry fight fires. in the off season they improved fire breaks and planted replacement trees. extra time off for working hard and when they were paroled, often walked right into a job with forestry. in his 5 years at the camp not one inmate ever tried to escape.
Slantwire
10-12-2011, 12:44
Sounds like something Harry Reid, Jesse Jackass Jackson or Max Thing Waters would say.
Eh. The playing field should be level. The final score won't be.
roosevelt83
10-12-2011, 13:01
We need Reagan back in office. It looks like we will have to settle for Herman Cain. Cut welfare. Cut unemployment for those without a stable background of employment. Give them a job in the fields. If they don't want to work, they can starve. Give people the option, see what they choose.
If the farmers paid decent wages they wouldn't have the problem. If they use prisoners then the department of corrections should be compensated by the farmers at a much higher rate than they have been paying the illegals. Supplying cheap labor to private enterprises is a practice the government should not be engaged in.
Supplying cheap labor to private enterprises is a practice the government should not be engaged in.
Paying laggards so they don't have to labor is another.
We need Reagan back in office. It looks like we will have to settle for Herman Cain. Cut welfare. Cut unemployment for those without a stable background of employment. Give them a job in the fields. If they don't want to work, they can starve. Give people the option, see what they choose.
I, and many others would turn to a life of crime before I'd work in the fields under the deplorable conditions that migrant workers do.
What do you consider a stable employment background to be?
We need Reagan back in office.His speeches would be rather dry.
roosevelt83
10-12-2011, 15:11
We should measure welfare and unemployment by the number of those who get off it, not stay on it. We make it easy for those to cheat the system.
Stable employment depends on a lot of things, including past reliance on government and state aid, years in the workforce and employable skills.
That being said, I think a lot of Americans assume they are too good to do the work that America was built upon. Now THAT being said, would I work in a field for $5 an hour under the table? No, and neither would you. Would I do it for $15/hour, if I needed the money, yes.
WCH, you were right when you said that farmers need to pay decent wages. The reported average hourly wage of farm workers nationally is about slightly over $6, and we're talking 12+ hour days with zero benefits. A lot of farmer's are struggling, but at a high government level if we give tax breaks to the industry for agriculture/hiring of certain individuals then we can make a start. We can set a mandate on hours/pay for that line of work.
I'll be the first to admit I don't know the solution, I'm no expert. But my main problem is with people who feel like they are owed something in life without working for it. If we could drop this mindset as a nation, then we can prosper. We cannot keep expecting free gifts without any contribution.
I, and many others would turn to a life of crime before I'd work in the fields under the deplorable conditions that migrant workers do.
35 cents an hour in Appalachia in the early 60's, but if you kept up with the grown-ups matching them row for row, often the farmer would put $5 in your hand at the end of a 10 hour day for "working like a man". Didn't hurt at all
And, someone humorously mentioned self-esteem in one of the posts.
The bonus that went with the money? Dropping money into the cookie jar when Mom is watching and hearing someone say you're a "good man" instead of a "nice boy", at age 14. Great for self-esteem.
This nation had farm workers before it had illegal immigrants. They aren't irreplacable. Our "poor" are simply too fat to bend down and work, but there are obvious solutions for that.
It's an interesting idea but I wonder how easy it would be to get those type of people to do hard manual labor. Many of them were incarcerated because they tried to take the easy way and got caught.
Well, they have captive audience to make their sales pitch to.
The Reaper
10-12-2011, 17:08
I, and many others would turn to a life of crime before I'd work in the fields under the deplorable conditions that migrant workers do.
What do you consider a stable employment background to be?
Funny, I worked in the fields beside legal and illegal immigrants for 14 years and I turned out okay. I think.
I would do what I had to, to feed my family.
The only time I have seen deplorable working conditions on a farm was in LaRaza and Cesar Chavez propaganda films.
Hey, haven't illegal aliens already turned to crime, by definition?
Just my .02 based on my experience, YMMV.
TR