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Washington State Organic Farm Slapped with $1 Mil. Immigration Violation
An organic herb farm in NW Washington State has been fined $1 Million for re-hiring illegal workers after they were forced to lay them off for lack of papers.
HerbCo International noticed that production was disrupted by the lay-offs, so one company official schemed a plan to hire the workers back, have them work at night so they would go undetected, and pay them in cash so as not to leave a money trail.
But someone snitched them out and Immigration and Customs Enforcement investigated. Interestingly, the agency gave temporary work permits to some of the illegals whose testimony they used for the conviction of HerbCo.
I found this pic from a story last year about a strawberry farm in NW Washington that relies on illegals to pick their crops. A company spokesman claimed that white Americans aren't willing to do the field work that illegal Mexican workers so readily do.
As Americans get more and more frustrated with limited job markets and put greater pressure on the government to crack down on the hiring of illegal labor, our farm industry is going to find it increasingly difficult to find workers to harvest their crops. Perhaps we need to put some of the folks on public assistance or in our prisons to work in the fields this summer. Unfortunately, only those who have no other options are willing to take on this back-breaking labor. I've done it before and I think everyone should experience farm work. It builds character, as they say.
Some might consider the fine levied on HerbCo International to be excessive. Some might say it is necessary to send a message to other farms or factories that hiring illegal immigrants won't be tolerated. I think we need to have a plan in place to make sure farms have the labor they need when harvest comes round. Having food go to waste in the fields would be a terrible loss. We need a comprehensive plan to solve the immigration problem.
Read more here:
http://www.spokesman.com/stories/2012/may/02/west-side-farm-fined-1-million-for-rehiring/
Photo and story about strawberry farm here:
http://www.columbian.com/news/2011/aug/01/farmers-fear-illegal-labor-crackdown/
Thanks for reading!
HerbCo International noticed that production was disrupted by the lay-offs, so one company official schemed a plan to hire the workers back, have them work at night so they would go undetected, and pay them in cash so as not to leave a money trail.
But someone snitched them out and Immigration and Customs Enforcement investigated. Interestingly, the agency gave temporary work permits to some of the illegals whose testimony they used for the conviction of HerbCo.
I found this pic from a story last year about a strawberry farm in NW Washington that relies on illegals to pick their crops. A company spokesman claimed that white Americans aren't willing to do the field work that illegal Mexican workers so readily do.
As Americans get more and more frustrated with limited job markets and put greater pressure on the government to crack down on the hiring of illegal labor, our farm industry is going to find it increasingly difficult to find workers to harvest their crops. Perhaps we need to put some of the folks on public assistance or in our prisons to work in the fields this summer. Unfortunately, only those who have no other options are willing to take on this back-breaking labor. I've done it before and I think everyone should experience farm work. It builds character, as they say.
Some might consider the fine levied on HerbCo International to be excessive. Some might say it is necessary to send a message to other farms or factories that hiring illegal immigrants won't be tolerated. I think we need to have a plan in place to make sure farms have the labor they need when harvest comes round. Having food go to waste in the fields would be a terrible loss. We need a comprehensive plan to solve the immigration problem.
Read more here:
http://www.spokesman.com/stories/2012/may/02/west-side-farm-fined-1-million-for-rehiring/
Photo and story about strawberry farm here:
http://www.columbian.com/news/2011/aug/01/farmers-fear-illegal-labor-crackdown/
Thanks for reading!
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