Americans Don't Want Farm Jobs

Few Americans take farm jobs


Most in Calif. go to immigrants, data show

BY GARANCE BURKE

ASSOCIATED PRESS

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VISALIA, Calif. -- It's a question rekindled by the recession: Are immigrants taking jobs from American citizens? In the heart of the nation's biggest farming state, the answer is a resounding no.



Government data analyzed by the Associated Press show most Americans simply don't apply to harvest fruits and vegetables.

And the few Americans who do usually don't stay in the fields.

"It's just not something that most Americans are going to pack up their bags and move here to do," said farmer Steve Fortin, who pays $10.25 an hour to foreign workers to trim strawberry plants at his nursery near the Nevada border.

The AP analysis showed that, from January to June, California farmers posted ads for 1,160 farm worker positions open to U.S. citizens and legal residents.

But only 233 people in those categories applied after learning of the jobs through unemployment offices in California , Texas, Nevada and Arizona.

One grower brought on 36. No one else hired any.    Read More

Regardless of your position on immigration, the bigger story here is that many people don’t want to work even when jobs are available.  Unfortunately, many people don’t develop a work ethic and would rather rely on the government for an unemployment check.  It’s a rather sad commentary on our society. 

Armed Guards Required For NM Officials Visiting Ranches

Armed Escorts to Accompany New Mexico Livestock Inspectors By Joshua Rhett Miller
Published July 16, 2010
FoxNews.com

When inspectors in New Mexico begin surveying 32 livestock scales along the increasingly dangerous Mexican border later this month, they'll have armed escorts at their sides.

It will mark the first time armed deputies will travel with New Mexico Department of Agriculture inspectors, who certify the scales used to weigh livestock, Luna County Sheriff Raymond Cobos said.

"These scales that the ranchers use to ship their cattle are in isolated areas," Cobos told FoxNews.com. "And the administration decided since those inspectors and personnel are not armed, they wanted to be able to concentrate on their work without worrying about their security."

Cobos said that beginning on July 26, deputies will accompany inspectors to the scales in a corridor that stretches southwest from Interstate 10 at Las Cruces to the New Mexico-Arizona border, along Luna, Hidalgo and Grant counties.

"It also helps the deputies become more familiar with the ranches and their particular layouts," Cobos said. "It's a benefit to all of us."

"It's a safe way of providing their personnel with protection so they don't encounter a situation that would imperil the equipment or their lives," Cobos said. "It's a relatively small cost to prevent a tragedy." Read More

So it’s too dangerous for the NM Dept of Ag officials to go to these ranches without armed guards yet the government is telling us the border is safer than ever? Why do we have United States citizens living inside our borders that are being forced to live in fear? These ranches should not be the first line of defense for our country.

Gov't Refuses To Protect Border Ranchers

Border Patrol: Do your job!
by Trent Loos

On behalf of the ranching families of Arizona who fear for their lives every day, I am calling on the director of the Department of Homeland Security to fulfill her duties and secure our borders.
Rob Krentz from Douglas, AZ, was murdered on his ranch March 27. Since all other signs have been ignored, his murder should serve as a wake-up call to the real problems caused by not securing our borders.

Don Kimble, a rancher and neighbor of the Krentz family, has repeatedly asked the DHS director what the government's plan is to secure the border. Kimble said, "I wasted an hour-and-a-half of my life on a conference call with the former governor of Arizona and now Director of Homeland Security Janet Napolitano, and she did not answer our question."

Napolitano continues to deny any security problems. Kimble said, "One would think the Border Patrol should actually patrol the border, yet they continue to do their work 25 miles north of the border."

The government needs to explain why those agents are not working at the border. Read More

There’s no better way to get a feel for how bad the situation is down along our border than to experience it for yourself, and that’s exactly what Trent Loos did. The federal government has the responsibility to protect the citizens of this country. Plain and simple, it’s not doing that. Ranchers on the border have become our first line of defense instead. This isn’t their job or responsibility. The government seems so willing to become involved in things that aren’t their responsibility, but maybe they should take care of their primary jobs first.