Jun 24 2008
Farmers Leery of Shuler Immigration Bill
The system, called E-Verify, is part of a larger immigration act sponsored by the Waynesville Democrat emphasizing border security, employment verification and domestic enforcement of immigration law. If passed, the legislation would cost $17.3 billion over 10 years.
Shuler had planned to meet with Asheville Area Chamber of Commerce members and the public at the Crest Center on Monday but could not do so because of unexpected business in Washington, his staff said. Jonathan Scharfen, acting director of U.S. Citizen and Immigration Services under the Department of Homeland Security, and N.C. Rep. Charles Thomas, who is sponsoring state-level E-Verify legislation, spoke about the system.
Jimmy Cowan, a district field representative for Farm Bureau Insurance, said the
E-Verify system looked like it could work, but he was concerned it could be tough on farmers who needed to hire quickly, and could leave immigrants unemployed and more dependent on social aid programs.
“You’re going to have farmers over here looking for employees … and also you’re going to have another pool of folks that don’t have the income that they currently have,†Cowan said.
Cowan is making excuses. Having to go through E-Verify is not going to cause any significant delay to a farmer who has an immediate need for workers. Regarding social aid programs, the unemployed illegals won’t be dependent on them if they aren’t made available to them. The result will be they will have to go back to where they came from and go through the system like everyone else.
The bottom line is Cowan is defending farmers wanting to hire illegal aliens so that they can pay them slave wages rather than hiring an American worker and paying him an acceptable market wage.
