As I read the Tuesday letter, “Enforce illegal immigration law,” I was reminded of a Herald article tucked in the Oct. 17 “Northwest Briefly” section, where the governor described the shortage of apple pickers as “dire.” With the unemployment rate running around 9 percent, not many of our “legal citizens” want to pick apples.
Growers are offering up to $150 a day. Even with that, the governor reports, “We’re not getting anybody to take a bite on these jobs…” (Did she intend the “bite” pun?) While the author of the Tuesday letter tells us “not to worry about hurt feelings” when enforcing immigration laws, there are a lot of hard-working farmers in this state worrying about more than “hurt feelings” this season. Reductions in apple exports will only contribute to our already difficult economic climate. Even more worrisome, this may drive an essential Washington state business into oblivion.
Am I endorsing illegal immigration? Of course not. But the old argument that illegal workers are taking “American” jobs has once again been shown to be a red herring. If anything, we need to demand that our politicians create a rational, predictable, and enforceable guest worker law that allows temporary immigrants to do things Americans won’t do — like agricultural labor.
Francis J. Lynch
Edmonds
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