Alabama Farmers Look To Replace Migrants With Prisoners

[Purveyor]

Source: Agence France-Presse

MIAMI — Alabama farmers have proposed using prisoners to work their fields to replace migrants who fled the state after it passed the country’s harshest anti-immigration law, officials said Tuesday.

The Alabama Department of Agriculture and Industry officials met Tuesday in Mobile with farmers to discuss their proposal, a spokeswoman for the department told AFP.

“The suggestion to use prisoners who are eligible for work release programs was made as a way to help farmers fill the gap and find sufficient labor,” said Amy Belcher.

A statement by the department said the meeting with the farmers was convened “to help solve the chronic labor shortages created by Alabama’s new immigration law.”

Read more: http://www.rawstory.com/rs/2011/12/06/alabama-farmers-look-to-replace-migrants-with-prisoners/

[Solly Mack]

1. Damn

[JustAnotherGen]

2. Epic Fail

And my family's largest farm is our original - in Northern AL. We have not used illegal immigrants, we will not use prisoners . . .

We will do what we've always done and take less 'profits' - We'll pay men and women a SOLID wage for a solid days work. And that's why when all the others had crops rotting on the vines - we produced food until the end of October. Because it's not that hard to pay someone $13 to $15 bucks an hours (Northern Alabama cost of living - I live in NJ - I'd think it would have to be much higher up here) - and not pay them by the bushel . . . to give them sick days. To understand people need a DESERVE a place to pee.


I kind of feel bad for the Immigrants here - they were treated like slaves. Maybe because my father's family WAS slaves on that very land many years ago - we have a greater conscience and respect for HUMAN beings.

[villager]

3. Hence the need for police/pig militarism and keeping chickenshit laws on the books -- to turn more

,..of us into prisoners, and thus, available as labor for our new/old feudal overlords...

[Scuba]

5. Bingo.

[JustAnotherGen]

4. Want to stress again

You CAN pay people a living wage that are willing to do this back breaking work (I've picked food even as a little kid when I went down there - it's TIRING!) - but you HAVE to be willing to reduce your margin.

These farmers are greedy and just want to replace one set of slaves with another.

[SoapBox]

6. wow...they went from furious about losing their workers to gleefully hopeful that the can

get them some Mex-y-can PRISONERS to work the fields. And will it be FREE labor? Kind of like SLAVERY?

Alabammer...one of the United States of Hater states.

...leaves me speechless.

[JaneQPublic]

13. Yep. A return to slavery is their first choice. (nt)

[Beavker]

15. Yep, One step closer it is...

Plus, if many wingers had their choice, they'd be using the same people anyway, because they'd have all the illegals put in private prisons paid for by tax payers, then slaved out to private industry for free.

It was bad enough in Zona with the private prisons wanting Federal dollars and creating laws that put more and more people in those prisons to gain those Federal dollars...imagine the incentive to lock up anyone for anything if we get free, slave labor as well? Parking ticket? Work on the farm. Jay walking? Work on the farm. Guess that will make up for the lack of Federal funding because our country doesn't collect enough taxes to run it anymore.

USA!

[saras]

7. Sounds like a brilliant plan for food safety.

[Blacksheep214]

8. Will they have whips?

I'm sure prisoners won't be very motivated or even in shape for hours of stoop labor.

Will they be whipped like the African slaves to go faster?

[McCamy Taylor]

9. Slavery

[Bigmack]

10. If they actually get any of the prisoners to actually pick....

... the crops, I'm not eating ANY of that stuff if I know where it comes from.

Principles..?

Nope.

Those prisoners are gonna piss on everything that leaves the fields.

I sure as hell would.

[Bonhomme Richard]

11. Mark my words. There will be a spike in arrest just before.....

picking season. A money cow for the state?

[KamaAina]

12. Work release programs are supposed to integrate the prisoner back into society

not serve as a source of free/slave labor.

Anyone who supports this horseshit has forfeited the right to bellyache about China using prison labor to undercut U.S. producers.

[mahatmakanejeeves]

14. Slavery by Another Name

Just an astonishing book. Way recommended. It was written by the The Wall Street Journal.'s
Atlanta bureau chief.

Slavery by Another Name

ETA: brought to my attention when it was banned in the Alabama penal system.

Challenged Books in the Prison System

Read it, and you'll see why it was banned.

[Fuddnik]

16. Who couldn't see that coming a mile away?

I mentioned it in a conversation about a week ago.

Why not pay better wages that people can live on, and provide better working conditions? Oh. Nevermind.

If they OK this, I'll never do business with any company from Alabama.

[shellgame26]

17. what a fucked up place...

[Shoe Horn]

18. Imprisoning people for profit is a slippery slope and just morally wrong to me.

Entire world - Prison Population Rates per 100,000 of the national population
http://www.prisonstudies.org/info/worldbrief/wpb_stats.php?area=all&category=wb_poprate

We all know this. Or we wouldn't be Democrats most likely.

[DreamSmoker]

19. State sanctioned Slave Labor????

It might work if those Prison inmates got a decent wage..
It could be like those Temp agencies do..
Charge X amount up front and pay those inmates a minimal wage..

But thats most likely a pipe dream..
This will be slave labor made locally legal by the State..

Fact is those Farmers don't want to pay a living wage either..
Thats why only the Illegal immigrant will work those Fields
while Americans won't..

[zalinda]

20. Weren't 'we' concerned about labor from

Chinese prisoners?

zalinda

[wilt the stilt]

21. What we have here is a failure to communicate n/t

[Populist_Prole]

22. Cons have pretty much painted themselves into a corner on this one

Any Cons in favor of unrestricted immigration? Now you know why. They always wanted to put a faux "path to citizenship" happy face on their cheap labor base desires. "Guest workers"? Legal, but still exploitable, labor. Now that the GOP has run with the whole border enforcement mantra, they see where it got them; and exposed their real desires. The only way to be profitable now is to hire de-facto slaves. Niiiiicccee!

Not a very sound business model if the only way they can survive is to have second-class citizens as employees.

[Odin2005]

23. This was predictable. Southerners really want slavery back.

[raccoon]

26. Some Southerners, Odin. nt

[Odin2005]

27. Yeah, sorry!

:blush:

[alp227]

24. Awkward move after awkward move, Alabama.

(to the tune of that Lynyrd Skynyrd song) Slave owners Alabama, cheap labor while workers are screwed

[trof]

25. Gee, maybe I can get a job as an overseer.

:sarcasm: