A California native (of Irish/English descent) chiming here with her two-cents.  What makes this issue so difficult for me, a democrat, is to look back at the history of California and wonder how the situation became so fouled up.  Prior to 1850, the entire state, along with Arizona belonged to Mexico.  In 1850, when gold was discovered in what is now Northern California, President Fillmore redrew the political southern boundary of the United States (and yes, this is a simplified version of the historical accounting) in a due-west line from New Mexico and said EVERYTHING ABOVE THIS LINE NOW BELONGS TO THE UNITED STATES OF AMERICA.  So who are really the trespassers, the illegal alliens?

Yes, the farm labor situation out here is very real.  I live in the central coastal area, known as the salad bowl of the world.  Hundreds, perhaps thousands,  of acres of lettuce, strawberries, artichokes, and other crops are grown here and the only ones who will endure the harsh conditions to plant, maintain the fields and harvest are the Mexicans.  I see them stooped over picking in the harsh sun, the rain, cold winter days, Sundays, holidays - whenever the crop is ready to pick.  And I am talking about dozens of truckloads of crops, shipped all over the country.  They are also at risk for health concerns due to the toxicity of repellents used in the crop dusting and material in the fertilizers. 

The Salinas Valley fields are left to rest for a few months in winter while the large farming companies relocate to Arizona where the whole process is repeated - planting, tending, harvesting. The farm workers follow, entire families.

The San Joaquin Valley in Central California is the largest agricultural region in the entire country and also thrives as a result of the hard working Mexicans. 

In the mid 1980's I worked for a very large aerospace corporation in Southern California.  Many components of our "products" were assembled in factories in Mexico because it was cheaper.  Outsourcing is not such a new concept.

So when I read that the "Governator" wants to erect a barrier to keep out the "illegals" I can't forget that this was once their land.  Why not assist the Mexican government with cleaning up the corruption and restoring their economy?  Don't we owe it to them since we took from them the best agricultural land they had?

Thank you for the info .  You have made my day .  And that may be the reason your youth appear to be willing to work .  BRAVO!

Not only do they hire out non-violent offender from the county prison here, they have the state prison prisoners grow all of their produce.  ( I live maybe 4 miles from the 2 prisons) The state prison also has cows, chickens and goats. Lots of farmers work there to teach the prisoners HOWE to do it right. Those farmers get first dibs on hiring the people they want. Got the info from my husband's friend who was a guard at the state prison.

Sorry I missed the piece on the armed guards for prison labor in the first reading.  That's wonderful, and one of my pet peaves regarding our penal system.  Making them work at honest labor is a key to actual rehabilitation. Now , I have to find out what state and county is doing that to start something here .  Thanks again!

Around here in Ohio, only two types of people work in the dairy barns, older americans that have grown up doing so, and illegals.  In the chicken processing plants, ONLY illegals do the dirty work - any americans quit on or after the first day.  Yes, some of the others are dishwashers or janitorial employees, or sewer workers.  No, I'm not kidding.  I work with the community of low brow american workers, and CRAP illegal workers.  I have worked many of these jobs myself over the years.  The key is still that we have to make our own US kids see that some form of honest work is a necessity, not begging, and not a life of petty (or felony) crime.  I have been robbed at gunpoint by four guys, had a fraudulent checks passed totalling $9,000 over the years, been broken into once.  EVERY one of these was an american youth who did not want to work.  I am saddened and disappointed to be saying this.  We must restructure their world to make work a necessity, not an optional concept.

I have yet to look and see that illegals are needed. Around here, other than people promising legals to harvest and delivering illegals,  there isn't much of a problem. Many people in my surrounding towns have young kids doing the harvesting; if it is corn or hay, it is done by machine. Perhaps it is time to create machines to pick... I seriously think if they can plant by row with a machine, they should be able to pick by row ( especially for hard  items like cabbages - something to slice it off and put it into a bin.). Also, we have farmers who hire out non-violent offenders from the state prison to pick - guarded by guards with shotguns. Perhaps also, welfare recipients should be required to earn the check....