[Dapnoinaacale]

From the "be careful what you wish for" file. Bottom line is that for $12.50 an hour, all but the most destitute domestic workers won't sign up for such hard work. The article doesn't mention the law's impact on the hotel and restaurant industries, but the dynamics are the same: Companies will need to pay a lot more to get Americans to take these jobs.

End result: Georgia peaches will end up costing a whole lot more than California peaches. Georgia hotel rooms will be a lot more expensive than Alabama or Florida or Carolina hotel rooms. Georgia restaurant prices will quickly climb.

I'm sure all of that will make Georgia's agriculture, hotel and restaurant industries just thrive, because the economy is so strong, people don't even look at prices anymore. [/snark]

AJC: http://www.ajc.com/news/georgia-poli...ss_news_128746

Migrant farmworkers are bypassing Georgia because of the state’s tough new immigration enforcement law, creating a severe labor shortage among fruit and vegetable growers here and potentially putting hundreds of millions of dollars in crops in jeopardy, agricultural industry leaders said this week.

...

Farmers, however, say they often have little luck recruiting Georgia residents to work in their fields because it is temporary, hot and physically demanding. To recruit more workers, some farmers are offering signing bonuses, Hall said.

The law doesn't take effect until July 1 but is already making migrant Hispanic farmworkers skittish, said Dick Minor, a partner with Minor Brothers Farm in Leslie in southwest Georgia who says he is missing about 50 of his workers now, threatening as much as a third of his crops.

Some farmers who work in Georgia’s $1.1 billion fruit and vegetable industry are now reporting they have only two-thirds or half the workers they need now and for the weeks of harvesting to come, Hall said. Farmers said the full extent of the shortages won’t be known until the coming weeks as they harvest their remaining crops, including watermelons and sweet corn. Hall estimated such shortages could put as much as $300 million in crops at risk this year.

...

Georgia’s agricultural industry -- the largest in the state -- vigorously opposed HB 87 in the Legislature, arguing it could scare away migrant workers and damage the state’s economy.

Minor, who is also president of the Georgia Fruit and Vegetable Growers Association, said the Mexican workers he normally depends on to harvest his cucumbers and squash are staying away from Georgia over concerns they will be harassed.

“People are just saying: ‘I am not going to Georgia. The law is terrible. We are going to get in trouble there. Let’s just go on,’ ” Minor said. “They have got options. And what they are saying is ‘Georgia is not the place to go.’”

[Xcqjwarl]

Hispanic migrant workers (mostly Mexicans) have been picking this nations' fruits and veggies for decades. Just wait until they stop coming to Florida. Gov. Scott wants a similar law to Georgia's.

We rank number one for citrus fruit, tomatoes, sweet corn, watermelon, snap beans and cucumbers. Number two for strawberries and bell peppers. All picked by hand. All picked by migrant workers.

[Signabeademia]

Wow, California's fruit and vegetable industry is in for boom times.

[ttoothh]

Yep. And the rest of us are in for shockingly high prices at the grocery stores, fast food venues and restaurants.

[SinncmxM]

Time to plant your own garden and or go visit your local farmers market, best food comes from places close to home.

[Mymnnarry]

The way I see it, Georgia's crackdown on migrant workers is like a missed opportunity in many ways. Instead of cracking down Georgia should simply tweak the laws so that both citizens as well as non-citizens pay taxes and for health insurance equally since both are staying on American soil while working and this added revenue can potentially go a long way towards easing some troubled situations that have been emerging lately. The problem is that too many people in high places already have their minds made up (yes, they are prejudice) and this blinds them from seeing these kinds of opportunities.

[Bobdilan]

Many migrant workers actually do have unemployment and other federal and state taxes deducted from their paychecks. They just never file for refunds or collect any of the benefits. So that part of your plan is already in effect, to some extent.