Speakeasy forum: Illegal aliens appear to have revitalized the economy of NE

Nebraska. They work the line at the Hormel plant.

"In the past twenty years, roughly 3,000 Hispanics have arrived in Fremont — an increase from 0.7 percent to nearly 12 percent of the total population. Latino immigrants have saved the economies of the towns of northeast Nebraska from ruin, but many older residents feel threatened by these new arrivals. Spots on the line at Hormel were once the most coveted jobs in the area, but now they are occupied largely by undocumented immigrants willing to work twice as fast for lower pay. The workers who got pushed aside, many of them second- or third-generation Hormel employees, are angry."

http://harpers.org/archive/2013/02/this-land-is-not-your-land/

From a stub of an article, the full text available only to subscribers.

It is a tough conundrum, but it is also historically the American way. Immigrants, and now illegal immigrants, come in and work harder for less, at the same time pumping dollars into the economy. Who do you back? The immigrants revitalizing the economies of towns on the ropes, or the older workers who built the plants with their labour and whose children are being forced out by Hormel's hiring practices.

To redress the balance, Hormel would have to forgo large profits in order to pay legal employees, the employees would have to work harder at a job notable for on the job injuries, and the cost of food would rise. Like I said, it's a tough problem.

I've got no dog in this fight. I'm retired. I think Mexicans should get a much fairer shake, but I think the resident workers and their offspring should get a fair shake too.

Rob