VALDOSTA —
Gov. Nathan Deal and state officials have created a mess for farmers with the stricter laws on immigration.
Regardless of how you feel about illegal or migrant workers, the truth is that our country has depended on this supply of cheap labor for decades in order to keep food prices low. Farmers are not rich corporations. They cannot afford to pay what most would consider a living wage for picking produce without substantial effects on the prices.
No one is arguing that the illegal immigrant issue is unimportant or that it doesn’t need to be addressed, but address it in an intelligent, thoughtful manner, not a knee jerk reaction to political pressure.
The governor is now commissioning studies to see what effects the new legislation is having. Not liking the answers, the newest knee jerk reaction this week was to suggest that parolees can do the work just the same.
Does that mean he now wants to rid Atlanta of its former prison population and unload them on South Georgia?
Meanwhile, it’s harvest time. Crops are ready to be picked. Farmers don’t have the time to be babysitters or parole officers. So maybe this wasn’t such good timing for Georgia to suddenly get anti-immigrant fever.
Maybe this should have been prepared for, with farmers’ input. Maybe the state should have discussed the ramifications with those directly affected. Maybe the immigration issue is not as easy as “send them home,” but is a far more complex one in that maybe Georgia needs them, relies on them, and cannot successfully support the state’s No. 1 economic engine without them.
There aren’t enough parolees to take their place. There aren’t enough teenagers to take their place. Anyone around South Georgia who has a farm already has their kids working on it, folks. It’s naive to think that there is a large supply of hundreds of able bodied young men and women who are physically capable of working 12-hour stretches in 100-degree heat six or seven days a week just waiting to take the place of migrant workers.
There’s a reason these workers are here to begin with. And it’s not just cheap labor; it’s a ready access of skilled, physically strong labor that can withstand the heat. And unless Deal and his cronies can figure out how to replace them and quickly, perhaps all of the legislators who approved this should come down south and take their place.
What We Think
Solving the farm crisis
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Historic day celebrated
On January 1, 1863, Pres. Abraham Lincoln issued the Emancipation Proclamation, announcing that all persons held as slaves within the rebellious areas are and henceforth shall be free.
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How this garden grew
A special-needs couple wanted a garden. A teacher not only wanted to teach gardening skills but she also wanted to instill a sense of community purpose within her young students.
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Happy Father’s Day
He beamed with pride on our birth. He understood worry upon our birth. He is the giant by which we would judge all men. He protected us. He provided for us. He often sacrificed time with us to provide for us. He spent time with us.
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Thumbs up
THUMBS UP: To Stevie Young of Valdosta. The owner of Artistic Taxidermy, Young won Best in the World, Turkey, in the 2013 World Taxidermy Championship. His eastern wild turkey display dominated the competition, earning him the distinction of best in the world. Another title for TitleTown!
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Canning preserves food, way of life
When the going gets tough, the tough getting canning. Valdosta-Lowndes County residents have this opportunity.
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PSST!: Round Two!
With tonight’s opening of “The Marvelous Wonderettes,” Peach State Summer Theatre presents its second show of the 2013 season.
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A responsible fix for pets
The photo and story in Sunday’s paper about the dog whose owners had left him tied up with an electrical cord elicited a tremendous response from readers, outraged at the dog’s treatment.
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A band-aid in a crisis?
The announcement Monday by the Georgia Department of Behavioral Health and Developmental Disabilities that a crisis stabilization center will be built in Lowndes County is good news for some, not so great for others.
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Slowing down for summer
Twenty-some years ago, it seemed Valdosta and South Georgia slowed down for the summer. School was out. Controversies seemed to dwindle. People seemed to work shorter hours despite the longer days.
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Storms: Of preparation and prayer
If you haven’t already, maybe this morning in church would be a good time to say a prayer of thanks that Tropical Storm Andrea blessed us with some much-needed rain while sparing us the overwhelming catastrophe that weather has wreaked upon the Midwest in recent weeks.
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Historic day celebrated
