Bring back the Bracero program! For general hard Ag labor, the cost to employ foreign labor could be a fraction of what it is to hire Americans. Nobody here wants these jobs anyhow…I know, I grew up in the fields.
Let’s small time farmers have access to cheap labor legally, food costs drop, these workers make more money here than they do in their countries, and this could also be used as an avenue for immigrants to show their ability to contribute.
Could be a plus when applying for American citizenship after so many years of it. Perhaps after 5 or so years of successfully working here, you get a fast track to citizenship. Now we’re brining in hard working folks. All sides win.
By reopening or revamping the Bracero program, we can reduce the illegal entries to the country by providing people from Latin America the opportunity to apply for a legal job here and come to the US under the supervision of the hiring famers. We can control who comes by requiring documentation from the workers and the farmer. Much can be done in an online format to apply and then in-person interview.
It would be worth it for the government to subsidize the building of a small amount of housing units on a farmer’s property that wants to utilize the cheaper labor. This would give vetted migrant farm hands an instant place to live, only while they remain an employee of the farm.