You don't hear much good news on the illegal immigration front these days, but here's a very encouraging story that also contains some great economic developments:
IRAPUATO, Mexico - Antonio Martinez used to pay smugglers thousands of dollars each year to sneak him into the United States to manage farm crews. Now, the work comes to him.Supervising lettuce pickers in central Mexico, Martinez earns just half of the $1,100 a week he made in the U.S. But the job has its advantages, including working without fear of immigration raids.
Martinez, now a legal employee of U.S.-owned VegPacker de Mexico, is exactly the kind of worker more American farm companies are seeking. Many have moved their fields to Mexico, where they can find qualified people, often with U.S. experience, who can't be deported.
"Because I never moved my family to the U.S., I was always alone there," said Martinez, 45, who could never get a work permit, even after 16 years in agriculture in California and Arizona. "When I got the opportunity to be close to my family, doing similar work, I didn't even have to think about it."
Sounds good to me! Everyone wins. The "work Americans won't do" is still done by Mexicans, but legally and in their own country. America gets to buy cheap food but doesn't have to deal with the expense and secondary crime associated with illegal immigration. Mexican workers are able to make a living, live with their families, and invest in their own country's infrastructure, including education and health care.
The only losers are the drug cartels who smuggle people and contraband across the border, the Mexican government which exploits illegal emigration as a way to rid itself of poor people, and perhaps some American farmers who are too slow to keep up with the changes. Some farmers seem to be adapting quite profitably, however.
American companies now farm more than 45,000 acres of land in three Mexican states, employing about 11,000 people, a 2007 survey by the U.S. farm group Western Growers shows.There were no earlier studies to document how much the acreage has grown. But U.S. direct investment in Mexican agriculture, which includes both American companies moving their operations to Mexico and setting up Mexican partnerships, has swelled sevenfold to $60 million since 2000, Mexico's Economy Department told The Associated Press.
Major corporations such as Archer Daniels Midland Co. and Bunge have invested across Latin America for decades, particularly in countries like Brazil, where agribusiness is booming.
45,000 acres and $60 million are minuscule figures, but they're sure to grow over time as resources are reallocated due to legal and economic forces. Hopefully those who argue that we "need" illegal immigration will take note of these developments. If they don't, they'll end up on the losing end of the stick as well.
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