California farms are becoming the testing ground for the argument that wages and job prospects for American workers will improve when undocumented immigrants are not available. “So far, the results aren’t encouraging for farmers or domestic workers,” says the Los Angeles Times, despite offers of higher pay.
Wages for crop workers rose 13 percent from 2010-15, twice as fast as the statewide average, says the Times, which described an offer of $16 an hour for vineyard workers. “Farmers are being forced to make difficult choices about whether to abandon some of the state’s hallmark fruits and vegetables, move operations abroad, import workers under a special visa or replace them altogether with machines.” Some operators offer health insurance, paid vacation, retirement accounts and subsidized housing. All the same, a full-time farm worker makes $30,000 a year, half of the average wage in the state.
Some analysts say wages are still too low. Another viewpoint, says the Times, is that farm work is not attractive. The work is seasonal, so income is erratic, and when work is available it can mean 60-hour weeks of physically demanding labor at harvest time.
At the other end of the labor market, rural hospitals that rely on foreign-born doctors are worried by a federal decision to change the timetable for visa applicants, said the New York Times. “The slowdown in the rural doctor pipeline shows how even a small, relatively uncontroversial change can ripple throughout the country … The procedural change regards temporary visas for skilled workers, known as H-1B visas.” Immigration officials have suspended a program that allowed employers to pay a $1,225 fee for expedited review of applications.