What we need is a government that recognizes that we need people from Mexico in this country to perform farm labor that Americans wont do. When I was a kid I picked berries to earn enough money to buy my school clothes for the next year. As a third grader I was the top picker in the field one day picking over 100 lbs. of strawberries. Since the governmet passed child labor laws our kids now sit home in front of a computer or play video games or get into trouble because they are board and many never learn what its like to really work.

Being a Christmas tree farmer I hire high school kids that want to work doing tops in the summer. My shearing crew is all migrant workers. These are real men that wear long sleeve sweatshirts and shear in 95 degree heat and don't complain about it. They earn more than $10.00 an hour depending on skill level. At harvest time all high school kids are in school there are no laborers other than migrant workers who will work day after day in less than 40 degree temperatures in rain and snowy weather to cut, pack, bale and load thousands of Christams trees weighing 50 to 150 lbs. each for $11.00 to $15.00 per hour. U.S. citizens usually don't make it past noon on their first day at harvest time.

These migrant workers would like to go home every year to their families after the work in the farms is done. But they are afraid they wont be able to come back the next season because of the border issues so they stay here and eventually bring their families here or they go home never to return.

Without these laborers many farms would go belly up. We are hearing crops are not getting picked. Beautiful pears, apples, cherries etc. rotting on the trees because there are no pickers. This is happening now because of the border issue. So you the consumer can expect to pay even higher prices for food in the future.

We desperately need a guest worker program that allows agricultural workers to come here legally to perform work Americans wont do. This needs to be easier for Mexicans to acquire this legal documentation to allow them to come here and go home.

Perhaps each farmer could pay into a pool for any medical insurance issues that arise with imigrants. We pay SAIF for workers if my workers get hurt on the job their medical is covered. We also pay social security on the workers. Perhaps 1% of monies collected from groceries should fund imigrant insurance issues as well.

Borredo I'm 51 years old and work along side my crew in the field and in the truck. I challenge you to show up here at my farm and work one full day in the conditions I described. Some of my best friends are migrant workers.

I hate it when people don't know all the facts and believe the answer is to build a wall. This issue is more complex than you think.

Steve