Here is a story from Oregon about refugees finding employment at a corporate dairy farm. It made me smile because one Bhutanese refugee says he really enjoys working with cows because they are sacred in his Hindu religion. I like cows too.
Chapagai said he felt privileged to be working with cows, which are considered sacred to Hindus. Unlike some workers, he said, he never kicks them or treats them roughly.
“The cow is a god to us,” he said. “If I tell my friends I work with cows, it is a great thing.”
There is lots to read in the East Oregonian article, but this (below) is what interested me the most, in light of my argument a couple of days ago that giving Amnesty to 12 million illegal aliens in the US now would take jobs away from legitimate refugees. I said I didn’t understand how a refugee resettlement agency (USCRI)that gets 96% of its funding from the taxpayer could justify lobbying for Amnesty.
Guterbock said Threemile Canyon Farms has trouble keeping the dairy fully staffed. Most of the applicants are Hispanic, he said, and while there is no shortage of people looking for a job, many are not legally authorized to work in the United States.
Cultural conflicts? So far so good.
“I actually expected much more resistance or trouble (from the Hispanic workers),” Guterbock said, “but people have been giving them rides and sharing food.”
But, the potential for trouble is still there.
There may be some rumors among the dairy’s Hispanic workers that Guterbock intends to replace them with refugees, he said, but that’s untrue. Threemile Canyon Farms still accepts applications and hires from the Boardman community, he said.
In addition to Hispanics, corporate farmer Guterbock has Iraqis and Africans employed as well. I can’t wait to see how all that works out. Remember how there was no love-loss between immigrant groups (they hadn’t gotten the PC multicultural message) at Greeley and Grand Island meatpacking facilities (see our whole category here) when Muslim workers demanded special religious accomodation. Hispanics led the opposition to Muslim demands.
The corporate farm’s English classes are not working out so well! I’ve thought all along that any employer who hires more than a couple of refugees should be required to offer English classes as part of the work day, so when I saw this, I (at first) perked up. However, on closer examination it obviously isn’t working. This employer tacks the English class on at the end of a long day and refugees, too tired to attend, are learning Spanish from co-workers instead!
Threemile Canyon Farms offers the refugees about $9.50 an hour, plus benefits and evening English classes – although many, Guterbock admitted, are too tired at the end of the day to attend. But the refugees find ways to communicate, he said, and many of them are picking up Spanish quickly from their co-workers.
Endnote: I was very disappointed earlier this year to see the degree to which Agricultural businesses and groups (like the American Farm Bureau Federation) were lobbying for Amnesty. See this study from the Federation for American Immigration Reform. This East Oregonian article makes it clear that corporate farms need a steady supply of cheap immigrant labor. Refugee employment agencies (head hunters) like USCRI and the IRC are helping keep the supply lines open—well, at least for now. When 12 million illegal aliens enter the legal job market then all bets are off for the refugees.