This recent Associated Press article discusses the growing labor shortage on Washington state farms and orchards. And how the reverse of the normal trend…robots displacing workers…will become robots doing jobs that can’t be filled because of a shortage of labor. But I just want to draw out one point that many of those on either side of the undocumented worker discussion forget:
“A robot is not going to rent a house, buy clothing for their kids, buy food in a grocery and reinvest that money in the local economy.”
The impact of undocumented immigrants is far larger than just filling jobs that most of us don’t want or won’t do…this is where real trickle down economics lives. Wages paid for work quickly moves out into the community and local economy. The effects of mass deportations will be much larger than just more expensive food and shortages of fresh produce.
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