The president of the United Farm Workers of America is challenging people who complain that undocumented immigrants are taking jobs away from U.S. citizens to do something about it.
The Texas Tribune reports that the UFW is launching a "Take Our Jobs" campaign, inviting citizens and legal residents to replace immigrants in the field. The campaign is encouraging members of Congress to refer their constituents to vacant farm worker positions in locations across the country. The union promises that experienced farm workers will train new recruits.
Rodriguez told the newspaper that he doesn't expect many citizens to take the offer seriously, because many workers earn about half of what nonfarm jobs pay. Instead, Rodriguez says, the UFW is more focused on drawing attention away from a deportation-only approach to immigration, which he said would decimate the agriculture industry.
"Somehow, undocumented workers are getting as much blame for our economic troubles as Wall Street, but missing from the immigration debate is an honest recognition that the food we all eat at home, in restaurants and workplace cafeterias, including those in the Capitol, comes to us from the labor of undocumented workers," Rodriguez said.
The Texas Tribune: UFW launches 'Take Our Jobs' initiative
Take Our Jobs website
The Texas Tribune reports that the UFW is launching a "Take Our Jobs" campaign, inviting citizens and legal residents to replace immigrants in the field. The campaign is encouraging members of Congress to refer their constituents to vacant farm worker positions in locations across the country. The union promises that experienced farm workers will train new recruits.
Rodriguez told the newspaper that he doesn't expect many citizens to take the offer seriously, because many workers earn about half of what nonfarm jobs pay. Instead, Rodriguez says, the UFW is more focused on drawing attention away from a deportation-only approach to immigration, which he said would decimate the agriculture industry.
"Somehow, undocumented workers are getting as much blame for our economic troubles as Wall Street, but missing from the immigration debate is an honest recognition that the food we all eat at home, in restaurants and workplace cafeterias, including those in the Capitol, comes to us from the labor of undocumented workers," Rodriguez said.
The Texas Tribune: UFW launches 'Take Our Jobs' initiative
Take Our Jobs website