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Comment by user249 | Hacker News Reader

No, this has been studied. Americans think bending over in artichoke fields in California or working in chicken and pig slaughtering plants are jobs suitbale for immigrants, not them. They seemingly can't put two and two together that's that is why Mexicans are here, unless everyone is participating in this charade that Mexicans come here for welfare and to vote for Democrats

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When the 'take our jobs' website first came up (immigrants offering citizens to take their jobs bending over artichoke fields and what not) I was one of the first to sign up. It turned out they didn't actually want people to take their jobs, and they never actually offered me a job even though I was 100% ready and wanting to take their job. These jobs are largely closed off to citizens through the old boy network of immigrants (I'm not impugning them for this, I'm very glad they're here working those jobs so I can eat). I ended up hitchhiking to North Dakota for one of the few labor jobs available, building housing for the oil rush.

That's hilarious that you actually thought they were serious. No, they've got Mexican-American field managers in California who are second or third generation running crews of recent immigrant Mexicans with green cards. The last thing they want is some Anglo coming in to start demanding rights.

At that time I was young and willing to do pretty much anything. The idea of living in a tent in a field sounded like a great way to save money. Even if the pay was $5 an hour, I figured I could save almost 100% just like the immigrants working these fields do, and then follow them back to Mexico where my money would last awhile. Hilariously I basically just wanted to join in on the same action.

I had the same idea but even if I spoke fluent Indian-Spanish dialect, which I don't, there was no chance of it happening. They have a system that works well for growers, 2nd and 3rd generation Mexican-Americans and recent Mexican immigrants and I'm sure it will be working the same long after I'm gone

Sure, Americans also don't want to work at McDonald's or as sanitation workers, or any number of other undesirable jobs, but they'll do it if they're unskilled and need the money, as long as it pays enough.

You can work at McDonalds or in cleaning whilst living in or near your existing neighborhood, surrounded by family and friends, possible even in a house you own. Not so much moving to a different state to some isolated rural community to do unglamorous work, even if it pays more than McDonalds. cf Mexicans who think the move is part of the attraction (as well as obviously being more likely to be wowed by the salary offer and experienced in hard manual labour; there are seasonal farm work recruits who don't fit those two brackets though, like British university kids picking apples in New Zealand)

If you're looking for the subset of manual labourers willing to move to remote locations, you're competing with oil companies that really well, and people aren't queuing round the block for those jobs either. Labour intensive food production isn't particularly likely to be able to compete with oil on salary.

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