Mar. 01, 2007 - 21:15 MST

PERHAPS

Rather than overburden our State Patrol and making them over into cyborgs with x-ray eyes to where they can automatically tell -- from a distance -- that a driver of passenger of a car is or is not wearing a seat restraint belt -- maybe more attention could paid to a subject covered by Ann Imse of The Rocky Mountain News in today's paper. Quoted here in full:

INMATES FILL LABOR GAP FOR FARMERS

Stricter immigration rules spur growers to tap state prisons

"Five Colorado farmers are contracting for prisoners to work their fields this summer because they fear the state's strict new immigration laws will keep migrant laborers away."

"State prison officials are negotiating for crews of 10 to 20 minimum-to-low-medium-security inmates to do farm work near Pueblo."(Colorado)

"This may be the first time that inmates leave prison to work in private industry. Corrections Department spokeswoman Alison Morgan said. About 2,000 inmates work inside the prisonms, including some in Buena Vista who make saddles for a private company she said."

"Farmer Joe Pisciotta of Avodale near Pueblo, hopes they'll be hoeing, transplanting and harvesting the onions, watermelons and pumpkins on his 700-acre farm from May 1 to Oct. 1. The number of workers would vary from week to week, and the prisoners would get thier usual 60 cents per day."

"Corrections is asking the farmers to pay $9.60 an hour per prisoner to cover guards, transportation to the fields and food, Pisciotta said."

"That's a bit more than the cost of minimum wage plus benefits such as workers compensation insurance, the farmer said. He's negotiating for a lower fee."

"A new state law took effect Jan. 1 reqiring employers to verify Social Security numbers and save proof that workers are legal. Some migrant workers have heard about the law and are choosing to work elsewhere."

"Pisciotta said he started looking for alternatives after his winter onion packers said they might not be back to Colorado -- fearing harassment, even if they are legal."

"To enforce the new law, the state will perform random audits and fine employers $5,000 for the first and up to $25,000 for the second."

"He said he checks his worker's edentification papers."

"They look fine. But whether they're legit or not, I don't know," he said."

"Agriculture Commissioner JOhn Stlp said he's heard similar stories across the state. One farmer in northern Colorado reported cutting his vegetable fields from 2,000 acres to 500 acres last fall because of the labor shortage."

"But the shortage creats a perfect fit for inmates, state corrections boss Ari Zavaras said."

"We'll be filling a need in the community, and it wasn't being filled by anyone else," Zavaras said."

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I do remember reading of prisons building office furniture for a time, but private industry apparently put a stop to that through political pressure, although I do not know of any office furniture factories in this state.

I guess this is the time for the financial biggies to put up or shut up. Their theme song for years and years has been "work our citizens won't do" so how can they possibly protest prisoners doing the farm labor that "our citizens won't do ?"

Seems to me that a good part of the inmates would rather be working outside during the farming season than being cooped up in the jailhouse.

Wonder which bunch of do-gooders will try to shoot this full of holes ?

$9.60 an hour nets the state $9.00 an hour to cover guards, transportation and food, Spread over 10 prisoners that amounts to 90 cents an hour. Spread over 20 prisoners 45 cents an hour. Looking at things that way, sounds fair enough for me.

Naturally the farmer would like to pay less, illegals working farms were making a hell of a lot less.

But, seeing that our government is going into the prison and prisoner business, or privatizing the penal system and companies building the prisons and hiring staff, looks as if soon what isn't blacktopped and Mal Warted and not in city limits will be farms and prisons.

Maybe everybody concerned should give this some very constructuve thoughts, PERHAPS . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .

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