Here’s a piece at MarketWatch.com that was floating around twitter this weekend: “Your food and wine costs are going to rise when Donald Trump takes office.” Why? Because illegal workers make up 16% of all farmworkers. Deport them and the cost for labor will go up, and, hence food and wine prices will increase. Why just “food and wine”? Why not other beverages? It’s not a very well-written article, but you’ve seen this before: this is a job “Americans won’t do” but illegal workers will because have a better work ethic.
But think about this: we’re meant to be shocked at the prospect of higher prices, and back off demands that illegal workers be deported, or that illegal immigration end with border security and workplace enforcement.
At the same time, though, it seems to be exactly the same voices who say that we need to have a $15 minimum wage, and improve working conditions, and if that causes the prices of everyday purchases to increase, well, it’s the right thing to do in the name of social justice.
So which is it?
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