Texas. together with the Congressmen from New Mexico. Arizona. and myself. have had repeated conferences with the Agriculture. State. and Immigration Departments. and with the Farm Security Administration* in particular. in an effort to get in Mexican labor under proper conditions to harvest the essential war crops in our part of the courtry. I take the position in this matter that they have had no success in connection with border farm problems. whether it be the gathering of longstaple cotton or the fruit and beet crops of California. or Arizona. or Michigan. or elsewhere. or the rice crops in Judge MANSFIELDS district. then I submit. in all fairness. it is time to try something else. The gentleman from New Mexico and I have in our districts the Rio Grande irrigation project with nearly 200.000 acres of land in the very highest state of cultivation and through the request of the War Production" Board and the Department of Agriculture we planted many acres of longstaple cotton to make parachutes and other things that the War Department needed. yet many hundreds of bales of cotton in Arizona and New Mexico and west Texas were not picked. I take the position that if you will leave the farmers alone in our part of the country to deal directly with the immigration authorities they will get the necessary farm labor to cultivate and harvest the crops. and then see to it that the Mexicans are returned to their own country. Farming is expensive In my country. The land is valuable and water taxes very high.
Keywords matched
Immigration immigration