The risk Is so great that major corporations and conglomerates have refused to invest. These same growers. mostly operating on small family farms. ask for no Federal support or subsidy. They also ask not to be made the enforcer of immigration policy. The specialty harvests to which I refer have always depended on temporary. shortterm labor. Since the State of Washington is far removed from the normal migrant worker stream. agricultural wages in the Northwest are the highest. or among the highest. in the Nation. For several decades. citizens from the great States of Oklahoma and Arkansas joined local workers in harvesting these crops. Now many of these former migrants own their own farms in the Northwest. In recent years. Hispanic workers have increasingly filled this need for shortterm specialty harvests. They have left field work and row crops. which have become mechanized. and filled the need created by the growth of the asparagus. cherry. pear. apple. grape. and hops industries. These Hispanic workers come from Texas and California. attracted by piece rates that reward their aggressive work habits. There Is no argument that. since the termination of the bracero program. this migrant stream has been joined by an unknown percentage of illegal immigrants. By specialty harvests. I mean a matter of a few days of work. somewhat unpredictable because of weather. The professional migrant and aggressive local worker work for a number of employers and have a pattern they have followed for years. You dont hear about them because they arrange for their own housing and transportation and they earn very good wages. My descriptioii of these farm operations brings me to this point.
Identified stereotypes
Hispanic workers are described as having 'aggressive work habits'.