Farm News

Immigrant Labor = Lower Inflation and Food Costs

Policy makers are wrestling with how to address the inflation surge to a new 40-year high of 9.1-percent on the June CPI report from the U.S. Department of Labor Statistics. But a new analysis from Texas A & M University, which reviewed 60 years of data from official sources, reveals a strong relationship between allowing more migrant and H-2A visa workers and keeping America’s grocery shelves stocked. It suggests more H2A workers would combat inflation, and lower food prices (including milk, eggs, meat, and produce) for all domestic consumers.

“Overall, the findings in this study tended to support the conclusion that policies on non-citizen admissions and immigration have a profound association with the economy,” said study author and Texas A & M Associate Dean Prof. Sean Maddan. “The relationships denoted above are strong, statistically significant relationships.”

The Texas A&M topline findings include:
• More migrant and more H-2A workers are associated with lower inflation, lower dairy, meat, vegetable and fruit costs.
• More migrant and more H-2A workers are associated with higher average wages and minimum wages.
• More migrant and more H-2A workers are associated with lower unemployment.
• More denied petitions for naturalization are associated with larger consumer prices and higher inflation.
• More petitions for naturalization are associated with lower inflation.
Methodology:
The data for this research were collected from official sources that include the Bureau of Labor Statistics, the Federal Reserve Bank of St. Louis, US Customs and Border Protection, and the US Department of Agriculture. Information was collected from 1960-2020 for most data points, associated with meats, poultry, milk, and eggs.

Several House Republicans also called on the Senate to act on its version of the Farm Workforce Modernization Act, which the House passed in 2019 and 2020.

Indiana Republican Rep. Jim Baird. “Across the country our farmers are struggling to navigate soaring costs, supply chain issues and ongoing labor shortage that has tested limits of foundational industry. Law and regulations around this have not been examined for decades now, and, as a result, American farmers and ranchers are under-equipped to meet demands,” I hear all too often about challenges that current policy creates for the industry already under immense strain. That’s why I support FWMA and will continue to support other common sense legislation that will give farmers the help they need.”

Washington Republican Rep. Dan Newhouse: “I am here for one reason today and that’s to encourage, to plead, with our senate colleagues to come together so that we can finally fix our broken immigration system and combat the rising cost of food in our country that every single American is facing,” said “By ensuring that we have a legal and reliable workforce we can secure [our] food supply, food security, and reduce food costs for all Americans. We can raise wages and reduce unemployment for all American workers by creating value-added upstream jobs…What are we waiting for?”

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1 comment

LOS July 16, 2022 at 3:20 pm

Sounds like this was conducted by a bunch of lefties, I wonder if they took into account what happens when the United States is exporting more oil than importing & being energy independent. Or reckless printing of money to prop up over valued market bloated with debt. So go on about how open boarders would fix inflation.

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