i'd like to know where the fruits and lettuce came from, and who picked them…

chertoff needs to be fired, he is worthless.he is nothing but a mouthpiece for bush who wants to flood this country with hispanics.

to all the people who feel like the good ol' us of a is being overran by illegal aliens…now you know how the "true" native americans felt when all of the white europeans invaded and destroyed a once mighty nation. By the way how come all of you are not speaking navajo?

There you have it…Bush makes a speech in front of Construction industry lobbyists, his side kick Chertoff speaks in front of agricultural industry lobbyists…

This my fellow Americans is the REAL George Bush and supporters of the bill.

IT HAD NOTHING TO DO WITH REFORM! It only had to deal with putting more cash in rich lobbyist pockets so they can continue to replace U.S. jobs with illegal labor.

TANCREDO IS MY HERO! How refreshing and unusual to find a politician who respects the Constitution and the Rule of Law. I have contributed to his Congressional campaigns and I am proud to contribute to his Presidential campaign. I note that the mainstream media is ignoring him almost completely. If they gave him the coverage he deserves and a chance to get his message across, he would be a front runner. Over 80% of the American public are against this amnesty bill and that same 80% would welcome Tom Tancredo for President.

Marty, nice point about "illegals being illegal" and "what about the last time you ." Here's the difference: The very PRESENCE of illegals in this country is illegal. All illegals can go home. And I mean NOW!

Right on Mr. Trancredo! Mr. Chertoff would do better concentrating on "Homeland Security" than worrying about our agricultural situation. It is his laxness and the stupidity of our illustrious President that helped to creat the "illegal" situation. Now they are trying to force amnesty upon the US citizens!
Since when are we the only country of "immigrants"? Wasn't every country in the world at one time "founded by immigrants" so let's stop this rediculous mantra!

What kind of lettuce? There are more choices of Lettuce than ever before…..Butter…Romaine – Lettuce chopped up, Organic Lettuce – Lettuce in Bags; some with cabbage and carrots!

If we have to get out or ICEBURG lettuce-cutting knives again – they'll start saying we need illegals to manufacture the knives!

ILLEGAL IS ILLEGAL. PERIOD. FOLLOW THE LAWS OF THIS COUNTRY!

WTGO Tom!

Nice move, but ultimately pointless. I don't know about anyone else, but the mexican population in my community has recently skyrocketed. Hmmm… Wonder why? Simple. The widespread debate over it, the fence, the bill, the blogs, the angry comments, the media coverage, all might as well have been signs that said, "Better get you and your family here quick, we're talking about doing something about this."

So what was an ongoing problem for years is now a NIGHTMARE. The kindly mexicans that were mowing your lawns and paving your roads, (which btw, did so quietly and appreciatively) are now marching, organizing, and what was a leak in the dam is now an unstoppable flood.

Now, they believe they will get amnesty, that they deserve amnesty, despite the defeat of the bill.

When the will of the people prevents it, those that now serve you will become your enemies.

You're already surrounded, and whether you like it or know it, you depend on them. It's not just lettuce we're talking about here.

Construction: The housing market is abysmal and if all builders were forced to replace their mexican labor, home costs would skyrocket. When was the last time you saw a house built without a mexican? Considering the housing market is a major part of our economy and is already suffering, I'd suggest not doubling labor costs.

The fact is, most companies with a sizable labor force employ illegal mexicans, so Tancredo wouldn't have a box big enough to send with all the things that Mexican hands touch in our economy.

Oh, and one other thing to all you, "our taxes supports them, bla, bla, bla." Mexicans pay sales tax. Many also pay income tax, social security, and medicare. Most have illegal documentation (which is needed to get hired by construction companies, restaurants, etc.,) including fake ss numbers and pay into the system without ever filing a return. It's the domestic maids and nannies and gardeners that are paid cash, so talk to your local congressman or senator about his/her "house staff."

You should have more of a problem with the many that withhold income and exploit tax loopholes, of which there are too many to count.

Here's my solution: Illegal Mexican males (18-35, one per immediate family) should be given the opportunity to serve 2 years in our military, whether abroad or at home. Upon completion of service, they and their immediate families are granted legal status.

I guarantee you, we're going to need the help when Russia and China decide it's time to take us down.

Anyone ever read/seen The Grapes of Wrath? Why aren't we all outraged by the exploitation of workers, illegal or otherwise? Has agri-business always paid a sub-standard wage? This country somehow got by in the past w/o a huge influx of cheap labor, why all of a sudden can't we live without it? Greed, my friends. If we have to pay more for food, so be it.

Oh and another thing,,, No matter what happens to the illegals, i.e. deport or amnestty, the price of produce will go up. As long as the farmers can hire what equates to slave labor (mostly because they are illegals) the price of produce will remain relatively inexpensive. But WAIT, after amnesty, or after all illegals are deported, the large conglomorates, i.e. Dole, Heinz, Con-agra etc, now have to pay a decent wage, pitiful to own stock in the agriculture business after amnesty or deportation,,, BUT maintain the status quo and illegals will fill the jobs, the consumers will win with cheaper produce, the conglomorates win with cheaper labor. Even at $7.50 per hour, multiplied by 2000 hours wou earn a whopping $15K / year. HELLO, this is still poverty for a family of 3 or more, same food stamps, healthcare and other gov't subsidies. Make them legal and now they get Earned income credit, home heating credits,,,,

Let's solve this immigration problem once and for all.. I say we invade Mexico and make it the 51st state. Unless Vermont suceeds from the Union and then we can save a bundle on new flags with 51 stars. This would be the perfect solution, since all ILLEGAL Mexicans would instantly become US citizens. Also, the ILLEGAL Mexicans would no longer need to sneak into the US cause they'd already be there. We would instantly acquire a ton of new beach front property so the liberal morons in Hollywierd could go further south then they are now. We could even ban all drilling for oil from Mexican waters to make gasoline prices skyrocket even higher. We can also take advantage of Mexicos border patrol agents who have no problem keeping illegal immigrants from crossing their southern border. The only drawback I can see is that Harry Reid would put up the white flag before we ever deployed the troops.

The illegal immigration problem could be solved tomorrow if the federal government and local law enforcement agencies did their job. Go after slave-wage employers like McDonalds. Run sting operations targeting contractors at Home Depot’s, similar to prostitution operations. Slap some stiff punishment on these cretins, parading them around the media for all of their cheep labor comrades to see. Jobs for illegal aliens would dry up quickly, and many would return to their countries!

Impeach Chertoff and W. It is criminal to allow the flood of lawbreakers into our nation. What a bunch of buffoons we have protecting our nation. We have the worlds best (and most expensive) military, and are being invaded. I'm sick of all this. I am also an ex-republican of 40 years. Tancredo is what we need in the White House, not a phony commander in chief.

I'm so tired of people rejecting the amnesty program. Sure the illegal immigrants are illegal, but what about the last tiem you broke the law speeding and got caught? You got a ticket, what'd you do? You paid the ticket off. The last time you got caught smoking a joint,,, paid the ticket. The last time I excercised my "freedom of speech" rights,,, I paid the ticket. Cheat on your income tax? ,,, paid the fine. So tell me, What the hell is the difference between "Ticketing" illegal immigrants, and sending them back to their homeland? Oh a couple of hundred billion dollars added to the treasury, and a couple of hundred million dollars saved in airfare to the "illegals" homeland,,, you make the call I know where I stand,,,

The USA is being destroyed without a shot. Our politicians are destroying us and they know it and they know that we know it. They don't give a damn. Obviously, there is some motivation on their behalf which always means money and power. The elite are going to make this a third world country so they can have slaves to serve them. Have you noticed the outrageous wealth of those in politics these days? $400.00 haircuts (wonder if he left a tip), mega mansions, etc. Bill and Hill are worth $50 mil. The Bush Kingdom is like that of the Kennedys. Money everywhere. Laws are not made for them (Chappaquidick, Whitewater, Bush's brother's involvment in the Savings and Loan scandal in the 80's, etc.) They don't care about the ideals of this country and its citizens. They just want money and power.

Lets have a math lesson here:
If an average worker picks 200 heads of letuce a day for 20 dollars a day, what is the labor cost per head of lettuce? 1 cent per head. Now, using the same numbers if a woker picks 200 heads in 8 hours at $8 an hour ($64) what is the labor cost per head of lettuce? 32 cents. I am willing to pay 31 cents more per head of lettuce to stop illegals from entering the county! STOP AMNESTY NOW!!!

I admire Tom Tancredo. He is one of a select few, good Americans in D.C. surrounded by many treasonist, elitist boobs who worship at the alter of globalism. He's just the man who can save the republic from the morons.

(1) Americans are against ILLEGAL immigration. Fact. Period. We continue to welcome immigrants who come here LEGALLY. (It is really not that hard to understand. And by the way, what's so hard about following the law? I have to do it every day.)

(2) To say that we "just take from every other country" is either ignorant or a lie. The USA sends MY TAX DOLLARS in the form of foreign aid to just about any government that asks. The people of the USA contribute MORE TO CHARITY than any other country on the face of the earth. The people of the USA have fought and died for the freedom of other people all over the world. Fact. Period.

(3) It is our right and duty to protect our homeland from economic and military invasion which is what is happening on our border with Mexico.

I thought the idea of NAFTA was for a good portion of the farms to actually move to mexico, which would employ mexicans in their own country and not in ours. NAFTA has been a failure because we have no border with Mexico. Close the border, give real Americans real wages on important jobs, and the lettuce growers will move to Mexico or Canada to produce their agricultural products cheaply. When Mexicans realize they have no need to come north anymore, they can focus on cleaning up their own government's corruption, which would be good for everyone.

Way to go Tom,
I am sick of illegal aliens attempting to make me fell I owe them something, or that I am un-American for being a LEGAl American, Chertofs head is stuck up the commander and cheifs you know what!

Farms are going to China and Mexico?? Are they taking the soil with them?? And the climate?? What a moron.

Nikko is entitled to his opinion, but he is WRONG. I don't always agree with Tom Tancredo, but I am on his side regarding ILLEGAL IMMIGRATION, and I commend him for sending a strong message to that fool Chertoff. I support LEGAL IMMIGRATION, BUT ILLEGAL IMMIGRATION IS OUT OF HAND. There are illegal immigrants in our nation who are perpetrating many violent crimes-Rape, Robbery, Murder even the molestation of innocent children. Apparently, this has never occurred to Nikko and others of his ilk.

It's going to take a TANC to stop this immigration trainwreck. Tom is my hero!

Tom Tancredo stands up for America once again. While we are waging wars on terrorism and drugs our borders are left wide open for anyone that will harm our citizens and children. What are our so-called Representatives thinking about.

Why can't we secure our borders first? We are allowing an open door for drug dealers, gang members, sexual predators, and people with unknown diseases to literally destroy our country. There are some that want to better their lives, but they need to come legally. With talk of limited natural resources we don't need every Tom, Dick, Harry, and Mary coming to our country that don't speak English and don't want to assimulate into our culture. Instead, they want us to learn their culture and language!

The American outrage is real over a real problem. We just need real men in Washington to step up to the plate and represent the hard working, taxpaying legal citizens that made this country great!

We need to take companies that hire illegals to court, stop allowing five families to a single dwelling and give citizenship to those that will help our great country become greater! God Bless The United States of America!

I am glad to see that at least one politician represents the majority of the American majority.

Go Tom! Go!

Amnesty is not the answer to our immigration issues.

Our government should:
1) Enforce our existing laws first.
2) Not reward lawbreaking.
3) Be selective in whom it allows.
4) Consider diversity of country of origin and require assimilation.
5) Negotiate the best deal for the American people with regards to entitlements to new immigrant.

America is the greatest country the world has every known. We ought cheapen the value of what it means to be 'American' by being intimidated into granting citizenship by masses of lawbreakers and open-border advocates.

Thank you for your standing up for America Tom.

Nice work Tom. I thought that the head of homeland security was an appointed position that should be implementing policy not making it but this is the Bush administration.

No amnesty! If people want to immigrate here it should be on our terms not theirs. No other country in the world allows illegal immigration yet for some reason the whole world seems to think we should allow anyone in no questions asked and we should take care of the ones that can't take care of themselves. What other country is held to such a standard?

We are the largest debtor nation on Earth, our national debt is a disgrace yet the world continues to line up at our door for a free ride both in foreign aid and welfare. If we had any sense at all we wouldn't allow in anyone that can't pay their own way and contribute to the economy but as I said before on our terms not theirs. All those billions pumped back to Mexico don't do a damn thing for our economy.

Mr. Rivera,

The United States has created most of the technology of the 20th century. Most of what you have here is because some American invented it.

Paul
West Palm Beach, FL

A lack of immigrant workers will only really hurt the giant corporately-owned farms which can afford to absorb the cost anyway. The true american farmer wants to see all illegals gone! And that's comming from one!

Thanks Tom! It's nice to see that I will not have to vote for the lesser of two evils this time around.

I don't give a tinkers damn about the math. All I know is that the CITIZENS of this country are paying for the upkeep of those who come here illegally, i.e. healthcare, childbirth, jails, ESL, schooling, in-state tutition, drug enforcement/rehab, traffic deaths, murders, rapes, more social services, literature in Spanish, and law enforcement having to learn Spanish. The list could go on and on.

Bottom line is, we shouldn't have to pay for any of this. Stay in your own stinking country and improve your lot there. I can grow whatever I need to eat if I have to. Stay out of the free, independent and sovereign state of Tennessee.

We all should send hima head of lettuce. Maybe if they have 10,000 show up they might get the picture.

Tancredo for President! Hey Nikko, tell your friends in La Raza that some of us haven't been brainwashed and we're not gonna lay down and die while Latin America gobbles up the U.S. You don't like Americans who fight back do you? Guess what? We are legion, and we're not going to give up, ha ha ha!

Keep up the good work for the good of ALL Americans-especially those who are LEGALLY entering

It looks like no one who has posted here so far has done any shopping in a while. The cost of labor to harvest farm products is tiny compared to what we pay for those products in a store. Lots of fruits cost at least $US2.00 a pound and the cost of labor to harvest that is less than a nickel. We could double the wages of farm workers and the increase in the prices we pay at the store would be like a dime a pound. Lets get real about this, the middle men are who are responsible for the cost of food, not fruit pickers.

Notice how most negative comments come from the Mexican republic of Los Angeles. Illegal criminals should never have to follow the lowly common laws which citizaens are required to follow. They should also be able to get any type of public assistance they want while your grandmother's benefits are cut, all while paying nothing in. What, are you racist?

The way to end illegal immigration in the United States is to end taxpayer subsidies to those who will not, and have not for several compressed (because they begin breeding at about age 12) generations now. Cut off entitlement programs today, and in about one and one half months, every U.S. citizen who can work will be competing with the illegals for the jobs the illegals have taken since LBJ's cracked "Great Society" was foisted upon the American people.

If there is no labor vacuum, there will be no illegal immigration problem.

This should be obvious to even the meanest intelligence.

C.

Tancredo is refreshing considering the stench that hovers over the Capitol. His protest to Chertoff was original, timely, appropriate, and accurate.

Illegal immigration is a major threat to the sovereignty of this country. You need to go no further than the pro-amnesty protests in the Southwest or the history textbooks in Mexican schools to realize that Mexico convinces its people that the Southwest states rightfully belong to Mexico. Thus, many Mexicans have an intense hatred of the United States. Furthermore, there is a sizable group of people that would love to see the United States dissolve into a union of North American nations; the corporate and political elites of this country believe globalization knows no boundaries.

Wake up people. If you love your country you will realize we need to stop the bleeding and reform our immigration policy to permit immigration that promotes assimilation and the best interests of the U.S. Otherwise, you must be so ridden with guilt over the success of this wonderful country you would take solace in seeing the nation's economic and military might regress the expense of its citizens.

Congratulations Mr. Tancredo for sticking to your principles. Congress and the White House should be ashamed of their disdain for the American people.

Bless you and your efforts, Mr. Tancredo.

By the way, I teach my writing students that a subtle technique to sway a reader without directly stating your own bias or agenda is to give the person with whom you agree the last word. (The old "the person who gets the last word wins the argument ploy".)

As usual, we see CNN's bias here.

Why is Chertoff- the Secretary of Homeland Security, talking about agriculture in this aspect?! It has nothing to do with his position and only proves to what lengths the traitor King George and the Senate 'elite' will go at shoving amnesty and ecoli infected lettuce down our throats!!!!!!! Wake up America. Tancredo, you will get my vote. I will not waste another vote on a so-called 'Republican' just becaue the media tells me they are 'top tier'. Top tier? What's that? The most corrupted? The most corporate influenced? The most La Raza influenced? Top tier my eye! Go Tom!

Mr. Chertoff should be reminded that Mary Jo listened to Teddy.

There are a lot of smart americans in this country who really know what is going on. The question is what are we going to do about it. Are we going to let these people in Washington pass a law we do not want. If they pass this immigration bill then what. It will be too late then. I do not understand how we can have laws that are not enforced. Who has the right to ignore laws in this country. Our congress is full of lawbreakers not lawmakers. Do they not have an oath to uphold the laws that we have.

Labor vosts are only about 15-20% of the price of produce… Sending them all home to Guadalupe will only marginally affect our prices.. If it means I don't have to wait 4 hours in the ER for my son to get stitches while a little illegal kid is waited on first for a cough…. SO BE IT.

Hey Rivera;

why don't you just haul your butt out out of here. Nobody owes Illegal immigrants anything, and we do not owe you anything. take your Se Se puede and shove it where the sun does not shine. You may take california, arizona, and new mexico, but I can assure you the showdown civil war will be fought in Texas. the Texans will never let the se se puedes rule. Now do us all a favor and leave….

Tom gets my vote!!!!

there is a mechanized lettuce harvester that been stored in a barn near Salinas CA since the late 70's. illegal aliens are not needed to do many planting and harvesting functions done by machiene or robotics. Maybe Americans are unwilling to engineer, fabricate and operate specialized equipment, we could import from China??

Tom Tancredo has my vote for president. Unlike all the other members of the elitist fraternity we call the Senate, Mr. Tancredo actually listens to his constituents and not the government of Mexico or Big Business.

Good for Tom Tancredo!! I wish he were my representative, senator, governor – or President. We need more like him. As for food from other countries, I buy nothing grown south of the border or China and refuse to eat in restaurants that hire illegal immigrants.

What many do not realize is that there are some facts to deal with here:

1) Machines cannot replace these workers. For example, try picking apples with a machine that will not bruise them so that they can keep for up to a year and be shipped overseas.

2) "Americans" could replace them, but are unwilling to. I've seen a few try, who simply could not take the back-breaking work of, say, asparagus picking, or brush-cutting, for more than two or three days. "Americans" are too dignified for "manual labor."

3) The migrant workers from Mexico are the most turned-away group of immigrants, with about a 90% denial rate. If they could immigrate legally, they would! We'd have millions more here, LEGALLY, than we do now, if America would simply allow it. That is why they come ILLEGALLY.

"It’s time for the country who likes to just take from every other country in the world to start giving what’s due to people in terms of rights and wages."

How absurd….no other country in the world has such liberal open borders as the USA. No other country in the world allows illegals to invade and lower the wages of native, naturalized or LEGAL workers. I'm sick and tired of hearing that America rips off the world. That is nothing but a bunch of NONSENSE. America and Americans are the MOST generous giving people in the world and to suggest otherwise demonstrates the fact that the world is beginning to believe the lies of the liberal left wing media and socialistic politicians. I am fed up with people saying we are to blame for the illegals. I'm fed up and NOT going to remain silent about these charges. They are not true. If you think they are then prove it with facts not rhetoric!

Tancredo doesn't even know that in his own state that food was rotting in the fields last year because there was no one to pick the crops!!! How out of touch can you be. It's not the wages, it's that there is no Labor>people here that will do the work!! In Greely-Brighton area in Co many farmers
only planted half the usual crops because they were afraid there would be no one to pick. Guess what? Shortage of food=higher prices! This man is a bigot, I do not want him in the white house, no way!

The President and Senators who are supporting the Amnesty/Immigration push are on the verge of treasonous crimes against the United States.

A simple definition of treason might be:

"In law, treason is the crime of disloyalty to one's nation. A person who betrays the nation of their citizenship and/or reneges on an oath of loyalty and in some way willfully cooperates with an enemy, is considered to be a traitor. Oran's Dictionary of the Law (1983) defines treason as: "…[a]…citizen's actions to help a foreign government overthrow, make war against, or seriously injure the [parent nation]." In many nations, it is also often considered treason to attempt or conspire to overthrow the government, even if no foreign country is aided or involved by such an endeavour."

The latest actions by our President, his cabinet and at least the 64 Senators who voted "Yea" for the Motion to Proceed to Consider S. 1639 have very clearly engaged in conduct that betrays the nation of “its” citizenship, have failed to show their loyalty to the U.S. and have seriously injured (or attempted to injure) the United States through the granting of amnesty for millions upon millions of criminal lawbreakers who reside illegally in this country.

The actions of these individuals, (not only going against the direct will of an enormous, majority of U.S. Citizens), will very clearly bring harm upon our nation if amnesty is granted to the illegal criminals that have snuck their way into our country, neglected to pay taxes or file regular income tax documents, driven without licenses or insurance and have flouted the immigration laws which all citizens, and especially newly-honored "legal" immigrants abide by and hold dear.

All of these senators and our president should be impeached, removed from office, tried criminally for treason and sentenced accordingly. They should lose their pensions and all other rights and customs normally granted to officials in good standing in these government positions.

While the people of the United States rely on their elected officials to push through laws & amendments on their behalf, the expectations are that each amendment and law placed into effect is for the good of the people according to the will of the people.

There is nothing good about what the President and the Senators supporting this legislation are trying to do and the majority of Americans do not support this legislation.

The United States very rarely grants pardons for criminals. But what the President and Congress wish to offer is full amnesty. "Amnesty (from the Greek amnestia, oblivion) is an act of justice by which the supreme power in a state restores those who may have been guilty of any offence against it to the position of innocent persons. It includes more than pardon, in as much as it obliterates all legal remembrance of the offence." And yet, what the Congress and President are attempting to do here is to grant pardons to 10-20 million criminals.

The United States already has numerous laws on the books for prosecuting illegal aliens and yet even these laws are not enforced.

The following actions should be taken immediately in response to what our Congress is trying to push upon an unwilling people of the Unites States.

1.) Impeach, prosecute criminally and jail all members of Congress who have tried to push this treasonous, amnesty bill upon us.
2.) Secure our southern (and northern) border by placing a fence, National Guard soldiers, border patrol and any others to fill those gaps. Our borders must be secured 1st.
3.) Enact severe criminal sanctions against any employer that knowingly hires illegal immigrants. 50 year minimum sentences for executives and seizure of all company assets would put a stop to that quickly.
4.) Immediately deport all illegal aliens and their families. Forever revoke the granting of “citizenship” upon children born in the United States by illegal alien mothers.

Only by taking these steps can we get serious about eliminating illegal immigration in this country and protecting the United States from this threat.

GOOD TO SEE SO MANY SUPPORT CONGRESSMAN TANCREDO AND REALLY UNDERSTAND THIS SO-CALLED "COMPREHENSIVE IMMIGRATION REFORM IS JUST AMNESTY FOR CHEAP LABORERS. TANCREDO FOR PRESIDENT. SURPRISED CNN, AN INSANE LIBERAL OUTLET, ALLOWED THIS FREE SPEECH.

Gentlemen and Ladies; Two wrongs don't make a right. Have you ever heard that before? In other words, since a lettuce picker gets 10 dollars a day as opposed to 110, it's okay to break our laws and enter our country illegally?! Wrong. By that twisted logic, it should be okay for the child molesters and violent gangsters to live in your neighborhood because it costs 35 thousand per year to keep them in prison.

Thanks Tom. It.s nice to know we still have some people that believe in the rule of law. It seems the President and some of our Senators have forgotten their oath of office which is to enforce our laws.
Charles, Mooresville Indiana

Mr Tancredo is right on target, we all can survive following the law, otherwise why pay attention to any that we do not like?

I like it, Tancredo/Dobbs.

Tancredo for president!!!!

attaboy Tom-I taught 8th grade for the past 8 years in Southern California-the Mexican students have no regard for the school rules and refuse to say the pledge-"this is not my country" is their attitude. Majority of the students we on free breakfast and lunch.

God bless you Tom Tancredo. I would be better if we just voided the treaty of the US vs Mexican war. I know that Mexico would be better off and the Mexican people would not have to flee the oppression that now exist in their homeland. Let them go home an overthrow their repressive government, and not destroy ours. The oppressed are oppressed not because of us but because of their government. Viva the revolution. A free people would rather live in their own country then migrate to a different land would you?

As a former vegetable specialist with a Southwest university, I can truthfully tell you that my university and USDA used to have huge ag engineering staffs that worked on mechanized harvesting of commodities such as cantaloupes, head lettuce, asparagus,etc. Processor tomatoes for ketchup and Roma tomatoes for fresh market are machine harvested. Also 95% of the fresh market carrots in the USA are machine harvested.

We had dozens of projects under research and field testing. Then came Cesar Chavez who was one of the founders of the United Farm Workers organization. They boycotted all research on ag mechanization and picketed fields being harvested. The university and USDA abandoned most ag mechanization projects as the UFW said mechanization would take away their jobs. Now they say we are short of field workers????

Many of projects I worked on could be resurected and many were close to being used in the field. Sure, the asparagus would not all be exactly the same length and the lettuce heads would not be perfect in solidity, but they would get harvested one way or another. We can put men on the moon, we can keep a space station working for years and we can send probes to Mars that work for several years. If you think we can't figure out to mechanically harvest most of our vegetables then I have some ocean front property in Colorado to sell you.

Right on Tancredo! Politicians, governmental official and business interests lie to get a cheap deal for themselves and let the rest of us taxpayers pay the hidden costs in illegal immigration.

This bill will cost the taxpayer trillions!!! Who pays the cost of the extended family that joins the illegal that gets amnesty? Schools, medical, births,WIC/WOC vouchers, food stamps,etc.

Chertoff is paid to be an expert on homeland security…

I did not realize that homeland security extended to the economics of agriculture and labor. Don't we have departments for those, as well?

Michael, get a grip on reality, YOUR reality.

Do your job by protect the AMERICAN people and enforce AMERICAN laws.

If we hadn't aborted 40 million babies in the USA since 1973, we would have no need for foreign workers and this discussion wouldn't even exist.

As it is, we have no need for illegal immigrants granted amnesty by a government who is deluded enough to believe that Americans would refuse to pick lettuce or fruit or whatever else.

Maybe A. Rivera of Chicago is himself an ILLEGAL ALIEN. I concur with Mike of Rochester that this country is made up of IMMIGRANTS, LEGAL Immigrants NOT Illegal.

Thank you, Tom Tancredo. The cost of free medical care, free and subsidized food, locally depressed wages and real estate values…watching illegal INVADERS money-order thousands of American dollars out of the U.S. that will pay the costs for MORE illegal INVADERS to invade, paying for the costs of local crimes caused by local gang activity – well, the price is more than I want to pay for a cheap head of lettuce – or potato as it would be here.

ahahaha, of course CNN removes my comment…

Give me one valid reason why "nice to see someone being honest on this issue, thanks Tom" was deleted.

Repeat after me, the mainstream media is a dinosaur, the mainstream media is a dinosaur…

Absolutely right of Tancredo to call down this moron for his absurd assertions. And what's the head of the Dept. of Homeland Security doing sticking his nose into agriculture? There's another Federal Executive Dept. for that: it's called the Dept. of Agriculture. And why does Chertoff look like the villain in a Marvel comic book?

To Mr. MR, LA

So in CA it will be $100 per day instead of $10 if there is not immigration bill does not become a law? But according to this bill all illegals will become legal and will have to get $7.50 per hour.
So no matter where you stand on immigration, this bill will raise the cost of lettuce.

Way to go Congressman Tancredo!

Let's get Chertoff back to work on air and port security. And let's tell the senior Senators (Kennedy, Specter, McCain, McConnell, Lott, Graham and others) who created this "status quo that must be changed" that we don't trust them to to do the job.

Shame on us if we let them get away with this amnesty bill. Make Bush and the imperial Senate take the legislative process out of the shadows.

Tom Tancredo has my vote! How about a Ron Paul/Tancredo ticket!!!

Our country has responded to labor costs over the years by investing in automation. If cheap illegal alien labor should disappear, technological ingenuity will make up for it. They've already developed grape harvesters and are in the process of developing robots to pick fruit from trees. The presence of illegal alien labor is hindering modernization of the harvesting and planting practices. It follows the old saw that says that when the cost of labor goes up, industries turn to new methods of production. Retaining the old fashioned practice of hand picking and planting has made us less competitive in the world.

The REAL crux of illegal immigration is that employers want to pay illegal wages. I guess there really is no honor among thieves. Way to go Senator Tancredo.

They are worried about farms going to Mexico??? They weren't worried when over 3 million American jobs went to China and India!

Tom, our whole government officials need reformed!

Hey A. Rivera…First, since when do people who break the law deserve "rights and wages" at the expense of CITIZENS who end up having to pay in terms of taxes and social services, etc. for them? Second, I don't know what country you are talking about when you so easily say "we take from every other country"? The last time I examined the generosity of the U.S. and its CITIZENS, we have been giving to the world more than any other countries in the world combined. We can tell how well you have assimilated here. Let me come over to your house and ransack your home and then demand your check book and see how you like it. By the way, Mexico's immigration laws make ours look like a welcome mat. A. Rivera…just illustrates your true loyalties.

Some of you are completely ignorant regarding the agricultural industry.

It is well understood that labor accounts for a tiny percentage of each dollar paid towards lettuce. Numerous studies by top agricultural economist have shown that replacing illegals with non-guestworker Americans will raise the price of lettuce a few cents on the dollar.

People need to stop looking at immigration (legal or illegal) as a magic-bullet solution to everything. Even the country's top immigration economist openly admits that immigration (legal and illegal) has an economically insignificant impact – 1/10th of 1% of GDP.

Come on people…this isn't that hard.

The cost of the field workers' labor is a small percentage of the total costs paid by consumers.

You have to remember the store markup, the transportation costs, the packaging, storage, the advertising etc etc. The entire amount that is paid to farmers is a small percentage of the total cost.

A modest markup in labor costs would hardly be felt by consumers at all. It's been projected to be at most 10 cents per head.

Pay for LEGAL workers for god's sake and stop the invasion. You don't think all these ag workers stay in the fields do you? No- they escape to other jobs, displacing American workers, and farmers just hire more illegals.

The whole argument focusing on ag workers is stupid.

As a Tancredo constituent, I am impressed that he has never given up the good fight. I applaud him sending a symbolic message to the lamest of the lame duck administrations, and I hope runs off Sen. Salazar in the '10 election. Illegal is the operative word in this issue; now that the actions of the illegals are supported by the administration, what is to prevent them from further illegal acts? Go, Tom! Go, Lou Dobbs. We are behind you.Speaking of IQ's, Nikko, Boxer and Feinstein combined may need some help in that area.

If our future as a country depends on the efforts of criminals, however strained and in whatever straits they were when breaking our laws, we're screwed.

EVERYONE SHOULD SEND A HEAD OF LETTUCE.
IT TIME TO VOTE LIBERTARIAN THE ONLY CHOICE NOW. AND WAYNE ROOT IS NOT FOR OPEN BORDERS FOR PRESIDENT.
BREAK THE PATTERN AS THE TWO PARTIES HAVE MERGED.

Way to go, Rep. Tancredo! Please send a head of lettuce to each of the ILLEGAL ALIEN LOVING, SELLING OUT THE COUNTRY SENATORS TOO. And while you're at it, send a couple to the George W. as well.

NOW..LET'S ENFORCE THE CURRENT ILLEGAL
IMMIGRATION LAWS !!!!!!!!!!!!!

To Mike in Rochester, I couldn't have said it better myself.

And to A. Rivera, the US renders more aid to other countries than any other nation in public and private donations. Furthermore, illegal immigrants into our country are NOT due the same privileges and rights conferred upon its citizens. It's inconceivable to me how anyone could believe that they can break into another country then demand things they've no right to. Do that anywhere else and you'd be thrown in jail.

Tom Tancredo is incredible, and I hope people vote for him in droves. I wouldn't mind seeing Senator Jeff Sessions run either! These senators that are supporting this rag of a bill, are traitors, and I would be interested to see if they, and the president, could be impeached for not protecting our borders and the legal "American Citizens." It is high time that we rose up and did something to stop this madness. Just remember Vicente Fox's declaration,of waging war against us. He stated, and I quote, "We will fight this war not with bullets, but with babies." End quote. I don't know about anybody else, but that sounds like fighting words to me. He is winning this war thus far too! Just look at some of the border towns that are conducting their politics in spanish. These miserable excuses for politians, swore to uphold the constitution, and to protect us from ANY foreign invasion, and they are doing neither. Also, I implore people to change their status to Independent…this way they can't take us for granted anymore.

Rep. Tancredo pops another phony claim!

Such overblown rhetoric (about crops rotting in the field) has been the stock in trade of special interests for decades. I'm not surprised that Michael Chertoff was used for the latest version of it.

Tom Tancredo has been has an articulate gadfly to the Bush administration on this most critical issue. I voted for Bush twice but these days we do not even mention his name in our household. If the Kennedy/Bush position prevails, the United States of America will be transformed beyond recognition overnight. I would like to see a Lou Dobbs/Tom Tancrdo ticket for the White House. I am tired of the "we are a nation of immigrants" bull. Previous waves of immigrants came to an under populated land with no vast welfare system. You either made it or you didn't. Now millions will automatically qualify for all manner of entitlements as our country races towards a socialist state.

Tancredo would make a great VP under Ron Paul.

God Bless you Mr. Tancredo!

To A. Rivera of Chicago, this country was built by LEGAL immigrants, not ILLEGAL ALIENS. While I can sympathize with anyone wanting to get into this country, I will only tolerate those who follow the legal process. Export illegals, not jobs!

Thank you Tom for Representing all of us !!! The Senate certainly ISN'T !!

I wish there were more Representatives in our government like Mr Tancredo.

Thank You for standing up for the people.

Nice to hear some honesty on this issue..thanks Tom

I think they said if machines replaced the illegals that the price of a head of lettuce would go up 5-10 cents a head. That would be a big savings over the cost of SS programs for the illegals.Maybe we should take the money spent on illegals and buy the farmers the machines, would be cheaper.
Legals welcome–ILLEGALS GO HOME

MR, here is some math for you: Labor accounts for only 10% of the price of produce you buy at the store. So any increase in labor cost translates to pennies to the dollar in produce prices. Furthermore, in spite of all the lies and stereotypes, 70% of agricultural labor in the US are legal residents, not illegal. So in reality you're only talking about around an increase in costs for, at the most, about 3.3% of the total price at the supermarket for produce. Since the agricultural industry, like any industry, does whatever it can to reduce costs, I'm sure it will find some way to offset any increase it has to absorb. Meanwhile, we'll all benefit by having less crowded schools, freeways, emergency rooms, etc.

Hey Nikko from L.A., go back to Mexico, notice U.S. citizens back Tancredo's stance on you illegals, notice the word illegal. Quit driving our wages and country down, go back to that sh^*hole Mexico and change your own country

How come food is relatively cheap in Australia yet they don't have Mexican Slaves to harvest it???? How do they do it? Cotton Farmers in Mississippi made the same argument 150 years ago.
Gotta have extra cheap labor.
Food for thought

You go, Tancredo.

Above commenter makes an excellent point that machines would take the place of illegal immigrants. Other people are not upset that these people are only making $20 a day for such a hard day's work? I'd rather machines do the job, and these workers can stay with their families in Mexico.

Well put Nikko.

Chertoff puts forward a rational, intelligent argument, and what is Tancredo's response…an ignorant publicity stunt.
I really cannot believe this clown is running for president.
I feel sorry for those foolish enough to actually donate money to his campaign.

Immigration is not the problem!
It is the same social and racial discrimination as
the Irish, Jews, Polish, Chinese, German and Indian "problem" of the 19th century. Old is new again.

Remember, the "Christian" roots we espouse taught in the Bible, reads, we are to treat the alien and
stranger as home born. Home born? Then they have the same rights, responsibilities and exposure
just as the people did when the Declaration of Independance was penned with the following, . . .

"We hold these truths to be self-evident, that all men are created equal, that they are endowed by their Creator with certain unalienable Rights, that among these are Life, Liberty and the pursuit of Happiness.–That to secure these rights, Governments are instituted among Men, deriving their just powers from the consent of the governed, -That whenever any Form of Government becomes destructive of these ends, it is the Right of the People to alter or to abolish it, and to institute new Government, laying its foundation on such principles and organizing its powers in such form, as to them shall seem most likely to effect their Safety and Happiness. Prudence, indeed, will dictate that Governments long established should not be changed for light and transient causes; and accordingly". . "

This is how things are going as it did in the past century. Self-serving ""elected leaders" take on themselves assumed powers and convert rights endowed to by mans Creator to licensed privilege through legal extortion and outright theft by reduction until what little is left, is lost. Destitute, the people are then driven to serve the "state" and if not productive, are sent on to the final solution, man, woman and child.

At the time of the great immigration mid 1800 to the1900's, ticketed first class passengers did not have to have a passport or any other I.D. to go hither and youn to Europe or the U.S.A. . . . . they just paid the fare and took off to wherever and lived where ever as evident at the turn of the 20 century. There were no such things as "Illegal Aliens" excepting the enemy, whoever that was, then if need be we killed them or shiped them back to where they came from.. Stearage on the other hand had to prove they had money and the means to live and did not have bad health. If you could pass those simple tests, you were in, just as my Grand Mother and Grand Father did.

Problems we must address are English is our language, Christianity is our heritage and the foundation of this land, Freedom, Liberty and the Pursuit of Happiness are God ordained rights which know no borders or boundries. Read the Declaration of Independence. Does not apply only to the English people. Our nation had all kinds of people here when the document was penned in Philadelphia.
They all came over on different boats from different waters at different times. What makes them the same as us is they came here from there to get away from them or that! Stop welfare, and other government stuff and they will still come, but, not on our dime. They will still come! Best we welcome them who want to work, and get rid of the ones who cause trouble as when it was done a whole lot of years ago.

My rich Great Uncles came first class and just came and settled. Of course they learned English, started their own buisnesses, recognised we were a Christian Nation and acted accordingly.

This "Illegal Alien" stuff is a lot of bunkum and congress . . . . by the , . . . "Constitution, . . . THE CONSTITUTION OF THE UNITED STATES OF AMERICA . . . (Sect. 8.. The Congress shall have power: . . . ."To regulate commerce with foreign nations, and among the several states, and with the Indian tribes; To establish an uniform rule of naturalization, . . . "(please note, naturalization is not immigration) can't by law do anything about it! That is why they have not been able to pass a "law" about the matter excepting working for U.S. government agencies, institutions and organizations and excetera of which the law ONLY applies to as I understand in the reading!

Raymond Paul Moats

P.S. , you need to read the law! See U.S. title 8 the regulations and get an understanding of what United States, State and state means in law. Definitions in the law explains these terms clearly, including what are U.S. insular possesions in the states of the union and what a corporation, employer or employee is and are.

At least Tancredo, amongst a few others, haven't decided to commit treason and completely turn their backs on the will of the American people. We, the people DO NOT SUPPORT AMNESTY despite the idiotic assertions of those of you that think illegal mexicans built this country (try LEGAL Irish and Chinese immigrants… learn some history).
And to say the US doesn't give back to the world community is the same old 'hate American' first crap we keep hearing from those that think socialism is a good idea.

NO AMNESTY, EVER!

I live in Canada. If the Amnesty thing passes, may I move to America and avoid that whole waiting process? I happen to think it is racist to give special privileges to your Mexican neighbors but make us Canadians follow the rules. Eh!

chertoff does not care about security.

9/11 was almost six yeara ago. BUSH HAS refused along with his employee chertiff to close the border or enforce the existing law.

they don't care about security for americans.

they need to be removed indicted and after a trail jailed.

Many months back Lou Dobbs did a story on illegal alien farm labor. The issue is "how much more will produce cost an American family if a legal wage is paid."

The answer in the study he cited was $10.00 a year. The reason is that cost of produce at that level of the supply chain is really low before the broker, wholesaler, shipper, packer, and retailer add their markup to the cost of the produce.

However, if you REALLY want to know what is going on in this debate, start thinking about open borders with Canada & Mexico. Bush is a globalist and is trying to ramrod this bill through to advance the globalists agenda. Just google on "SPP" and start reading. Also do a youtube search of "amnesty worst provisions" and watch the video.

I'm proud to have Tom Tancredo representing my state. I wish more conservative politicians had the guts to do what he did!

"what’s going to wind up happening is those farms are going to Mexico and Canada.”"

So what if they do? If these jobs are only being filled by illegal immigrants as is being alleged, they are already being outsourced, even though the location is in the US. May as well make it official. Oh, and good luck getting Canadians to do these "jobs that Americans won't do" for crappy wages.

You are not allowed to subsidize the success of your business, any business, on the back of illegal labor. If you cannot succeed by obeying the law, then you should be out of business.

Thank goodness for Senators like Mr. Tancredo. I am a Conservative Republican who will no longer support any Republican (or Politician) who supports the destruction of America via support of the current proposed Legislation. George Bush and other leading Republicans should be ashamed of themselves for selling out to Teddy "Chappaquidic" Kennedy and Harry "what me lie about my illegal business deals" Reid.

At this point, I will vote for and support the first individual who runs on the following platform;
1. Secure our Country by simply enforcing the laws on the Books
2. Build the FENCE now. Utilize the current technology to stop criminals from entering our Country. No more excuses.

Hey A. Rivera, I hope you realize your last name DOES make you suspect, eh?

If you are in the US, EVEN if you're a citizen…you'd better leave!

Nikko, great comment, what a joke. A head of lettuce has more intelligence than Tancredo, wow, took awhile to come up with that one. I for one am ecstatic that a politician finally has the guts to stand up for what is right in this country. Why should we reward those who have broken the law? I am absolutely tired of people saying "immigrants built this country and now we want to persecute them" LEGAL immigrants built this country. Taxpaying immigrants built this country. Immigrants in the system built this country. Not those who sneak across the border, work for less wages than american citizens and send all money back home without a cent of taxes going back into America. Wise up. What is the purpose of the military? To PROTECT OUR BORDERS! I am willing to be a coyote and some illegals wouldn't think of sneaking past a platoon of infantry soldiers fully armed, I know, I was that soldier and I would not let anyone past me.

Thank You….. but you should have sent one for every American 80+/- % who are against this bill.

Keep up the good work.

Tancredo and common sense, the two things couldn't be further apart. But thanks for the laugh Mr. Sullivan.

It's a sad fact that Tom Tancredo is quite representative of many Americans' views on immigration. He also shares many Americans intellectual prowess.

American Sweatshops = illegal immigration

An assembly-line of 15 workers has to make 15 t-shirts every 3 minutes, producing 3,400 shirts each day for US$7 per worker – a paltry 3 cents per shirt.
Sweatshops can be found around the globe. Crowded t-shirt sweatshops are filled with dust, lint and noisy machinery. Some of the worst t-shirt factories are concentrated in poor Central American countries like Honduras and El Salvador where the average annual wage is less than US$2,500.
Central American sweatshops are subcontracted by large apparel manufacturers like Gildan Activewear (Honduras) and Fruit of the Loom (El Salvador).

If we grant American citizenship to the illegals, who will then do the "jobs Americans won't do"? Either way, our economy tanks, right?

Just because they are working "cheap", it doesn't mean they are doing without. Someone is paying the difference and that difference is called "corporate welfare".

But I wonder what Lou Dobbs or Rep. Tom Tancredo would do if they were poor and hungry? Would they immigrate to Canada? What would the average American do if faced with those challenges?

When it comes to immigration reform simplistic thinking will not do. Hate will not help. We need a vision that will stand the test of time.

The story of our evolving country, which grows in magnificence every day, gives us an indispensable foundation for addressing such divisive issue.

America has enjoyed no greater triumph than the discovery that justice must be accompanied by a sense of compassion. In America we don’t cut the hands of those who steal or stone women for having an abortion. America has found a truth that unites many. We care for others in ways that exceed our ancestors.

What is wrong with the question ‘what part of illegal don’t you understand’ is that it’s incompatible with democracy, prosperity, and civilization in general. It is a destructive and prejudicial question that is founded on deception and has no place in the modern world.

Lou Dobbs says Mexicans want to retake the southwestern United States. Not only are the Mexicans capable, but an invasion is underway, insists Mr. Dobbs.

Do we need to remind Mr. Dobbs about the Monroe Doctrine…

Between the end of the Spanish-American War and the dawn of the Great Depression, the United States sent troops to Latin American countries thirty-two times. It used the Roosevelt Corollary, or addition, to the Monroe Doctrine to justify intervention. In the corollary, Teddy Roosevelt proclaimed that the United States, because it was a "civilized nation," had the right to stop "chronic wrongdoing" throughout the Western Hemisphere.
"Any country whose people conduct themselves well can count upon our hearty friendship," he said. "Chronic wrongdoing, however, . . . may force the United States to exercise an international police power."

An incovienient truth about immigration

Why do we so desperately want to punish undocumented workers and their children?
Presidents and Governors have the pardon power to remedy vast injustices and travesties. We offer criminals deals all the time. Prosecutors have traditionally offered leniency to some defendants in order to get them to testify against other defendants. Leniency can be immunity from prosecution or reduced charges and recommendations for reduced sentences. Offering leniency is a long-standing and important aspect of the legal system. Law enforcement would be paralyzed without it.
Clemency, leniency, pardoning is not a departure from our justice system. A pardon is not a private act of grace. It is a part of the Constitutional scheme. When granted it is the determination of the ultimate authority that the public welfare will be better served by inflicting less than what the judgment fixed.
For four years now, a new view of undocumented workers has been forming in the hearts and minds of Americans thanks to Lou Dobbs. This emerging picture is that illegal immigrants have brought gangs, drugs, graffiti and murders to cities, draining police and fire resources and taking services away from legal residents.
Lou Dobbs, Mayor Lou Barletta and Rep. Tom Tancredo believe that undocumented workers and their children deserve no legal rights. They entered the country illegally therefore they have no human rights and deserve no amnesty, leniency, or pardoning.
Many basically echo what Dobbs, Barletta and Tancredo have said when they ask ‘what part of illegal don’t you understand’. A simple question, but when the dust of anti-immigration hysteria settles, this simplistic question will prove to offer less enlightenment than hoped.

Hardly anyone would argue that America has the right to protect its borders. But what is fundamentally wrong with this simplistic question that Lou Dobbs and others have presented is that it ignores the root causes of this massive immigration influx. Has anyone asked what the typical working conditions in Latin America are? All Latin American countries offer long work days 12-14 hours or more and wages that don't even support the cost of basic living.
We all know that as Latin American countries gained their independence, the U.S. was quick to form relationships with countries of the region and offer them aid and assistance in a way that some have characterized as neocolonialism. The U.S. helped Central America develop an agro-industry model to serve the interests of U.S. corporations, agrarian bourgeoisie, and Central American oligarchies (Faber 193). Central American countries began producing only one or two major crops, which forced them to intensify their dependency on the U.S. (Ibid. 51). The expansion of the capitalist export agriculture gave the U.S. virtually unlimited and unrestricted access to the region’s rich natural resources (Ibid. 193).

I don't care how much that head of lettuce costs as long as it is harvested in our country by a legal resident of our great country.

"We the People"

My father was a Carpenter, He raised 5 children I am a carpenter 46 years old my wages are going down more and more Illegals are ruining our country SAD BUT TRUE

Also what many fail to say is that these farmers refuse to repair or buy new farming equipment that could reduce the amount of labor or totally remove any need for illegals in gathering cotton and so forth. Give Farmers farming equipment credit to modernize and reduce costs to farmers!

Why is U.S. Homeland Security Director Michael Chertoff unconcerned about the negative effects of mass amnesty? It is because the man in charge of America’s homeland security is also a citizen of another nation. As a dual citizen Mr. Chertoff knows once he’s helped destroy the United States of America he can make a hasty exit to the nation of Israel. Furthermore Mr. Chertoff knows he’ll be safe and secure because he was not around to impede the construction or substitute a make-believe virtual fence for Israel’s very real security fence.

How sad for you Nikko that your IQ is even lower than Tancredo's.

Don't you see that the insult provides nothing to the debate!!! The reason you insult is because you can't come up with a good response to those that want our Country to enforce its laws and protect those here legally by birth or immigration.

I am very against the amensty because in 10 or 20 years the illegals and their children will be voting. From what I can tell the culture of Mexico is socialist and we will have a majority of socialists in our Country.

Forget about free markets and capitalism then. I know, the illegals work hard. But, they are illegal, right now they have to work hard. Legalize them and you will see them taking advantage of all the welfare we provide for the working poor right now.

Ohh but I know Nikko. I'm dumber than lettuce. What you don't know is, my IQ is around 150. I'm betting yours is 100 at best. Stop trying to be cute or clever and participate in the debate if you limited mind is capable.

Tom Tancredo, One of afew honest man in that den of inequity we call The peoples Senate. Illegal Alien neams they are in this country as Ctriminals. They have broken the law by sneaking in against fedral rules and regulations. Cathch them and confiscate all they have earned or stolen and send them back. Take them off the back of Legal US taxpayers. Those that have used stolen Soc. sec #'s should do time in Fedral Prisons. Moneys they may have should go to those who have had their SS #'s taken.

You gotta love this guy! He is a true American patriot, unlike these sell-out globalist traitors dissolving our sovereignity, destroying the middle class and running this nation into oblivion.

By the way, if the ag industry would suffer, perhaps the greedy corporate ag co-ops ought to raise wages (lessen thier profits to some degree, but keeping this nation intact, setting an American moral standard and allowing the free market to work). Accept REAL American workers, not cheap labor for the sake of the "Almighty dollar" they have to have!!!

… and who paid the postage on that head of lettuce? The Tax Payers ??

WAY TO GO TANCREDO !!!

I bet Chertoff didn't even know what to do with that lettuce! LOL!

For more info check out OutragedPatriots.com

Thanks!

Thank you Tom Tancredo! You are a national treasure and we need you in the White House!

Chertoff is a nitwit. About 160 years ago this kind of talk could be heard in every Southern state legislature justifying slavery. Maybe Chertoff ought to talk with the Department of Agriculture and learn how much farmers are getting for NOT growing crops so that food surpluses aren't created and veggies don't rot on the vines. And this moron is in charge of finding terrorists?

The head of lettuce he sent Chertoff has a higher IQ than Tancredo.

It will make little impact!! The arrogance is so deep they cannot hear nor understand what is happening out there. Chertoff is a joke like Graham and others.

I'll wager anyone that if there is a labor shortage today, there will be a picking machine in those fields by next week! They hire illegals because they are cheaper than machines! If a picking machine breaks, they have the costs of repair. If an illegal "breaks" or dies or gets hurt, there's always one to take their place!!! These bozos, will decry slavery around the world but they are creating it in the USA!!!! ENFORCE THE CURRENT IMMIGRATION LAWS YOU TRAITORS!!!

Shame on you, A. Rivera!
You have a LOT to learn about this country!
"..the country who likes to just take from every other country in the world …"?!?
Which country gives as much as the US to the world?
You might want to take a look at our annual budget, see how many millions the US taxpayer is handing out in aid to others! The scientific and technological breakthroughs we are sharing with the world!
Right down to the millions of condoms provided to AIDS stricken African nations!
And the millions the US taxpayer is providing to nations in Central and South America, BEYOND acting as the welfare provider to the millions of lawbreakers who are currently in the US, including educating, feeding and providing healthcare to their children!
Do you have any idea, how many US citizens gave their lives for others in the two world wars of the past century?
Which country gave the world the computer, at which you are typing your message, denigrating the US?

One of the very few politicians with common sense! Tancredo/Dobbs for the White house, or vice versa. Either the way the country wins. The plutocracy has got to go! And they can take their maids and gardeners with them!

This is to MR. Yeah, they may only make $20.00 a day, but then we subsidize these illeagles with food stamps, health care and housing. So now $20.00 a day becomes $135.00 a day.
that's a $30.00 savings over your estimates. Multiply by 7 million. Do the math MR. It WILL save money to send them home and give the $7.50 hr job to an American. We won't have to subsidize the food, health and housing bills because they are earning a living and able to pay for their own food without the governments help. As far as health care? Well, no-one can really afford that now anyways, so there is no point in arguing health care. Why pay for the illeagle to come in and have a baby? The hispanic culture is that at 15 you are pregnancy material. These people breed like dogs and their offspring is what is costing and killing our economy. Grow up. If you love the illeagles in our country, do us a favor, replace one of them with you. See how long you last as an illeagle with the Federalies. Do these people and us a favor. Go to their country and argue for equal rights and jobs. If they had them there, they wouldn't come here. I am so tired of paying for these non-english speaking sappers of the American economy. Why don't they put their energies into their own countries economy. Do they not realize that by coming here they also hurt their own country's economy?

I wish Mr.Tancredo was my state rep. This is a bad bill and should not pass.

Mr. Tancredo, you found a creative way to show your disagreement with Mr. Chertoff. I find it amusing as well as blunt. Perhaps my distrust in some politicians is misplaced after all.

Go ahead and move the farm to Mexico and the U.S.A. can choose or choose not to purchase what it needs. There you get your cheap-ass labor that you claim only mexicans will work for and we won't have to put up with illegal aliens and flipping amnesty deals to work your farm and fill our jails and use or system as if they have a right to which they don't.
I live in Alaska. We don't have much produce anyway. I can live with that. NO AMNESTY. Get in line like everybody else. Illegal is against the law!

Mr. Rivera,

Immigrants did not build this country. Americans built this country. Sure, many Americans immigrated here from other countries, but they did so LEGALLY. And when they got here, America became their home and their loyalties were to America and the freedom that she promises.

We have no problem with LEGAL immigration. We have a problem with ILLEGAL immigration. Why this distinction seems so hard to grasp is beyond me. And what a slap in the face it is to the people who are trying to come here legally to leave them wading through red tape while giving special treatment to those who willingly broke our laws.

The Senate Amnesty bill is a disgrace. 80% of Americans oppose it and still they try to ran it through. It's time these politicians learned who their masters really are. Their authority comes from the consent of the governed and it's time we the people took that authority away from them.

Keep up the good work, Mr. Tancredo!

I'm just a little concerned when Tancredo says “I doubt very seriously that a nominal increase in labor costs is going to be the end of lettuce as we know it.” In California, illegals earn $10-$20 for a (10-12 hour) day's work. If all field workers are subject to California's labor laws (earning $7.50/hour; earning time and a half after 8 hours) a $10 day of work suddenly costs an employer up to $105. A ten-fold increase is anything but nominal. What if he's planning a nominal increase to the national debt? No matter where you stand on immigration, his math skills are abysmal.

You really think that are taxes will be lowered if immigrants no longer used our healthcare, that is borderline stupid so we'll just call you niave.

By sending a lettuce Tom Tancredo has shown what a juvenile and ignorant attitude our elected officials have about immigrants who by the way have built this country. It's time for the country who likes to just take from every other country in the world to start giving what's due to people in terms of rights and wages.

Thank you Tom Tancredo! You are a national treasure and we need you in the White House! Thanks also for your concern for the border agents!!

Is that the free market that subsidizes farmers?

America will not shut down without illegal aliens.

It may cost more for lettuce and tomatoes but those cost will be offset by the lower costs of healthcare and taxes..

Chertoff should be more interested in Homeland Security than politics.

Way to go Tom!!! Keep up the fight for common sense!!!