After rallies in favor of immigration reform broke out in several U.S. cities April 10, landscape contractors on the Lawn & Landscape message board began buzzing about the impact these workers have on their businesses and the country as a whole.
Several who posted comments said their Hispanic employees asked for part or all of Monday off so they could join the rallies. “I told them that I am fine with them going as long as they complete the work that they need to,” says Chad Stern of Mowing & More, Chevy Chase, Md. Other employers echoed this.
In addition to the widely held rallies, there is talk of a nationwide protest May 1 where Hispanics are urged not to participate in the economy by working or buying anything. Some employers say they will give employees a paid vacation day.
Some on the message board are saying word is spreading that Hispanics who don’t participate in the protest will face assaults from other Hispanics. To that, Sal Mortilla, of Landscaping Unlimited, Farmingville, N.Y., says if the immigrants want to be part of our culture, they should live by the rules. He sent word around that if anyone in the Hispanic community acted violently toward one of his employees or someone he knows, he will stop offering work to Hispanics and consider them a hostile entity.
Hispanics and other immigrants are a necessary part of the U.S. workforce, Stern says, adding the U.S. gets something out of the deal as well. “Just like we would be in trouble if all the Hispanics left the country, all the Hispanic people would be in trouble and their countries would suffer greatly if America said ‘get out.’”
Although many landscape contractors find immigrants to be a beneficial part of the workforce, they are split on the best policy for undocumented workers. Those who are legal citizens feel illegal immigrants should have to wait their turn too, says Ken Reis, who has talked to legal immigrants about the issue.
It would be a long, difficult process to deport the millions of undocumented workers who are in the country, says Bill Smallwood. “We the American people couldn’t pick up the slack from everything that wouldn’t be completed if we had a one-week send everyone home campaign,” he adds.
Illegal immigrants take away services from the legal citizens, says Ryan Holt of Driftwood Lawn Care, Rising Sun, Md. “A lot of them come here and put their kids in overcrowding schools that are paid for by taxes.”
Many employers on the message board stand by the H-2B guest worker program currently in place, but think the 66,000 person-per-year cap is too low. Others say the current immigration process is inadequate and causes workers to gain employment illegally.
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