in central washington it is big farms and I will also add Washington is rated 3rd or 4th for wine production in the world now,2nd in the US. who do we think is picking those grapes?not to defend illegals but some state's economies depend on illegals, central washington would be screwed now if it wasn't for migrant workers. I don't really want to provide them with health care, if they want to pay for it then so be it but they are here and they are not going to leave maybe we should start treating them like humans. Next time you eat a Washington Apple think about who picked it.
Ah, someone who posts with context and a regional issue. Those apples, are they grown primarily on family farms, or Big Farma (hey, I may have coined a new phrase)? Are the itinerant workers provided housing by their employer? Paid in cash, or by check with the usual deductions for SS and Medicare and taxes? What happens when one is injured on the job? Does the local economy benefit from their labor and spending, or is their use of local resources (health care, education for their children, etc.) a drain on the local economy (another way to think of this is, does local/state government subsidize local farms/ Big Farma's cost of labor)?
And who do you think pays for it all?