"Pickin' That Cotton In Eleven Foot Sacks"

     "Puttin' that cotton in eleven foot sacks
      Goddamn shotgun at my back."

        "Parchman Farm" by  Mose Allison

       There has been much made of how "illegal aliens" are taking jobs that American citizens would be happy to have "if only them furriners didn't sneak over and work so cheap an all."

       Well, in Georgia they passed a really tough new immigration law and now farmers can't seem to find anyone to work in the fields. Things have gotten so bad that they might actually have to pay folks a decent wage!

      Fortunately the government is coming to their rescue. The state is planning to use convict labor to harvest fruit and vegetables in the Georgia fields.

     "The work would be voluntary for the prisoners. Pay would be set by farmers, though it would be at least minimum wage. Prisoners would pay for their transportation to and from the farms.

Offenders are referred to the state’s transitional centers by prison officials and the State Board of Pardons and Paroles based on their criminal records and behavior in prison. Wages they earn on work release are sent to the centers. Portions are applied to room and board, fines, fees, restitution and child support. The rest is held for them until they are released. More than 2,700 inmates are in the transitional centers now."

    In other words, if they rig the fees just right the inmates won't actually get to keep any money. The farms and the prison staff can take it all in fees and such. This is the perfect Republican solution because the only thing cheaper than immigrant labor is slave labor.

     Be seeing you.