If these folks are freeloaders, why is ICE always raiding work places?

[Cirsium]

18. If that is a serious question...

Growers here are desperate for workers. If a person shows up and wants to work, and have documentation. I they do not have documentation, the process to get them legal status is started immediately. Meanwhile, they are given food and shelter (just as any decent person would do for a stray doing or cat ffs!) Now they are in legal combo. No one is trying to cheat or get away with anything. People are trying to survive, both the grower and the worker, but millions of people languish in legal status hell through no fault of their own. That is no accident. The right wingers want to keep the immigrant hysteria going but at the same time they know that the workers are desperately needed. So they make sure everything is kept up in the air and nothing ever gets resolved.

Workers are not turned away, nor should they be, because they "look" Hispanic. Law enforcement should not be called based on a person's ethnicity. I have never seen workers paid less based on their legal status or ethnicity. Language and illiteracy are the biggest barriers to advancement, and the children of immigrants almost always move into better jobs because they have the language skills we all take or granted. Growers should not be forced to be agents for law enforcement. All workers have taxes withheld.

Labor shortages are more likely to be advantageous for workers. With the immense pressure from ICE growers do not want to do anything illegal and attract swat team paramilitary raids, nor do the workers. The Republican cry that the workers are criminals is false, but so is the cry from many Democrats that the employers are criminals

I understand that things might be different in other areas and in other industries. This is based on my extensive observations involving hundreds of small growers in the Midwest.

So, why would the employers be hiring these Hispanics and not put white folks on the payroll? Because the crops will rot in the fields otherwise and people who are educated, literate and speak English have other options and do not apply for the jobs no matter what their ethnicity is. There was a time, not so long ago when most migrant farm workers were white, Dust Bowl refugees and their children. It is about economics, not race nor legal status. Illegal immigrants like Melania Trump and Elon Musk don't apply for farm work.

Full disclosure, I am not an owner and I am a strong advocate for farm workers' rights.