The smile of the moon
Through the gauze of morning clouds
Is a chilling sight.
Wednesday, October 26, 2016
U.S. immigration policy has, at times, been front and center during this presidential election cycle. What strikes me, from living in Panama now for almost two years, is the similarities between the illegal immigrants in the U.S. and the indigenous people of Panama. What also strikes me, is how little I know about how either group lives. That I have no excuse for and ought to correct in the near future.
It seems both groups are responsible for virtually all of the agricultural labor in both countries. But I have no idea what wages either group is paid or what laws or policies govern their working conditions.
I do know that no candidate I heard from this year running for President in the U.S. talked about what agricultural products would cost if agricultural laborers were paid a living wage and given health insurance. And that seems to me to be the crux of the issue. Are we willing to pay what it would cost to use only legal workers in the agricultural industry?
How these labor and economic issues in Panama vary from similar concerns in the U.S. will be interesting to discover, but just like in the states, the back breaking agricultural work is being done by a large minority group.
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