Most importantly, it would be a way to raise the incomes of Mexico's poor. Mexico needs to create 1.3 million new jobs a year just to keep pace with the growing population of workers. What is paid per hour varies greatly due to methods of payment such as containers harvested as compared to hourly wages. This is still 10 times the hourly wages paid for workers in Mexico. That is the reason so many highly labor-intensive crops, such as asparagus, are grown in Mexico rather than in Southern California.
Salaries vary as to the type of employment, with the highest wages paid for construction labor.
But housing and transportation in cities such as Dallas and Fort Worth are expensive, with eight to 10 men living together in an apartment. With proper papers, these Mexican workers can come and go as they please, with some even flying home to Mexico on commercial airlines out of DFW during Christmas. Keep in mind, the three major sources of farm income in this Wichita Falls area are wheat, cotton and cattle, and all that is needed is big equipment that you'll see at the farm and ranch show. The hand or stoop labor is involved in dairying, fruit and vegetable production as well as intensive livestock operations such as turkey farms, egg production and hog farms. Joe Brown's column appears in this space on Wednesdays.