Pennsylvania Needs Illegal Immigrants

Well, we knew the impact would be great if somehow the U.S. could send all the illegal immigrants back home. I mean think of it - they send them all home and who will work the hard landscaping, the cleaning, the jobs Americans won't do.

Until now.

There's a company in Pennsylvania that has been growing tomatoes for a long time is giving up. There aren't any workers to pick them.

The farm is called Fred W Eckel Sons and on the 2000 acre site, Keith Eckel, owner, says Congress' failure to approve a comprehensive immigration reform hurt his ability to get enough workers to get tomatoes to market. The majority of Eckel's workers came from Mexico.

Eckel has lost around 175 jobs. He won't say that most were illegal immigrants. He won't plant tomatoes or pumpkins and about half as much sweet corn. Eckel was counting on Congress to pass a guest-worker program.

Carl Shaffer, who is president of the Pennsylvania Farm Bureau, said we all need to wake up because it's not just an immigration issue - it's an issue that's going to affect everyone's food supply.

This farm doesn't participate in the government's H-2A guest worker program - because Eckel feels it's too cumbersome. He says his farm wouldn't qualify anyway - the season is too short. The Labor Department said it was going to reform H-2A, but reform isn't what it needs. Eckel said it needs to be rebuilt.

Believe it or not, Eckel's tomato pickers earned $16.59 an hour last year.

Still - not enough takers.