Study finds unemployed North Carolina workers don't want farm jobs, or don't last through season

Much has been written about immigration reforms to allow aliens who are experienced farm and agriculture workers to have an easier time staying in the U.S., and move one step closer to gaining citizenship. Much has also been written about Americans claiming bias when it comes to farm jobs, saying Mexicans get all the work. Several lawsuits have even been filed by U.S. workers who said they were discriminated against in favor of Mexicans.

A study in North Carolina looked at unemployed workers referred to jobs through the North Carolina Growers Association, which between 1998 and 2011 hired 97 percent of referred applicants, reports Dylan Matthews for The Washington Post. Of the 130,000 unemployed in the state, the number who asked to be referred to the NCGA in 2011 was 268. Of those 268 applicants, 245 (91 percent) were hired, but only 163 of the 245 (66 percent) showed up to work, and only seven lasted through the growing season. (Click on charts for larger versions)

In 2001, the NCGA needed 6,500 total workers, reports Matthews. Because so few U.S. workers wanted the jobs, most of the jobs went to Mexicans holding H-2A agriculture visas. About 90 percent of the Mexicans were still working five months later, compared to fewer than 10 percent of U.S.-born workers. (Read more)