It’s so simple yet so twisted. There are some 12 million illegal workers in the U.S., which is about 10 times the active population of Montreal! Appalling! Most of these illegal aliens come from Mexico. They are discreet, motivated and are present in every field of activity: farm workers, gardeners, day labourers, and meat processing plant employees.

The American agricultural economy would collapse without this cheap Hispanic labour. In fact, Smithfield, the largest pork producer in the U.S., as well as many others, abandoned the larger cities of the Midwest in favour of building plants in poor, rural areas where under-educated and unskilled workers abound. Tar Heel in North Carolina is a great example. This single plant processes as much pork in one year as the whole province of Québec! Yet, a third of its labour force is Mexican and this number is growing. The same findings apply to California farms that employ 450,000 farm labourers: most of them are Mexican.

President Bush’s proposal to tighten controls at the borders created quite a stir earlier this year. Hundreds of thousands of Hispanic immigrants took to the streets over the Labour Day week-end to protest these measures. Obviously, as expected, this massive display of opposition was in part financed by huge farm operators and multinational agri-businesses, which shut down their operations to allow their workers to express their ‘democratic rights’. Now that’s ridiculous.

Unions, workers’ defence groups and democrats have rightfully criticized the shameful exploitation of poor illegal labourers. However, many Mexicans who live in the shadow of the immigration department see things differently. Most of them are peasants with very little education and limited skills who would rather pick small fruit and for whom the weekly salary paid by Smithfield’s plants provides them with an opportunity to escape a miserable, dead-end life that would otherwise await them in Mexico.

Just like the Irish, Poles, Italians, and Asians before them, they live in hope and the numbers tend to prove them right. The first generation of Mexican workers earn one half the income of the average American. Then, as early as the second generation, the earnings ratio increases to 75% and their children attend university as much as the average American family. Many become entrepreneurs, which would be unthinkable even impossible in their country of origin. Through the myth of the American dream, America has an amazing ability to integrate its immigrants.

What does this have to do with our agriculture? Plenty! I’ve said it before: in terms of international competition, I am not worried about Brazil but I am concerned with the U.S.A. Highly competitive and extremely strong with an access to cheap, abundant and constantly renewable labour, the U.S has an extraordinary advantage. Salary increases are infrequent, and with an hourly wage of $11, for example - with the dollar almost at par - Smithfield has no problems crushing any competition from Québec or Canada.

This is what I think: the American dream, in terms of agriculture and agri-business, is a Canadian nightmare….