Yes, capitalism is great!! Remove the black market for labor, pay market labor rates let business determine the profit required to keep them in the business and pass on the costs to consumers. Consumers pay more, but in turn a black market in labor and exploitation is reduced. That means your immigrant neighbors are treated more fairly and fewer tax dollars go to social services for poorly paid immigrants and immigration law enforcement. It doesn't matter that farmers don't want to pay market rates. The point is, if they did not have an illegal labor pool to exploit they would HAVE to pay market rates. The alternative is immoral. Status quo means exploitation of an entire class of people, for what? profit, cheap lettuce. IT is not free market capitalism when labor is not purchased in a free market. Again, total B.S. ( maybe racist) trop white guys won't do the work for market rates. Lots of white guys working road crews around me in over 100 degrees. They are being paid a market rate because the government contract requires legal documented labor. As a youth I did work for a fair wage only undocumented do now. If paid fairly (whatever the market sets) to work in the sun at manual labor, anyone will do it. If not paid fairly, only undocumented black market labor will take it because they legally can't take their labor down the road for 3 /hr more in a legit job. Taking advantage of that is immoral. So yes, capitalism is great. The invisible hand can help improve our immigration problems.Farmers don't want to pay market rate, because a white guy will demand much more than the federal or CA state minimum wage to pick strawberries in the sun -- which means higher prices and lower profits (if any at all).
Ain't capitalism great?