Tom Fudge : Nowhere is immigration policy more keenly felt than in the Imperial Valley. Here at the Mid-Winter Fairgrounds, we're just a few miles from Mexico. The people who have picked the crops in this agricultural bastion have long come from Mexico.
Over the past ten or so years, security at the border has been beefed-up. The one-time ability of Mexican workers to cross easily into the United States, and then return home, is a thing of the past. Meanwhile, emotional disagreements over illegal immigration and immigrant labor has prevented Congress from coming to any agreement about who should be allowed to work in the States and become citizens.
This has caused farmers like Larry Cox to see Mexico itself as a place to sow crops for sale. Larry is a long-time Imperial County farmer. But since the early 90’s he's been farming in Mexico as well. Now he has almost as many acres in operation there, as he has in the Valley.
Guests
- Larry Cox, Imperial Valley farmer who also grows crops on rented land in Mexico.
- Eric Reyes, executive director of the Institute for Socio-Economic Justice .
- John Renison , mayor of Calexico. He's also director of advancement at the Imperial Valley Campus of San Diego State University .
