Without immigrants, farms turn to inmates

So this is what the crackdown on illegal immigration has come to — addressing the farm labor shortage with prison inmate manpower?

Yes, you read that right. After offering an unprecedented $9.60 an hour for farm labor and getting no takers, some Colorado vegetable farmers will hire prison inmates later this year in a pilot program with that state's Corrections Department. The workers would be selected among "low risk" inmates who are nearing the end of their prison terms.

These labor shortages were brought on by the passage of tough immigration laws. The workers the farmers traditionally have relied upon have left Colorado for states where they feel their contributions as hard workers and good citizens are valued.

This is far from a solution to our labor shortages. It's yet another example of where Congress has dropped the ball on meaningful immigration reform. If the United States had some realistic guest-worker program or a means to enable illegal immigrants to achieve legal status within a reasonable time frame, states wouldn't be eyeing the inmate population to meet labor needs. A number of states are considering similar programs.

It's hard to blame the farmers. When they go so far as to offer nearly $10 an hour for farm labor and no one comes forward, they've got to explore alternatives, watch their crops go to waste or not plant crops at all.

Perhaps there will be inmates who will welcome the opportunity to work outdoors during the summer. They will earn 60 cents an hour, the going rate for inmate labor in Colorado. Public officials who back the program say they hope it will help curb recidivism rates as inmates learn useful skills. Or will parolees become model citizens for fear they will return to the prison chain gang?

Advocates fear that the captive labor force could easily be exploited. Seemingly other businesses hurt by labor shortages will call on state prison officials to provide inmate workers, too. Then what? Do communities really want prison inmates in their midst, even under the best supervision?

Although the program is limited to so-called "low risk" inmates who have nearly served their sentences, some inmates who are close to the end of their terms do stupid things to extend their sentences. Returning to the real world means coping with their status as parolees and other life responsibilities.