Valley hit by worker shortage plaguing rest of U.S.

[amandabeech]

48. In the '50s and '60s in my home area, you'd see lots of Mexican plates

around town during the fruit and vegetable harvests.

Things changed in the late '60s and early '70s. Mexicans were not allowed to cross the border freely without a work permit, and the conditions of the work and housing were upped tremendously (thank heavens--some farmers, not all by any means, were really taking advantage of the Mexicans.)

Farmers then had to contract for laborers with a middleman. The workers then came in under an "H" visa that was good for a few months around the harvest.

Most farmers did not like the arrangement, because they had to do paperwork in the winter to get the workers, and some didn't like having to clean up their migrant housing. A few farmers had disgraceful quarters, but others had housing that passed local housing ordinances. The federal migrant housing standards exceeded local standards.

Perhaps the "H" program will come back.