Too Many Jobs in Michigan!

Michigan's unemployment rate is 8.9%, the highest in the nation. The auto industry is in the dumps. Between housing and financial markets, more economic troubles are coming.

With all this trouble, the Kalamazoo Gazette sees a pressing problem--there are too many jobs in Michigan!

Migrant labor crucial to local agriculture

That's the message of their editorial on "migrant workers" in agriculture. These are legal or illegal aliens who are hired because they will work for less than Michigan citizens.

And the Gazette isn't the only one who thinks Michigan has too many jobs.

Fortunately, the state of Michigan is recognizing the economic worth of migrant farm workers.

The Michigan Department of Labor and Economic Growth sends officials to Texas to recruit laborers to work on Michigan farms from April to October. About 15,000 migrant farm workers came to Michigan this year.

If such annual recruiting trips continue to be successful, Michigan could become one of the top five destination states for migrant farm workers, according to Rick Olivarez, state monitor advocate at D-LEG.

Fighting for Mexican jobs. Thanks, Governor Granholm!