Wine industry drives Napa Valley, attracts controversial illegal immigrants

(Please consider expressing whatever pleasure or insight you gain from reading by clicking on the "Donate" button above and contributing a dollar, 50 cents, a little more or a little less to my PayPal account. If you find value in the work, I hope you'll consider a financial donation that will help me continue to present my work to you. -- Ted Sillanpaa)


A study shows that 12 percent of the population in Napa County are there illegally. The debate going on over the results of research featured in the Napa Valley Register indicates that residents are talking around the actual issue.

The Register story reported that:

"Alicia Jaramillo, president of the Napa County Hispanic Network, said ... that Napa’s number would likely be higher than most. With agriculture as the county’s main economic engine, a high population of undocumented immigrants is to be expected, Jaramillo said. Other wine growing counties, however, fell short of Napa’s double digit figures."

The debate among residents in Napa centers on the damage immigrants here illegally do to the economy, job market, etc. Or, it focuses on the value the immigrants provide by working hard, paying taxes, etc.

Immigrant workers flock to the Napa Valley to work the vineyards. They don't head here for the weather or access to fine dining. So, if there's an issue with 12 of every 100 Napa area residents being in the valley illegally, it would center on the Napa-based businesses that employ immigrants in the United States illegally.

Go ahead and read all 100-plus comments about the Register story. It's available at:

http://bit.ly/o1cjdM

Try to find a resident who specifically mentions that the industry that drives the Napa Valley economy is the industry that attracts, then employs illegal immigrants.

The immigrants are here. They're working jobs that the average unemployed American doesn't necessarily fight to get. Teenagers and out-of-work sales folks rarely fight for jobs in the vineyards.

U.S. immigration laws are easily circumvented.

The problem that can be addressed, should be addressed, is how Napa Valley businesses so easily hire the immigrants who cause such a stir among Napa Valley residents.

There's not a word in Register about how many of the 12 percent of said immigrants work the vineyards. There's no mention of which wineries routinely hire immigrants lacking official documentation. Seems odd, doesn't it?

Blame the government.

Blame the immigrants here illegally.

Just make sure we all agree that there are Napa Valley business folks attracting the immigrants, giving them work (which they do very well and very faithfully) and then keeping them in the valley.

Residents who have a problem with information in the study on immigration have a problem with the wine industry in the Napa Valley.