Migrant workers, changes in US cannabis regulation, and conflict
May 10, 2021 7:29 AM Subscribe
"You can try," he says softly in Mandarin, "but I don't think they'd talk to you about New Mexico." The confluence of changes in local regulations around hemp and cannabis cultivation and sale in the US, disagreements among neighbors in the Navajo Nation, the pandemic, investment by foreign investors (including people from China), exploitation of migrant workers (including people from China), and anti-Asian racism has led to tense confrontations, arrests, and tensions within families.
I don't know what to say about this, but thank you for posting it.
posted by riruro at 11:18 AM on May 10, 2021 [1 favorite]
posted by riruro at 11:18 AM on May 10, 2021 [1 favorite]
It makes me wonder if the expanding Cannabis crop (along with the quarantine, the hideous anti-migrant ICE, and just rising wages in general) is yet another factor in the acute shortage of agricultural workers in the West at the moment.
Right now, a lot is being invested in tech (electric tractors, more advanced harvesters) to offset the shortage.
posted by LeRoienJaune at 11:18 AM on May 10, 2021 [1 favorite]
Right now, a lot is being invested in tech (electric tractors, more advanced harvesters) to offset the shortage.
posted by LeRoienJaune at 11:18 AM on May 10, 2021 [1 favorite]
Surely the shortage is more likely due to US immigration policies, particularly those directed against irregular migrants and seasonal labourers. Also, COVID-19.
posted by Joe in Australia at 3:04 PM on May 10, 2021
posted by Joe in Australia at 3:04 PM on May 10, 2021
I also don't really know what to say but want to thank you for posting this! I learned a lot from reading it and will be thinking about this for a long time.
posted by stellaluna at 4:07 PM on May 10, 2021 [3 favorites]
posted by stellaluna at 4:07 PM on May 10, 2021 [3 favorites]
Thank you for the very illuminating link, branewane
posted by Aardvark Cheeselog at 6:40 AM on May 11, 2021 [1 favorite]
posted by Aardvark Cheeselog at 6:40 AM on May 11, 2021 [1 favorite]
She heard from her friends that some workers had gone directly from the Shiprock farms to ones in Oklahoma - the latest frontier in the marijuana gold rush. A friend told Xia she could get a job with her in a massage parlour, and after that, maybe they could go back to farm work.
OH the handwringing here in oklahoma about the land being bought by Foreign entities. This article voices some of my concerns for the workers and what happens to the land if whoever buys it isn't working within the law and the operations get shut down. I haven't heard of violence towards Chinese where i live, but people are afraid of them moving here with all the eons old same arguments of decreasing property values and noone will want to come here if that many chinese move here. And keep in mind i live in a fairly diverse small town, albeit with few people from Asia, so i know it is way worse other places.
i think people here are forgetting it is their friends and neighbors making a shit ton selling that land as well as many of their friends and neighbors are also growing weed. They are also forgetting how much they like a good oil boom, despite that a good boom brings in many strangers (some of whom are questionable) and leaves behind abandoned sites and equipment yards, just like they are afraid of the weed boom doing.
The legistlature here did a shitty job with writing the law, but then again they do on most things so that isn't a surprise. Not a surprise people take advantage of the loopholes. I doubt it is only foreign entities that are doing so.
posted by domino at 8:37 AM on May 11, 2021
OH the handwringing here in oklahoma about the land being bought by Foreign entities. This article voices some of my concerns for the workers and what happens to the land if whoever buys it isn't working within the law and the operations get shut down. I haven't heard of violence towards Chinese where i live, but people are afraid of them moving here with all the eons old same arguments of decreasing property values and noone will want to come here if that many chinese move here. And keep in mind i live in a fairly diverse small town, albeit with few people from Asia, so i know it is way worse other places.
i think people here are forgetting it is their friends and neighbors making a shit ton selling that land as well as many of their friends and neighbors are also growing weed. They are also forgetting how much they like a good oil boom, despite that a good boom brings in many strangers (some of whom are questionable) and leaves behind abandoned sites and equipment yards, just like they are afraid of the weed boom doing.
The legistlature here did a shitty job with writing the law, but then again they do on most things so that isn't a surprise. Not a surprise people take advantage of the loopholes. I doubt it is only foreign entities that are doing so.
posted by domino at 8:37 AM on May 11, 2021
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posted by sjswitzer at 11:10 AM on May 10, 2021 [1 favorite]