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Kane,
Hmmm....
According to the American Farm Bureau, :
1. The average farmer sees around 22% of the retail price.
2. 90% of Californian farm workers are illegal.
3. The average wage is $9.31 per/hour and farmers struggle to find workers.
Though I've no way to verify your figure of a $50 increase in the average family grocery bill, it would still represent a 4% increase for the poorest in your state. A doubling or even tripling of wages would certainly be passed on to the consumer. Or the US gov could step in and start handing out subsidies to farmers....but thanks to the WTO that's not really an option any more. No, it would be cheaper to import fruit and veg. As with many other industries, farming would be "outsourced".
Do some of the people here really believe that the absence of cheap labour will lead Americans to settle for lower wages? Reduced labour supply drives up the price of labour, and higher domestic labour costs drives jobs abroad.
On the bright side, all those illegals who are caught, could be forced to work for free. Problem solved.
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