1. Running Head: Article 2 2
Self Inflicted Wounds
This article deals with the state of Georgia's recently signed House Bill 87, also known as the
Illegal Immigration Reform and Enforcement Act. This law is the mirror image of the polemic Arizona
law SB1070 that received national attention. (Asbed, Sellers, 2011) One industry that is suffering the
consequences is the farm labor market, and more specifically the watermelon harvest. (Asbed, Sellers,
2010) The watermelon crops had gone down by as much as fifty percent in sales this year in some
places because many of the crops were unattended. (Asbed, Sellers, 2011)
Even before the law took effect many migrant workers left the state right before the crops
started to ripen in time to be harvested. (Asbed, Sellers, 2011) This resulted in $300 million in lost
crops and could cost the states agricultural sector $1 billion dollars. (Asbed, Sellers, 2011) Georgia is
the third largest producer of watermelons in the country behind Florida and Texas so watermelons are
very important to the agricultural industry in Gerogia. (Asbed, Sellers, 2011)
Harvesting watermelons is a skilled trade that involves learning five or six signs indicating if a
watermelon is ripe for harvesting or get fired for cutting green melons (Asbed, Sellers, 2011) They
have to catch and throw 20 to 30 pounds into a moving truck. (Asbed, Sellers, 2011) Several times a
day they must pitch the watermelons a distance averaging ten feet without hurting themselves or others.
(Asbed, Sellers, 2011)
After the law went into effect the agricultural employers hired replacement workers to make up
for the immigration workers. (Asbed, Sellers, 2011) The problems began immediately because the
replacement workers were not up to the task the labor demanded of them. (Asbed, Sellers, 2011)
Many of the replacement workers were young and decided that the amount of work they were putting
in was not worth $8 an hour. (Asbed, Sellers, 2011) Field crews that used five or six people now had
to make due with about four. (Asbed, Sellers, 2011)
This article relates to class in the form of intimating and abusive behavior as mentioned in

2. Running Head: Article 2 3
chapter three. As mentioned in the article there are stiff penalties for the smallest of infractions that
contribute to shrinkage. This article implies that even if one watermelon is broken then the employee
can get fired. Farm work that involves migrant workers appears to be just as strenuous mentally as
well as physically. The corporate culture suggest that one single fruit item is worth more than an
employees livelihood. (Asbed, Sellers, 2011) (Ferrell, Freadrich, Ferrell, 2008)
The most relevant way this article relates to class involves stakeholder interest which was
covered in chapter 2. When the law was passed by the government they failed to take into account how
it would effect the farm labor market. Corporate culture must conform to the law because government
makes the rules of the game. So when the law was passed many undocumented workers left the state
of Georgia and much of the necessary labor that completed the work was gone. This law ultimately
effected consumers around the country and the employers that sold the watermelons, or as the popular
term that is used today, job creators. (Asbed, Sellers, 2011) (Ferrell, Freadrich, Ferrell, 2008)
I think this article is a fine example of the law of unintended consequences. In an attempt to
solve the problem of illegal immigration they created another problem that has ripple effects on not just
Georgia, but the other states as well. Various workers in places that sell watermelons will have less
work to do and less product to sell that will have a negative impact on their sales. The migrant workers
will go to states with less draconian immigration laws and they will get business that Georgia sent
away. The state shot themselves in the foot because they replaced one problem with an even bigger
one.