Warning, this is a rare political post.
News stories from two continents made me reflect as follows:
First the stories, a cherry farmer in the US can't get her fruit picked, and people seeking asylum in the UK are arrested for working as delivery cyclists.
Now, my reflection.
Who wins and who loses in each of these situations?
First, let's think about the absent fruit pickers.
Losers: the Mexican fruit pickers who don't get paid, the farmers who can't sell their fruit, maybe the children of the fruit pickers, who can't have new shoes or even go hungry, maybe the children of the farmers, who can't go to college or who won't inherit the farm because the business will go under.
Winners: maybe the Republican party who can point to the absence of undocumented workers as a fulfilled campaign promise, anyone who felt uncomfortable or unsafe because there were undocumented workers nearby, but maybe the Democrats eventually if there is a backlash against this policy, and maybe some unemployed US Americans prepared to do back-breaking work few native-born Americans have done for generations.
Now, the asylum-seeking delivery men.
Losers: maybe the families of the delivery drivers, in desperate need in some refugee camp, for whom the £20 or £30 the father and husband sent them was a literal lifeline. The delivery drivers, now worried that being caught will jeopardise their asylum claim. The hungry people of Hillingdon, Dumfries, and Birmingham (where the raids were carried out) who have to wait a little longer for their food.
Winners: the delivery drivers with permission to work as fewer drivers means less competition. The government because they can show they are energetically enforcing the law or maybe Reform, energised by the acceptance of their agenda as mainstream.
But I think the political gains are as hollow as the tummies of the unfed children.