United Farm Workers and Colbert Report Team Up on “Take Our Jobs” Campaign

Yesterday, United Farm Workers of America (UFW) President, Arturo Rodriquez, joined Stephen Colbert on the Colbert Report to talk about the Take Our Jobs campaign. The campaign aims at hiring U.S. citizens and legal residents to fill jobs that often go to undocumented farm workers—a response to the anti-immigrant rhetoric that “undocumented immigrants steal American jobs.” While the campaign is satirical in nature, Arturo Rodriguez argues the need for immigration reform is serious. “Farm workers are tired of being blamed by politicians and anti-immigrant activists for taking work that should go to Americans and dragging down the economy,” Rodriguez said. “The reality is farmworkers who are here today aren’t taking any American jobs away. They work in often unbearable situations. I don’t think there will be many takers, but the offer is being made. Let’s see what happens.”