From two recent Herald articles about a shortage of apple pickers:

"Gov. Chris Gregoire said ... shortage of apple pickers ... is dire."

And, "people make good living falsifying documents."

People who normally are law abiding will ignore laws which seem stupid, which they cannot understand or the penalty for ignoring the law is much less than the cost of compliance.

Why the need for falsified documents. Why not issue legal visas quickly and easily? How to get a "green card?"

Download a copy of the application form for an H-2B to a computer for $49.95, or by mail for $79.95. Make your payment with a credit card or PayPal.

A poor neighbor is willing to do back-breaking, unskilled labor but has no computer, credit card or PayPal and can't get an $80 box of undecipherable forms.

Climb over the fence with false documents and be welcomed by our ag industry or attempt the "legal" method hoping that a costly, ridiculous, time-consuming form-filling exercise would not be in vain?

Though well intentioned, our bureaucracy is a quagmire which encourages illegal behavior by its citizens and foreign job applicants.

More laws and more law enforcement are not the answer. This is not a Republican or Demo-crat issue, unless name calling and finger pointing are considered to be answers.

Carl Schroeder Sr, Richland