“They just can’t get the Americans to do it.”
August 18, 1965
Conversation about the agriculture workforce between President
Lyndon Johnson and Florida Sen. Spessard Holland.
Listen here.
In this
audio recording, President Johnson reports to Florida Sen. Spessard
Holland (pictured at left addressing an FFVA convention) about an
administration decision to approve a request from the Florida sugar
industry to recruit foreign workers for the upcoming harvest season.
Holland had supported the sugar growers' request.
Johnson also indicated that the administration had not yet received
an application for foreign workers from the Florida Fruit and Vegetable
Association, and that the citrus industry had not yet demonstrated a
clear need for such workers. Holland protested that the industry "just
can't get the Americans to do it."
The conversation demonstrates the process by which extra agricultural
workers were admitted to the United States during the early and
mid-1960s.