According to Philip E. Martin, Professor of Immigration and farm labor at the University of California, Davis, consumers who pay $1 for a head of lettuce are giving 19 cents to the farmer and 6 cents to the farm worker. If we doubled the wages of farm workers, the cost of a head of lettuce would increase by 6 cents to $1.06. For labor costs to force lettuce to $5 per head, farmers would have to pay field workers $4.06 per head of lettuce. At that rate, it would be the kind of work "every American would want to do."

The problem American industries have is not that of the cost of labor. The problem is that if one company uses illegal labor, then other companies have to do the same to compete. For example, in the agri-business if one grower can outdo another by lowering the cost of a head of lettuce by just pennies using illegal labor, then his profits will increase. Inevitably, all growers must do the same thing to survive.