Arturo Rodriguez, president of the United Farm Workers, whose column appeared on Aug. 11, is certainly more honest than most people on his side of the immigration debate.

He makes quite clear that the bottom line for those folks is blanket amnesty for illegal immigrants. His candor is refreshing.

His economic argument, though, is not so honest, because he doesn’t mention wages.

The few news reports that provide details indicate that illegals involved in farming earn about $6 an hour. Of course, you can’t get Americans to work for such wages; but raise them to $15 and I have a couple daughters who might be interested.

Just a month of real enforcement under the Bush administration drove wages for produce pickers in Arizona from $6 an hour to $8.

A real shortage of illegal labor would probably drive wages to an American level. (By the way, once the UFW gets their amnesty, don’t you think their first priority will be to organize the pickers and press for higher wages?) Of course, if growers have to pay their help $15 an hour, they will have to raise prices.

I, for one, would be happy to pay those prices, because I think a lot more is at stake than the price of lettuce, especially since illegals are branching out.