‘Come to us and make money’, says American state inviting foreigners

There has been a lot of debate on the issue of illegal immigration in the US elections. Presidential candidates Kamala Harris and Donald Trump have said they will reduce the number of people who come to the country illegally from Mexico.

However, a Republican state is trying to attract more immigrants. The state is Alaska.

There is a small fishing town near the Copper River Delta in the Gulf of Alaska. Mexican food called ‘Tacos Tortilla’ is mostly found on the plates of people who work here.

Immigrants from far-flung areas come here to work in the fish processing factories in Alaska. Those who come here can earn more than the money they earn in their own area.

Edgar Vega Garcia, who came here from Mexico, said he worked here for 4 months and earned more than USD 27,000 (about Rs 22.7 lakh). The average household income per year in Mexico is less than $16,269 (about Rs 13 lakh), according to the Organization of Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD).

In the town of Cordova, temperatures of minus degrees are recorded for the most part of the year. Heavy rain or snow falls for most of the year. Here the sun is not visible for two months in a year. The locals call this period as the Polar Night.

As summer arrives, the locals will be relieved of the cold. As soon as summer sets in, the local people catch salmon fish as well as other types of fish.

The competition is very high during this time. It is expected to catch as many fish as possible during the few days of summer. More than half of the jobs in this town are related to the fisheries industry.

Companies need more workers to process, pack, and sell fish. People from other areas are brought here as there are not enough labourers available locally.