The illegal immigration issue took an almost surreal step as the Governors in two border states, New Mexico and Arizona, declared official states of emergency over the debacle.

If there is a real crack down, the labor force for landscape contractors and nurseries could certainly be affected. More to the point, even CNN is looking at the issue in regard to the landscape industry. CNN correspondent Lou Dobbs recently interviewed a California Landscape Contractor, Richard Cohen, about the problem.

According to the report, Cohen pointed out that unlicensed operators and the ?EUR??,,????'??underground?EUR??,,????'?? economy are combining to create a domino effect where cheap labor begets cheap projects which forces competition to go cheap on both . . . We?EUR??,,????'???ve been there in this column before . . .

Now, as these states are empowering their officials, or their militias, to deal with the illegal immigrants, there could very well be a void in the labor force. We?EUR??,,????'???ll have to keep our eyes and ears open to see if it materializes.

Another factor that apparently is having an effect on the situation is the failure of the driver?EUR??,,????'???s license measure to pass, at least in California. Since that vote, the illegal immigrants are having trouble getting or keeping driver?EUR??,,????'???s licenses.

I have already heard from a couple of Mexican nationals?EUR??,,????'??+who now have US citizenship?EUR??,,????'??+that many of their ex-countrymen are being forced out of business because they can?EUR??,,????'???t drive to their jobs without fear of deportation. As such, they are selling their routes at great discounts and taking the money home.

Even my gardener is looking to purchase three routes over the next couple of months. And he says he is seeing this in other trades as well. Who knows . . . There may be a great opportunity/trend for growth for the legitimate operator.

And what about the cost of gas?

Lawn mowers get pretty good gas mileage (see page 10 about what not to do when driving your mower) but earth movers do not. Eight cylinder, 400 hp hemi engines that drive your crews to work also suck the gas. When you operate 14 crews and a decent sized fleet, and rely on loaders and trucks to haul in or out dirt, your wallet will really begin to feel the effect.

I heard in a news report that European gas (or petrol . . .) is nearly $6.00 a gallon in some places, so don?EUR??,,????'???t count on seeing dramatic drops any time soon.

I can?EUR??,,????'???t say that all of this is good news, but it is very relevant and you need to consider that your labor and fuel costs are going to rise over the next year and a half . . .

If you are operating legitimately, this could mean even tougher times, so now is a good time for the associations to kick in and work with you to help enforce the laws and standards of the business. Sure . . . there is a lot of work out there and many of you are too busy to get involved, but things are happening and now, more than ever, you need your associations to step in and raise the bar . . .

The good news is that the landscape industry is pretty resilient and demand should continue to be strong for years to come. Opportunity, though, is knocking so you may want to start opening some doors and see what?EUR??,,????'???s inside for you . . .

?EUR??,,????'??+God Bless