NEW YORK (CNNMoney.com) -- Facing growing anti-immigrant rhetoric, the United Farm Workers union is challenging Americans to take their labor-intensive, low-paying farm jobs.

As communities nationwide grapple with tenacious unemployment, migrant workers are often accused of stealing jobs from Americans. The union believes this accusation is without basis, and intends to demonstrate this with a newly-launched campaign called "Take Our Jobs."

"Farm workers do the work that most Americans are not willing to do," said union president Arturo Rodriguez in the announcement of the campaign.

At least half a million applicants are needed to replace the immigrant workforce, so the union has posted an online application for Americans who want to work on a farm.

Through its Web site, at www.takeourjobs.org, the union promises to connect applicants with farm jobs in their area.

Since June 24, at least 4,000 people have responded to the application, said Rodriguez. Some are serious responses and others are hate mail. "Only a few dozen have really followed through with the process," he said.

Most applicants quickly lose interest once the reality sinks in that these are back-breaking jobs in triple-digit temperatures that pay minimum wage, usually without benefits, according to the union. Some small farms are not required to pay minimum wage and in 15 states farms aren't required to offer workers' compensation.

*chuckle* The modern American conservative's view in a nutshell: "Kick the immigrants out and cut off all the anti-poverty programs so poor, unemployed Americans can get back to doing 'back-breaking jobs in triple-digit temperatures that pay minimum wage...without benefits...or worker's compensation.'" Sounds great!

The entire far-right conservative platform is basically based off of making the bottom segment of society so utterly miserable that everyone else becomes massively productive/inventive in an immense effort to avoid ending up there.

All that "privilege" you're accustomed to comes at a price, RangerDave.

My father did back-breaking labor in triple and negative digit temps for what I would consider a minimum pay.

He would have said that it builds character.

So did mine, and he's very vocal about saying that any politician that advocates a system that essentially forces people to do such jobs in the richest country in the world should be taken out and shot.

No one forces anyone to do those jobs.

So did mine, and he's very vocal about saying that any politician that advocates a system that essentially forces people to do such jobs in the richest country in the world should be taken out and shot.

His opinion was, (and I quote) "You can think for a living or stink for a living", and he was very vocal in insisting I get a good education. He never begrudged anyone anything.

There is luck in crossing the street, and getting hit by lightning, so what? Sitting on your *** collecting welfare is not success.

Hard work alone does not guarantee success. I could work to my utmost every single day, but I will never play for the NFL. Should I cry against the universe. What I have done is work to the best of my ability and succeed. Will I own an island like Dr Doom above, never. Will I be envious, sure, will I demand a chunk of his island, again never.

Working in a total dead end backbreaking farm labor position is not success either. It's much better to be on welfare and read some books to teach yourself a new skill, rather than be so exhausted at the end of every day that you have no energy left to learn anything new.

Working in a total dead end backbreaking farm labor position is not success either. It's much better to be on welfare and read some books to teach yourself a new skill, rather than be so exhausted at the end of every day that you have no energy left to learn anything new.