Like many who grew up in South Dakota, one of my summer jobs during college was in the Black Hills. I spent a few months living in a dorm and selling film at Mount Rushmore. Yes, I am so old that I remember when cameras used film and college kids were expected to work summer jobs.

Since my family still lives in the state, I come back fairly often. As a matter of fact, I am about two miles from Mount Rushmore now, staying in the tiny town of Keystone. If you have not been here, picture a much smaller version of Estes Park.

I was in downtown Keystone last weekend and had some time to kill, so I stopped for a beer. The summer crowds were gone and the bar was quiet, so I wound up chatting with the bartender. Turns out that Diego is from Mexico. He, along with 100,000+ other foreign nationals, is in the U.S. on an H-2B Visa to work for the summer. It is the third year that Diego, his brother and their mom have come up from Mexico to work and save money during the busy tourist season.

From May to October, he works two full-time jobs and rarely takes a day off. His mother cleans rooms at two different hotels and works 12-hour days. His brother cooks for the breakfast, lunch and dinner shifts at a local restaurant. The trio lives in employee housing near downtown Keystone.

Given the current uproar over the southern border, I asked Diego if foreign workers get a hard time from the locals. Thankfully, he said the locals are wonderful as are most visitors. But what he told me about some of the American tourists was appalling, and it was eye opening to hear the stories. Diego told me about customers who will not allow him to run their credit card. They insist that a manager do it, because a kid with a Mexican accent will no doubt steal their information. He has learned to expect snarky questions about whether he is a strong swimmer or good at climbing walls. “That is just part of the job, and you get used to it,” he said with a smile.

The most outrageous, though, was the family who refused to eat the food he brought to their table unless he wore gloves to serve it. Apparently, Dad did not want his kids eating from plates that a brown person had touched. Sadly, those kids are being raised in a cycle of hate and will likely grow up to be as racist as their idiot father.

When I ask business owners here how much they rely on these foreign workers, the response is unanimous. They could not survive without them. The days when American college kids flocked to National Parks to work summer jobs are long gone. Without the visa programs and imported staff, the tourist economy in the Black Hills would struggle to exist. That is also true in Colorado and throughout the western states.

Diego told me he has coworkers and friends in Keystone from Thailand, Columbia, Ecuador, Jamaica and even Nigeria. They are all here legally via either H-2B or J-1 visas issued by the U.S. State Department. No one climbed a wall or swam a river. They work long hours, live in crowded quarters and are thankful for the chance to be here. And, their employers are even more thankful. When I asked business owners about any problems with so many young foreigners in town, the only complaint is that they cannot get enough of them.

Should we secure our southern border? Of course. Should we track down and deport gang members and criminals? Of course. Both should be top priorities.

But most foreign workers — both legal and illegal — are good, honest people who just want to get a job, follow the rules and build decent lives. We need to get past the hateful rhetoric and figure out a logical and legal process to help the businesses and farmers who are desperate to hire workers and the people who are desperate to work.

Diego is a smart, ambitious young man. He’s fluent in two languages, learning a third and planning to attend college once he saves enough money. I left him a generous tip and am not at all worried that I trusted him to run my credit card.

Sean Maher is the CEO of RRC Associates in Boulder. He can be reached at sean@rrcassociates.com.