GLEN FALLS (New York) POST STAR

May 19, 2006

Whitehall woman acts as go-between for legal migrant workers

By DON LEHMAN

WHITEHALL -- Agents from the U.S. Border Patrol were in the living room of the Maple Street apartment, and the Mexican and Guatemalan men did not know what to do.

It was the immigrants' understanding they were in the country legally, but they did not have the documentation federal law requires them to carry at all times. They spoke only sparing English.

A phone call was made to Whitehall resident Sherry Longtin, who was at the home in minutes, files in hand, showing that the men were legal migrant workers.

The Border Patrol left that night, May 12, without making any arrests. But Longtin said she was a bit perturbed at what she called "targeting" of migrant workers in Whitehall by police and the federal agency.

Longtin is the woman many of the Central American migrant workers in Washington, Warren and Saratoga counties have come to call "Mama," a tribute to her involvement in their lives that begins when she hand-picks them in Central America to come to work for local companies and ends when she arranges for their return home during the winter.

Longtin calls herself a "paid labor agent," a term that means she acts as a go-between for employers who want to hire migrant workers because they can't find sufficient labor locally. 

Her company, Mayan Labor Connection, employs nine people and had 115 migrant workers working in Whitehall, Granville, Glens Falls, Ballston Spa and Latham this week.

What began as renting an apartment to a group of immigrant workers in 2000 has become a full-time business for Longtin and her family, though it is work that has put her at odds with police, the federal government and local residents at times.

The Border Patrol regularly comes to Whitehall to check the homes she uses to house her workers, having visited the village twice in the last three months.

Last year, she said her Route 4 home received an unannounced visit from the U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement Agency, with agents explaining to her what she can and can't do.

She said residents and municipal officials seem to blame her for any problems had by the increasing population of migrant workers in the region, whether or not they are workers she brought to the area. And many wrongly believe she's breaking the law, she said.

"It doesn't matter what people say because I know what the facts are and I know what the truth is," she said. "They can investigate me all they want; they're not going to find any problems."

 

Need for workers grows

Local apple orchards and farmers have long used migrant workers to pick crops.

But over the past five years, as stone quarries in Washington County and western Vermont became more active, the region began to see a rise in the numbers of immigrants from Mexico and Guatemala who were brought to work locally.

Employers have said they were unable to fill the entry-level jobs the immigrants take willingly. And once employers like landscapers and slaughterhouses saw the success stone companies had with the immigrants, the demand increased, Longtin said.

With her family having run a car service center and insurance agency in Whitehall for years, Longtin said she knew little of the region's immigrant workers until 2000, when a Realtor friend asked if she had an apartment available to rent to some stone quarry workers.

She then found herself frequently providing help, such as driving her tenants to the store or doctor's office. When she drove one group to Wal-Mart one day, they came out with flowers for her, she said.

The moniker, "Mama," was born shortly thereafter.

"I was just compelled to have compassion," she said. "They're such great people."

She began to volunteer with a regional immigrant education program, and frequently acted as a liaison between the workers and their employers, helping with paperwork and transportation.

Her business was born.

Now, she and her daughter -- who married one of the Guatemalan workers -- handle virtually all aspects of the workers' lives in the U.S., working with U.S. embassies in Mexico and Guatemala to select and clear channels to bring workers to the area.

They arrange for their room and board, transportation to and from work, the grocery store, bank and other appointments. Mayan Labor Connection even employs two cleaners to clean the seven apartment buildings she rents or owns to house the workers.

"They're like our family," she said.

The money for her services is deducted from their pay, which comes from wages set by the Department of Labor. The department has to approve of each hire after it is demonstrated that local workers can't -- or won't -- fill the job.

"They are filling a very desperate need. Some of these companies wouldn't be operating if they couldn't get this help," Longtin said.


 

Some aliens removed

In the past three years, federal officials have removed at least 25 illegal Mexican and Guatemalan immigrants from homes in the Whitehall and Granville areas. Most live in eastern Washington County because of inexpensive housing.

Longtin acknowledged some of those who were deported were living in homes she owns or leases.

But she said they were not workers she brought to the area. Instead, they were brought to the region by employers or other labor brokers, and she let them rent her homes in the winter, when her workers are not in the country.

Though a number of immigrant workers have been arrested on criminal charges in Whitehall in recent years, including one who raped a teen last year, Whitehall Police Chief Richard LaChapelle said he does not recall his department having any problems with workers who came to the area through Longtin's company.

However, he said he believes some of the workers Longtin brings to the area get word to friends and relatives who are in the country illegally, and encourage them to come to the area.

"I don't have any problem with them as long as they're legal," he said.

Agencies providing oversight

Longtin said myths about what she does have caused rumors around town, with the village of Whitehall code enforcement officer asking at one point for a list of the names of all her workers -- a practice she called "racial profiling." She said she has offered to meet with both the Whitehall village and town boards to discuss the matter, but has been rebuffed.

Calls to both the Whitehall mayor's office and town supervisor's office were not returned this week.

Mayan Labor Connection does not appear to have had any problems with agencies that oversee labor and immigration.

Jean Genovese, a spokeswoman for the state Department of Labor, said the agency has not cited Mayan Labor Connection for any labor violations.

A spokesman for the U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement Agency acknowledged the agency did look at Longtin's operation last year and found she was acting within the law.

"Everything was in order," said agency spokesman Michael Gilhooly.

Ross DeLacy, a spokesman for the Border Patrol, said the agency has not singled out Whitehall or Longtin.

He pointed out there were no arrests in Whitehall last week, but the Border Patrol did arrest three illegal immigrants later that night in Lake George.

Agents could have arrested the men in Whitehall for not carrying their immigration documentation, he said, but did not.

Longtin said she had their paperwork because she had been photocopying it for their employers. Having gotten involved in lobbying efforts to save work visa programs last year, she said she now knows the laws inside and out.

"We're doing everything by the book," she said.