DESERET MORNING NEWS (Utah) August 21, 2006 Coalition helping migrants Outreach team assists farm workers By Deborah Bulkeley
Deseret Morning News GREEN RIVER — It's Friday morning at the Vetere melon stand on Main Street. As customers start to filter in, so do migrant workers before heading to the fields. It's the height of melon-picking season. Today, a group of five outreach workers greets the migrants, inviting them to a "fiesta" later in the evening, providing a list of contacts for services and offering help with any issues they may face.
The workers, somewhat surprised, smile and chat with the members of the Utah Migrant and Seasonal Farmworker Coalition, an effort by members of multiple agencies that work with migrant workers and their families on issues ranging from education to wage complaints.
The Vetere family is among farmers that Corrie Jensen, a coalition member, says "take good care" of their employees. They provide trailers for housing, bring workers lunch and provide blankets, she said.
"We try to treat them just like we'd like to be treated," said farmer Jay Vetere, 72.
Jesus Zamora, 52, has worked the farms for years in Arizona, California and Mexico. He was passing by Green River last year when his car broke down. So he found work in the melon fields.
"I like the farming," he says. It provides money he sends to his three daughters and two sons in Mexico. It's tough to be so far from home, he says, but the outreach coalition's work is comforting.
"I'm not alone here," he said. "When there's somebody I can ask for help, it makes me feel better and safer."
But it isn't always all smiles, says Jensen, who's also director of the Utah Farmworker Program of Futures Through Training Inc.
It can be difficult to build a rapport with both farmers and their employees. The outreach team tries to keep conversations with workers in the field brief so it doesn't keep them from their work.
"A lot of farmers are afraid we're here not to help but to steal their workers," Jensen said. "It works best as friends."
Members of the outreach group pile into white Chevy Malibus and head to the fields. They joke about being mistaken for "la migra," or immigration agents. But Jensen says it's not entirely a joke.
Jensen, who has been working with migrants for 6 1/2 years, says migrant workers who aren't familiar with outreach workers are often stand-offish, and "sometimes people will run and hide if they don't know us." Today, the workers greet Jensen and the others with smiles as they approach with water bottles and invitations.
"Six years ago, almost none of the guys said anything to any of us," she said. "With farm workers, there's a trust issue. ... It's taken a lot of work to get people to trust the agency."
She said it takes about two years of going to a location before she starts seeing any cases.
"Farm workers tend to stay to themselves, they don't ask for help," she said.
And while most farmers treat their workers well, Jensen and the others are always on the lookout for abuses. She says exposure to pesticides is perhaps the most dangerous part of the job. Sometimes issues arise when employers do not pay migrant workers wages or when workers are injured on the job, the outreach workers say. Other times, they'll provide information such as how to find a local health-care clinic. For those with children, the outreach includes information on education. There are four Migrant Head Start programs in Utah.
The joint outreach efforts started about two years ago, and Jensen said it's helped to be able to bring the services to the people. Because Jensen's program is federally funded, she can only offer assistance to legal workers, but she can refer the undocumented to other services.
The group goes to the fields regularly during the peak agricultural season and holds about four parties/information fairs for workers. Friday's was the first such party in Green River.
"Everything off the Wasatch Front is pretty remote," she says. "Here if you tear your pants, there's not really a way to replace them. With gas prices what they are, it's so important we bring our services."
Alex McBean, an attorney for Utah Legal Services Migrant Program, says some of the migrants are undocumented and have missed opportunities to legalize their status.
On Friday, he met Santiago, originally from El Salvador, who asked about an asylum provision related to a civil war in his home country.
McBean explained that the deadline had passed. He said Santiago, who's lived in the United States since 1971, has missed three opportunities to legalize his status. Such cases are common, he said.
"They work and send money home," he said. "They don't have the motivation, or the wherewithal."
Like Jensen's program, McBean can offer advice but can only open cases for those who are legally here.
"I do what I can under the law that exists," he said.
Outreach is only a small part of Jensen's job. For those who have legal status, her federally funded program provides emergency services, such as housing and food, and occupational training for skilled agricultural jobs or jobs in other industries.
However, Jensen estimates that only about 5 percent of Utah's farm laborers are legal and therefore eligible for the program. Many of those are immigrants, but there are also some English-speaking, native-born Americans.
Jensen said the funding for her program, along with others like it that serve every state but Alaska, has yet to be reauthorized for next year.
The Bush administration has repeatedly canceled the funding, she said. Congress has reinstated it, but the funding has been decreasing in recent years. "Every year it's a fight," she says, shaking her head.
This year, Jensen's program will assist as many as 60 people. And Jensen said her work makes a difference.
She points to a co-worker who she says is in his position because of the program. Another former client became a forklift operator and made $13,000 in his first three months, she says.
"It's not just the farm worker but everyone down afterward," she said. "His kids have a chance at a new life."
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