TAMPA TRIBUNE

November 5, 2006

Authorities Reach Out To Migrants

By CHRIS ECHEGARAY The Tampa Tribune

RUSKIN - Thugs prey on migrant workers, waiting for their Friday payday before robbing them.

It's been a recurring theme in Wimauma, Ruskin, Dover and Plant City during the past several years.

Maj. Jerry York, in charge of Hillsborough County Sheriff's Office District 4, wants to stop the victimization.

"I've seen the area change 10,000 percent," he said. "We want to help them. We don't want them to be victims. We know these things were not reported."

York started the Migrant Outreach program to encourage the large immigrant population to report crimes without fear, despite their immigration status.

On Saturday, about 1,000 immigrants went to the district office, where deputies, health and social service agencies set up tables and kiosks under tents to develop a rapport with migrants. The migrant population in Hillsborough County is estimated at 30,000 to 50,000, according to the Farmworker Association of Florida.

Migrants carried out bags of food donated by Cahill Ministries of Lakeland. Companies donated blankets and goods. Children got free haircuts.

The relationship between local authorities and newcomers has been tenuous, lawyers from Gulfcoast Legal Services said. Under federal law, undocumented immigrants are not allowed driver's licenses and are ticketed or arrested when caught driving.

The fear of deportation also has caused some migrants to hesitate to contact police, advocates said.

The type of event held Saturday will help both sides, said Kathlyn Mackovjak, a lawyer with Gulfcoast, which had a booth at the event.

"This will assuage some of that fear of deportation," she said. "This will also help when they have to go in to file a report, give a deposition. They just don't want to because they are too afraid."

The gesture by the sheriff's office was not lost. Isabel Rivera of Peru has lived in Ruskin for two years. Her husband works for an air conditioning company. She has friends who have been robbed, and she had to cajole them to report it.

"This was a good, solid idea," Rivera said. "This will help eliminate being scared for many of us."

Enrique Santiago of Oaxaca, Mexico, is a strawberry picker on Dover farms. He follows jobs to North Carolina, New Jersey and Michigan.

This is the type of interaction migrants should have with police, he said.

"A lot of us worry because we have no license or papers," Santiago said. "Driving for us is not a luxury, but a necessity."

This is the second year of the outreach event. Last year, the event started off slowly. A migrant, serving as a scout, asked whether a driver's license or a green card was needed as an ID to participate. The answer was no.

"Then the floodgates opened," York said.