RUTLAND HERALD

February 3, 2006

Douglas: Illegal farm workers present dilemma

MONTPELIER — Gov. James Douglas acknowledged Thursday that illegal aliens are working on Vermont's dairy farms, but said they are addressing a severe farm labor shortage.

The governor said state agriculture and law enforcement officials were faced with a dilemma, being concerned both with following immigration law and with allowing Vermont farms to keep the labor they need to stay in business.

"I don't know what the answer is," the governor said. "We're constrained by the federal law, frankly, and we'll continue to respect it. But we have a real farm labor shortage in Vermont."

Douglas' comments followed a series of reports on Vermont Public Radio examining the increasing role illegal immigrants, most often from Mexico, have been filling as workers on Vermont's farms. State agriculture officials estimate there are as many as 2,000 illegal aliens working on Vermont farms.

The governor's remarks also followed the arrest last month of eight Mexicans who were living and working in Bennington County illegally. The arrests came in a police investigation triggered when one of the immigrants drove a car off an icy road.

Douglas said dairy farms, where the hours are long and the work is hard, are the first to feel what state officials fear is a coming labor shortage in many lines of work.

"It's part of the demographic challenge we were talking about earlier," the governor said. "Farm families are smaller than they used to be. There aren't as many kids to do the work. And it's becoming increasingly challenging for farmers to find workers."