PALM BEACH POST

February 19, 2006

Illegal, essential, and in need

By Dan Moffett

Palm Beach Post Editorial Writer

Two years of hurricanes have damaged or destroyed thousands of fine, well-built homes throughout the state. So you can imagine what's happened to the housing for migrant farmworkers.

Many are living in their cars or in buildings or trailers even more substandard than usual, now that the storms left their mark. A roof that doesn't leak, electricity, running water — these have become amenities for untold numbers of farmworkers.

There's nothing like a good natural disaster to blow the façade off hypocrisy, so Floridians owe special thanks to Frances, Jeanne and Wilma. The state and federal governments have to confront some thorny issues, or consumers may face early-bird dinners without salad bars.

Because Americans are addicted to an illegal work force to harvest their crops, it's hard to find legal remedies to keep the work force running during times of crisis.

For example, if farmworkers were U.S. citizens, the federal government would have no qualms about stepping in and providing housing. The only real problem would be dealing with the incompetence of the Federal Emergency Management Agency, which admittedly ranks right there with global warming, Jerry Rice's foxtrot and finding a home for Scripps. But at least the framework for a solution would exist.

Helping undocumented workers is a very different matter. It's politically preferable to let migrants sleep in their cars, rather than get accused of subsidizing illegal behavior. Never mind that most anyone who eats tomatoes or tips the maid or hires a lawn service is subsidizing illegal behavior, too.

The Legislature formed a bipartisan commission to study farmworkers' problems, and it recommended spending $20 million for housing, health care and disaster relief. The committee's chairman and co-chairman — Sen. J.D. Alexander, R-Lake Wales, and Rep. Baxter Troutman, R-Winter Haven — are both citrus growers who know something about dealing with migrant workers.

While the committee's recommendations were an extraordinary stroke of accountability for a state still committed to denial, it's a long shot at best that the Legislature will approve any of the $20 million. Too many lawmakers fear political accusations of undermining the rule of law, national security and our American way of life. Coddling illegals is not the kind of thing that plays well in De Funiak Springs.

Farmworker advocate groups have been trying to get FEMA to help with housing and social services since 2004. The agency has refused because, without legal status, farmworkers do not meet the government's definition of "qualified alien." Another problem is that FEMA's priorities are paying fraudulent claims and developing Katrina cover stories.

Government auditors found that up to 900,000 of the 2.5 million people who applied for emergency cash from FEMA based their requests on duplicate or invalid Social Security numbers and false addresses. Tens of thousands of U.S. citizens used fraudulent identities to receive millions of dollars. They were illegals, it turns out.

FEMA thought nothing about paying those lawbreakers and scam artists but wants no part of providing basic assistance for people who actually work for a living.

A coalition of Florida farmworker groups is suing FEMA over its refusal to help undocumented workers because of the immigration status. The lawsuit is based on the premise that federal law allows short-term non-cash emergency relief to disaster victims, regardless of their immigration status.

In other words, during times of crisis, we're a nation that's big enough to help people who have helped us. It's no more complicated than that.

The lawsuit cites one example in which FEMA sent in 92 trailers after the '04 hurricanes destroyed a mobile-home park where farmworkers lived. But more than 40 of the trailers were left unoccupied because FEMA turned away victims who were undocumented.

People slept in their cars near empty trailers, then rose at daybreak to work the fields and help Florida get back on its feet. It's great to be a documented American, isn't it?