City to Form Alliance With Mexican State

By Aaron Burgin, The Porterville Recorder, Calif.

Mar. 29--LINDSAY -- An American city working with a Mexican state to help thousands of immigrant farmworkers.

Sound far fetched? City officials said they beg to differ.

Officials here are calling for an "unprecedented" alliance with the Mexican state of Michoacan to provide financial and "human" capital towards to the city's state-of-the-art Wellness Center.

"Something like this has never been done in any city or state or in this nation," Sacramento consultant Arnaldo Torres said to the three council members at Tuesday's council meeting. "It is an opportunity for Lindsay to be proactive in dealing with an immigrant population that is going to be here."

City Manager Scot Townsend called the proposal "bold."

"It's looking a lot further ahead than most people are," Townsend said.

For Lindsay, a city with a large farmworker population from Michoacan, the proposed pact would likely ensure the region a steady stream of farm labor after a year of massive labor shortages hurt growers during several harvest seasons, Mayor Ed Murray said.

It would also make a Mexican state accountable for the well-being of its citizens while on American soil, Torres said.

"Wouldn't farmworkers want to work at a place where they knew their rights would be protected?" Torres said.

Torres, who is assisting the city with the proposed $3-million facility aimed at providing comprehensive health care to area farmworkers, presented two initiatives to the council involving the center, the farming community, and Mexico.

The first involves Michoacan contributing $500,000 to the construction of the facility, and once completed create a "long-term institutional relationship with the state" which would include the Michoacan government providing doctors, educators and other professionals to work alongside American counterparts at the center.

Lindsay, Torres said, is not equipped with the infrastructure to fully serve a predominantly Spanish-speaking population.

Torres also hinted that a major portion of the Wellness Center's operation budget would likely be funded through private-sector donations.

The second initiative involves housing farmworker-grower related services under one roof, making the Wellness center a one-stop facility for all of the farmworkers needs, Torres said.

Torres said they would pursue a $300,000 to $500,000 donation from the California State Farm Bureau toward the construction of the Wellness center.

"So much of the health of the workers is tied into employment," Torres said. "This endeavor would provide a middle ground for the grower an picker, working together as opposed to the negative relationship you are so used to hearing about."

Torres said the proposal, which comes at the heels of a national debate in regards to illegal immigration, is far more advanced than the current proposed legislation because of its proactive approach.

With a guest-worker program likely to be implemented in some fashion, Torres said there will be an influx of workers who deserve equitable treatment.

By seeking donations, this care will not come at a major expense to taxpayers, Torres added.

"The reality is that we will continue to have undocumented people living in this country," Torres said. "This is a unique opportunity for a city to form a relationship that I believe will become a model and an example for other communities."

Torres is planning a three-day conference in Michoacan between the state government and a local delegation that would include officials from the farming, educational, civic, private industry and public safety communities in mid-April.