THE BUSINESS REVIEW (Albany, New York)

March 31, 2006

Apple farmers say curbs on immigrants stunt growth

by Eric Durr

The Business Review

Toughened immigration laws and more stringent penalties against employing undocumented workers will translate into tougher economic times, area apple growers and dairy farmers say.

The restaurant industry would be affected, too, but New York's $3.1 billion agriculture industry is paying the closest attention to the immigration debate in Congress.

"Producing crops, especially in the fruit industry, is very dependent on migrant labor and we need to have a legalized work force to help bring in the crop," said Peter Gregg, spokesman for the New York Farm Bureau. Any immigration bill which doesn't include a guest-worker program of some kind will hurt the farm industry, he added.

Farmers are especially concerned about calls for stricter enforcement against employers hiring illegal immigrants, said Ed Miller, owner of Goold Orchards in Castleton.

"Unfortunately, there are not enough Americans who want to work as hard doing manual labor," Miller said.

His orchard relies on foreign workers during the six-week picking season, but screening out illegal workers is tougher than people think, he said.

"Employers are caught in a 'Catch-22,' " Miller said. They aren't supposed to hire illegal workers, but the law says they can't ask the kinds of questions that would catch those workers.

One grower declined to discuss the issue on the record because of concern about more vigorous action against employers.

"I don't want my name used. I don't want immigration coming in here and going after me," the grower said.

Alan Grout, owner of Golden Harvest Farms in Valatie, said that if it wasn't for foreign employees--mainly workers from Jamaica here under a special visa program--his apples wouldn't get picked. Every year, he forwards a labor request to the state Department of Labor, and every year they can't find American workers to fill his jobs.

Apple growers can't find American workers because the bulk of the jobs are seasonal, which makes them unattractive even when people need work, Grout said.

Apple picker wages are more than $9 per hour. Growers must also provide housing to foreign workers and pay about $900 per worker for travel and visa costs.

While the apple industry employs large numbers of migrant workers, the area's dairy farms have come to rely on Mexican farm workers for daily tasks.

"They are a reliable source of labor on dairy farms," said Clifford Hanehan, one of three brothers who operate Edward Hanehan & Sons farm in Stillwater. "It is just going to become very frustrating to hire people that are willing to do what our Mexican guys do."

He and his brothers can't find local residents ready to wake up at 4 a.m. each day to help milk the 600 cows on their farm.

Local restaurants, too, face labor shortfalls if more restrictive immigration laws are put in place, said Donna Purnomo, past president of the Greater Capital Chapter of the New York State Restaurant Association, and co-owner of Yono's Restaurant.

Purnomo, who operates Yono's with her husband, said many restaurants rely on immigrants to fill their kitchen staffs because they can't find Americans willing to do the work. She and her husband have often relied on foreign employees in the country for nine to 10 months under special work visas.

Mickey Blanfield, owner of Beff's restaurant in Albany, agrees that it's tough to find and keep dish washers and other "back house" staff. "It seems the immigrants are the ones willing to do it and do it very well, and take pride in doing it," he said.

Blanfield doesn't employ any immigrants now, in part because of concerns over violating labor laws by hiring illegal aliens, but he has in the past.

But Rick Lamparelli, owner of Garcia's, a Mexican restaurant in Colonie, said that despite his largely Hispanic kitchen staff, he expects little impact on his business if immigration law changes. His workers have been with him for years, Lamparelli said.

Local hoteliers and builders, though, say immigrant and migrant labor in their industries is still relatively small, although downstate, foreign workers are a major presence.

Migrant labor isn't an important component of the Albany-Schenectady-Troy-Saratoga area hotel industry, said Daniel Murphy, president of the New York State Hospitality and Tourism Association. Resorts in Lake Placid and Lake George import Eastern European students in the summer under a special student-visa program, but in the core Capital Region, the industry is not seasonal, he said.

The Desmond Hotel & Conference Center brings in a few seasonal workers from Eastern Europe, but for the most part, the work force remains stable year-round, said Donald Yurkonis, manager of The Desmond Hotel. He doesn't think undocumented hospitality workers are an issue in the area.

Cynthia Hollowood, manager of the Holiday Inn-Saratoga Springs, said local workers fill most of the jobs in Saratoga, too.

Tom Eckert, owner of MLB Construction Services LLC in Malta, and president of the Eastern Contractors Association, a trade group, said immigrant work crews are not a major factor in the region's construction market. In the lower Hudson Valley and on Long Island, migrant and immigrant workers are a factor, but that hasn't happened in the Capital Region yet, Eckert said.

Eventually, migrant and immigrant laborers will become a factor in the region's contracting labor market, Eckert said, but it hasn't happened yet.

Fred Korkosz, an associate at The Law Offices of Alice K. Berke in Albany, who specializes in immigration law, said many small-business people are fooling themselves if they think immigration isn't an issue for them.

"There are a lot of people who are illegal now," Korkosz said. "There is going to be a tremendous shock wave felt in a lot of small businesses because a lot of small businesses depend on illegal aliens. A lot of businesses may not realize that their employees have immigration problems."