BURLINGTON (Vermont) FREE-PRESS

February 6, 2007

State policies trap Mexican farm workers

For those of you who think the immigration debate is something that mainly affects our Southern border states, but the presence of Mexican workers on Vermont dairy farms shows how close to home and how complicated the issue is.

The economics of dairying in Vermont make the estimated 2,000 Mexican workers here a vital part of many farms. Many, if not most, of those workers are here without a proper visa. Put the two facts together, and you have a scale model of the nation's immigration dilemma. The situation also reflects the desperation of some of Vermont's dairy farmers who can find no alternative to their labor problems.

It's just one more reason to urge Gov. Jim Douglas and legislators to come to a quick agreement on emergency relief for dairy farmers, and to work with Vermont's congressional delegation on long-term solutions to ensure dairy farms remain a part of the Vermont landscape.

Dairy farmers face a market vastly complicated by federal programs and policies that for the most part keep food prices -- not just milk -- low, while doing nothing to impose similar controls on cost. That means dairy farmers can't simply raise prices to cover rising costs. That means controlling costs. There's not much you can do about the price of fuel or feed, but you can control what you pay the help.

On a dairy farm, the day starts early, runs long and is filled with physically demanding labor. When you're milking cows, there's no weekends off, Christmas breaks or summer vacations. Add to that the state's low unemployment rate -- consistently below what economists call "full employment" -- and these types of jobs go begging when the farmer is incapable of offering more money.

Immigration is one answer to Vermont's farm labor problem, as the Mexican workers have show.

Our state's response has been ambivalent. The Agriculture Agency is teaching farmers Spanish to help them better communicate with their foreign workers, while the state police refuses to recognize an identification card issued by the Mexican government accepted by most banks and by the U.S. Treasury Department.

Having police accept the IDs means workers aren't as likely to be questioned about their immigration status when they come in contact with police and other officials. Without such assurances, the workers may be reluctant to report abuse or crimes, or seek other kinds of help.

Having acknowledged that Mexican workers are a key part of our farm economy -- at least for now -- state policies that at the same time accommodates the workers and increases their insecurity verges on exploitation. We welcome them despite their legal status because they are a convenient solution, yet hold deportation over their heads.

Immigration is a federal issue, not one that can be solved by Vermont or any other state. What individual states can do is make the lives of the undocumented workers here safer and more secure, especially since we've rolled out the unofficial welcome mat for them.