PALLADIUM (New York) TIMES

July 16, 2007

LACK OF IMMIGRATION POLICY COULD HARVEST TROUBLE

By STEPHEN HEUSER, Staff Intern

Having enough workers to help with the crops is always a concern for farmers, and it could become even more of a concern with the rejection of the 2007 Comprehensive Immigration Reform Act.

“It’s a statewide concern,” said Peter Gregg, a spokesman for the New York Farm Bureau. “We have a situation where we have no clear immigration policy at the federal level,” he added, noting that some farmers might not have enough hands to bring in their crops.

“In the long run, we’ll certainly see higher prices,” said Gregg, adding that the rise would especially be seen in fruits and vegetables, which he said usually had many migrant workers.

“It’s going to get tougher as time goes on,” said Morris Sorbello of Sorbello and Sons, an onion farm. He mentioned that currently he was not having trouble finding help, however.

“It’s a huge issue,” said Cathy Zappala, of Zappala Farms. “It’s always hard to find help.”

Sorbello added that the need for workers fluctuates depending on the time of the year such as harvest season, around late August through September, when he usually has about double the number or workers, both migrant and local.

He tries to keep as many workers as he can year round, checking their paperwork by paying them on the books rather than in cash. Since many of the forms workers are required to fill out in order to work require identification of some kind, false information can raise red flags when processed.

“It’s probably our only indication,” said Sorbello with regard to noticing falsified documents.

Many of the migrant workers he hires are through word of mouth, though sometimes a crew leader will come by to tell Sorbello there are people looking for work.

“Well, not really,” said Joseph DiSalvo of Joseph DiSalvo Farms, who grow onions and lettuce, when asked if finding help had been difficult. “I have a pretty steady crew.” He added that there is some difficulty in finding extra people around the harvest season and mostly finds workers via word of mouth.

The workers, which DiSalvo said usually amount to 32 during the peak season, come from “all over,” with some from Mexico and Puerto Rico. The workers usually do whatever work needs to be done on the farm, including field and harvest work.

As to whether or not there had been any illegal immigrants who had tried to get work with fake documents, DiSalvo said “Not to my knowledge,” jokingly adding that he wasn’t a professional document checker.

As for the bill, it was shot down in the Senate 53-46 in June, but had it passed, it would have made significant changes to the U.S. immigration policy.

Among other things, it would have allowed those who were living in the United States illegally as of Jan. 1, 2007 to stay in the country for the rest of their life with their own social security number.

Once they had lived it the United States for 18 years they would have been able to receive a United States Permanent Resident Card, or Green Card, after paying a $2,000 fine and some back taxes.

Another thing added by the bill would have been a guest worker visa, which would let workers stay in the United States for two years, when they would then have to return to their home country.