FORT MYERS NEWS-PRESS

March 31, 2009

Immokalee workers may be denied water service

By JANINE ZEITLIN

New rules passed in Immokalee may be depriving some illegal immigrants of a basic need: water.

Immokalee Water & Sewer District officials said they’re trying to conquer a pair of issues with the resolutions passed late last year: unpaid bills and compliance with Federal Trade Commission identity-theft prevention required by May 1.

Bonita Springs Utilities adopted similar measures, but stories of people being turned down for water haven’t surfaced.

A family with four U.S.-born children has been without water in their Immokalee home almost a month, relying on water they boil from a neighbor's hose.

Thousands of migrant workers stream into the Collier County agricultural town during harvest season. Many are here illegally and lack the valid U.S. or state-issued photo ID required. They must also show a lease in their name.

“In the first place, this is inhumane,” said Adan Labra, an Immokalee organizer with The Farmworker Association of Florida. “Water is a natural resource that shouldn't be denied.”

This situation raises questions whether the measure could spur similar reactions across the country.

“We understand we have many migrants in the community,” said district lawyer Kenneth Thompson. “I’m sure we’re not trying to discriminate against anyone. ... We’ve looked to solve problems instead of creating problems.”

Thompson said he’d check for exceptions for passports.

Eva Deyo, the district’s executive director, said staff began calling Collier deputies, some of whom wield immigration enforcement power, when offered fake documents after being trained on identity theft rules a few weeks ago.

They also take away the documents.

“I think it’s going to end up being a big deal,” Deyo said. “It’s difficult, and especially for the people who work up front, who have to tell them, ‘We can't give your ID back,’ and then, ‘We can’t turn your water on.’”

Bonita Springs passed similar resolutions late last year to comply with upcoming federal rules, said Fred Partin, executive director. Staff would likely have to call authorities if they spotted a fake ID, he said.

Partin and people who work with immigrants in Bonita aren’t aware of instances in which water service was denied to people here illegally.

The Florida Governmental Utility Authority, which serves Lehigh Acres and part of Collier, permits international identification such as a foreign driver’s license to be used, said spokeswoman Barbara Kerby. She said they’ve had few problems with fake IDs.

For users who leave without paying, a deposit would cover a final unpaid bill, she said.

Fred N. Thomas Jr., chair of the Immokalee district’s board, said the lease and ID requirements were written to protect other customers and property owners from footing unpaid bills.

“If there’s wasted water, do you know who pays for that? Every other client in our pool,” Thomas said. “How can we sue them for not paying the bill if they’re not a legal entity?”

A tomato picker and father of four tried to use his Mexican passport in absence of a U.S. government or state-issued ID to hook up water at his family’s new apartment in early March. In the days since, the family has fetched water from a friendly neighbor’s house and bought drinking water from the store.

More than a dozen gallons of yellowish water that they boil to bathe and wash in sat in their kitchen on Monday.

The distraught father worries. His children, ages 2 to 14, have been complaining of stomach pains.

The family contacted Florida Rural Legal Services, which has a Fort Myers office, for help.

Barbara Goolsby, the office’s litigation director, believes it could be a denial of equal protection laws. She pointed to a 1982 Supreme Court case that rejected a claim that illegal aliens were a suspect class.

“This is a very serious problem with the water company,” Goolsby said. “As a rule, when a case surfaces and comes to a lawyer, it means a lot more are out there. It’s like the canary in the coal mine.”

In another case, district staff called law enforcers after a farm worker tried to apply for water and he presented a false identification.

The migrant family of six was trying to move from a shoddy trailer — shared with four men — that irritated the asthma of their infant and 6-year-old, to an apartment with tile. The couple eventually found a friend to add to their lease and put the water in her name.

Deyo said staff has called authorities twice and don’t necessarily feel equipped to detect fake documents. District officials did not have numbers on how many people have been turned down for water.

“Identity theft is a big deal, but we don’t necessarily like to be the ones who do it,” Deyo said. “The officer has an ultraviolet light. We’ve ordered a book to determine that.”

Barbara Mainster, executive director of Redlands Christian Migrant Association based in Immokalee, worries it could force families to stay in slum trailers, where water is included, instead of moving into better apartments.

“I think it’s wrong and I just cannot fathom why they would have passed something like that,” Mainster said, noting the need for federal immigration reform.