Page 7 - ARUBA TODAY

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U.S. NEWS Tuesday 25 april 2017

American Living:

Farmers fear deportation of workers could hurt livelihood

ANDREW SELSKY “They say, ‘Don’t go out,
Associated Press don’t get drunk, don’t do
SALEM, Ore. (AP) — The nothing illegal’ because
head of Bethel Heights they need us too. They
Vineyard looked out over worry too,” said Moses Mal-
the 100 acres of vines her donado, who is in the U.S.
crew of 20 Mexicans had illegally and has worked for
just finished pruning, wor- nearly four decades tend-
ried about what will hap- ing wine grapes and pick-
pen if the Trump adminis- ing fruit in Oregon.
tration presses ahead with In Los Banos, California,
its crackdown on immi- asparagus farmer Joe Del
grants. Bosque said workers are so
From tending the plants afraid of being arrested in
to harvesting the grapes, the field that he struggled
it takes skill and a strong to find enough hands in
work ethic to produce the March to pick his crop.
winery’s pinot noir and When immigration attor-
chardonnay, and native- ney Sarah Loftin held a
born Americans just aren’t recent seminar in the Or-
willing to work that hard, egon wine-region town of
Patricia Dudley said as a Newberg to talk about im-
cold rain drenched the migrants’ legal rights, she
vineyard in the hills of Or- This photo shows a sign saying “Now Hiring” in front of Brooks Tree Farm near Salem, Ore. Farmers, was surprised to see about
egon. nursery and winery owners and others who depend on immigrant labor are predicting a catas- half of those present were
“Who’s going to come trophe as federal immigration agents focus on stepping up arrests of people who are in America winery owners or farmers.
out here and do this work illegally. (AP Photo/Andrew Selsky) By law, job seekers must
when they deport them provide documents es-
all?” she asked. try, according to a Pew Re- In addition to proposing a Some workers in Oregon tablishing their eligibility to
President Donald Trump’s search Center study. wall at the Mexican border, are leaving for job sites as work in the U.S. But the pa-
hard line against immi- Immigrants working illegally Trump wants to hire 10,000 early as 1 a.m. and staying pers are often fake. Many
grants in the U.S. illegally in this country accounted more Immigration and Cus- away from check-cashing agricultural employers say
has sent a chill through the for about 46 percent of toms Enforcement officers shops on payday to avoid that it’s not their responsibil-
nation’s agricultural indus- America’s roughly 800,000 and has served notice that dragnets. Farm employers ity — and that they lack the
try, which fears a crack- crop farmworkers in recent he intends to be more ag- are worried about losing expertise — to determine if
down will deprive it of the years, according to an As- gressive than the Obama their workforces. they’re genuine.q
labor it needs to plant, sociated Press analysis of administration in deporting
grow and pick the crops data from the U.S. Depart- immigrants.
that feed the country. ments of Labor and Agri- ICE agents have arrested
Fruit and vegetable grow- culture. hundreds of immigrants
ers, dairy and cattle farm- Stepped-up deportations since Trump took office,
ers and owners of plant could carry “significant though how much of a
nurseries and vineyards economic implications,” change from the Obama
have begun lobbying a 2012 U.S. Department administration that repre-
politicians at home and in of Agriculture study said. sents is a matter of debate.
Washington to get them If America’s unauthorized Field hands have been
to deal with immigration in labor force shrank 40 per- among those targeted,
a way that minimizes the cent, for example, vegeta- with apple pickers de-
harm to their livelihoods. ble production could drop tained in upstate New York
Some of the farm lead- by more than 4 percent, and Guatemalans pulled
ers are Republicans who the study said. over in Oregon on their
voted for Trump and are The American Farm Bu- way to a forest to pick a
torn, wanting border secu- reau Federation says strict plant used in floral arrange-
rity but also mercy toward immigration enforcement ments.
laborers who are not dan- would raise food prices 5 It doesn’t appear the ar-
gerous criminals. to 6 percent because of rests themselves have put a
Farming uses a higher per- a drop in supply and be- sizable dent in the agricul-
centage of illegal labor cause of the higher labor tural workforce yet, but the
than any other U.S. indus- costs farmers could face. fear is taking its toll.