SATURDAY JUNE 30, 2007 Last modified: Saturday, June 30, 2007 11:38 PM EDT

Assessing documentation creates a challenge for farmers

By Kristina Martino / The Citizen

A large portion of the local economy begins on fields each morning, where grapes and other crops are picked to eventually delight tourists visiting the Finger Lakes region.

For some area farmers, it's immigrant workers who pick the grapes and care for the crops because a domestic labor force isn't easy to find.

Many immigrants arrive at farms through state programs, but even then the documentation may not be valid. Employing these workers is a risky situation for farmers, who need the labor but must debate whether or not documentation is real, explained an immigration lawyer in Syracuse.

“If they (documentation) appear valid on the face, they accept it, but if they dig too deep, ask too many questions and for too much documentation there are employment discrimination laws,â€