Farmers, workers worry over 'no-match' policy
By Kimberlina Rocha
Staff writer

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Ulises, 19, makes $7.50 an hour packing grapes in a vineyard south of Exeter.

Carlos, 34, earns between $830 and $850 a week, weighing grape packages in the same vineyard.
Both came here illegally from Mexico, and though they have jobs, neither is legally entitled to work in the United States.

Ulises and Carlos are two of perhaps 7.2 million targets of new federal rules intended to deny them jobs here and, possibly, to fine employers who hired them. The numbers are based upon a 2006 study by the Pew Hispanic Center.

The rules, originally scheduled to take effect Sept. 14, were delayed last week by a federal judge in San Francisco.

If the government is able to satisfy legal barriers, the effect could extend beyond Ulises and Carlos and others working here illegally to major sectors of the Valley economy.

Farmers, farmworkers and other industry leaders fear the ramifications the new rules could have on an economy that relies heavily on a migrant work force, some here legally and some, like Ulises and Carlos, who are not.

Farmworker advocates believe the number of undocumented immigrants in the Central Valley ranges from 60,000 to 100,000, with more than 90 percent providing manual farm labor.

Farmers and other employers likely to be affected argue that the new rules would place them in the difficult — and legally perilous — situation of having to distinguish fraudulent documents, like those used by Carlos and Ulises, from those that are real.

They worry that the rules could possibly lead them to fire legal workers because the Social Security Administration doesn't have the infrastructure to help clear up discrepancies within the 90-day period the rules require.

County farm bureau
Patricia Stever, executive director for the Tulare County Farm Bureau, said the new rules could have a devastating effect on the county's $3.8 billion ag industry that relies on foreign-born workers.

She said there has been a lot of concern from growers throughout the area. She said many have questions on how exactly the new rules would be enforced.

Stever said the farm bureau will host a series of workshops this month to help answer questions on how to deal with a no-match letter.

She said it's the farm bureau's intention to hire legal workers. However, she noted, there are loopholes in the system where undocumented workers are employed, and employers often are unable to determine which documents are fraudulent.

"It wasn't the place of the employer to discern those documents," she said. "They were taken at face value."

Stever said the farm bureau and other agricultural representatives will continue to push for legislation for a feasible guest-worker program.

"We will continue to encourage Congress for immigration reform," Stever said, "so we can continue to have the most affordable and safe food in the nation."

Shirley Batchman, director of industry relations at Citrus Mutual, agrees that without comprehensive policy on immigration, the ag industry is destined for extremely challenging times.

She said with the new rules and tightened border control, the ag industry is already seeing dwindling numbers in workers.

"With the no-match [enforcements] it could become more scarce," she said. "We're pretty much in a wait-and-see situation."

Carlos, who like Ulises spoke on the condition that his last name not be used, said he has mixed feelings about the new rules being implemented. A part of him is afraid, he said, and another side is doubtful.

"If they fire me, who's going to do my job?" he said in Spanish. "I don't think employers will be able to carry on."

Carlos has been living here for 10 years, working six days a week in vineyards and orange and olive fields in the sweltering heat and the freezing cold.

"This isn't the type of work a citizen will be willing to do," he said.

He said his wages here are substantial compared to his weekly salary in Jalisco, Mexico. Over there, he said, he made $70 a week working in a factory.

Ulises came from Michoacan, Mexico, in January to live with his aunt and uncle. He said with his new job he's able to put food on the table.

Carlos and Ulises said they were able to find work by supplying fake documents.

Carlos said he wants to work on becoming a citizen, but finds little time between work and school.

"It's tough," he said. "I wish I knew how to do it."

Manuel Cunha Jr., president of the Nisei Farmers League, estimated the documented labor force in the Central Valley is less than 130,000, which is considered low.

Cunha said the economic impact of the possible new guidelines could be in the billions on all major businesses, including the restaurant, construction and hotel industries, where undocumented workers are employed.

"This is a very serious issue," he said. "We would have no workers to hire for the fall. If we do hire someone, we can be sued for asking too much information."

He said if a business has 50 percent to 80 percent of their workers fall into the no-match category, the proposed regulations could send an overwhelming amount of employees on the unemployment roll.

With the flaws in the SSA's record keeping, he said, those being the targets of no-match letters could be U.S. citizens.

"They don't realize that mismatch people could be legal," he said. "If they're earning the wages they are now on unemployment, the system could go bust."

Local incidents
Amando Apodaco, owner of The Depot restaurant in Visalia and president of the Tulare County chapter of the California Restaurant Association, said it would be daunting for employers to determine if work documents are legal.

"The documents can be made to look flawless," he said. "We don't want to hire undocumented workers, but you don't know if they are or not."

He said the new regulations could place an unfair bias on people who speak no English or have foreign surnames.

He recalled that a couple of years ago a U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services agent was eating lunch at his restaurant. Apodaco said when a Hispanic employee passed by, the agent immediately stopped him and asked for his papers.

The agent questioned the man and told Apodaco that his employee's forms were not authentic. Apodaco said he had to interfere and prove the forms were valid.

"The agent was on the phone for about 45 minutes, trying to verify it," he said.

Apodaco said the forms were legal and the employee was allowed to leave.

"The kitchen staff was upset after that," he said. "[The worker] was the first Hispanic person he had seen in the restaurant."

Since the proposed regulations were announced in early August, Apodaco said he had noticed that applications from the Hispanic community have stopped.

"I used to get five to six a day," he said. "Now, I don't get any at all."

Graciela Martinez of Proyecto Campesino, an advocacy organization for farmworkers, said the new rules could punish undocumented workers.

"It's shameful what's going to happen to these people," she said. "They're not criminals if they go to another country and want a better life."

She said the tough rules could possibly drive undocumented workers underground where they would be subject to more abuses.

"When you're undocumented," she said, "you don't want to bring attention to yourself."

Martinez said she has been speaking to several farmers and they have expressed their concerns on how they will manage their crops with a short-labor supply.

She said hopefully, both laborers and farmers can collaborate and find a solution.

"Farmers and farmworkers must come together," she said. "We hold the key to one of the largest areas of agriculture."

# The reporter can be reached at krocha@visalia.gannett.com.


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