Illegal alien farm workers forced off Hermon dairy farm
Immigrant farm workers forced off Hermon dairy farm
By SUSAN MENDE
SMENDE@OGD.COM
PUBLISHED: FRIDAY, SEPTEMBER 28, 2018 AT 12:43 PM
CHRISTOPHER LENNEY / WATERTOWN DAILY TIMES
HERMON — Eight days ago, Gebarten Acres, a large dairy farm on East DeKalb Road, was forced to lay off 17 farm workers from Guatemala and Mexico after an investigation by federal officials showed the immigrant farm workers lacked documentation to legally work in the United States.
Greg J. Coller, co-owner of the 2,800-cow farm, said Friday that three other immigrant workers were allowed to stay, but they decided to leave with the other 17.
“We lost 20 people, half our workforce,” Mr. Coller said Friday. “It’s just been horrible. The timing is bad, with dairy in the toilet.”
His partner, Steve J. Morrill, declined to comment on the situation.
Mr. Coller, 43, said officials with U.S. Immigration & Customs Enforcement found that identification documents the workers provided did not match information kept by federal immigration officials. Some had worked and lived at the farm for the past seven years, handling milking and other chores.
“They gave us a few days warning so we had time to contact family and friends to help us out,” Mr. Coller said. “Many of us have been working 17-hour days to get the cows milked.”
Although 17 immigrant workers were let go from the farm, Mr. Coller said they were not taken into custody by ICE officials.
He believes many of his former farmhands are already working at other farms, creating a situation where the dairy farm owners suffer the most harm.
“I guarantee they’re working. To make them leave is crazy, as we’re the only ones who suffer,” Mr. Coller said.
Echoing a problem faced by many other north country dairy farmers, Mr. Coller said it’s increasingly difficult to find Americans who are willing to put in the hard work to keep a farm running.
Khaalid Walls, the Northeast regional spokesman for ICE, would not discuss the situation.
“We will decline to discuss specific investigations,” Mr. Walls said in an email response.
As part of their duties, officials from ICE conduct I-9 audits of farms and businesses across the country. The I-9 is an employment verification form that employers are supposed to comply with by having workers show documentation of permission to work.
Relani M. Prudhomme, co-coordinator of a Canton volunteer group that assists immigrant workers, said it’s her understanding that ICE officials threatened the farm’s owners with a fine and jail time if they refused to terminate the men’s employment.
She and other members of the group, called “Amigos en Salud” (translated to “Friends in Health” from Spanish) want to raise awareness about the negative impact immigration enforcement has on the north country’s dairy industry. Ms. Prudhomme said she believes 15 other north country farms are being “targeted” by ICE, including a large Parishville dairy farm.
“Dairy farms rely on immigrant labor because they cannot attract U.S. citizens to do the hard and dangerous labor required,” Ms. Prudhomme said. “The workers aren’t hurting anyone, if anything they’re keeping our economy going.
We depend on them desperately.”
http://www.watertowndailytimes.com/n...-farm-20180928
