Thread: IA-Anxiety in the backstretch:Racetracks and immigrant labor

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Anxiety in the backstretch: Racetracks and immigrant labor
By DAN JOHNSON • dansjohn@dmreg.com • September 18, 2008

Prairie Meadows trainer Tim Martin looks at the track's barn area and sees a labor-related powder keg.

At racetracks and horse farms across America, the industry has become dependent on immigrant help to care for animals. Trainers say they are unable to find enough nonimmigrants to be grooms, jobs that pay $400 to $500 a week. The majority of barn help at most tracks is Hispanic. No one can say how many workers are illegal.

Martin found out the tenuousness of the situation in July when one of his grooms and an exercise rider were taken away by the Iowa Division of Criminal Investigation for having insufficient documentation - in addition to 17 Prairie Meadows backstretch workers who have had licenses revoked since 2006 after background checks revealed immigration violations.


"Two of my other grooms just quit and left," he said. "They were scared. So I was down to one, and now he's gone.

"It's going to explode on racing. That's a problem we have now. That's what makes me nervous."

Immigrant labor is one of Iowa's biggest issues in 2008, as the state continues to deal with the fallout from Postville, where the largest immigration raid at a single site in U.S. history at that time took place at the Agriprocessors Inc. meat processing plant in May.

Five managers at the plant face more than 9,300 criminal charges related to the raid, which led to the arrests of 389 people.

Charis Paulson, the agent in charge of the Iowa DCI's Gaming Enforcement Bureau, said the state is on the verge of sharpening background checks at facilities such as Prairie Meadows.

The checks are mostly to find criminal history, not to verify immigration status - but that may change.

"We are in the process of revising some of our background procedures in reference to that issue," Paulson said. "There are ways for employers to verify status when they hire people."

One of those changes will include giving employers instructions on using Immigration and Customs Enforcement's E-Verify system, which can detect forged documents.

"Employers can get on the E-Verify system and join - it's free," Paulson said. "They can have the person's information entered into that, and it will check the database to see if they're here legally."

Paulson said she's heard "rumors and innuendo" about possible illegal immigrants, but backstretch workers haven't been targeted more than any other group.

"We have agents physically assigned there. And when we get information of that sort, then we take action to verify it," she said. "If we find (warrants) or we find someone has been deported, then we take action."

John Mauro, chairman of the Polk County Board of Supervisors, said that while the county owns the Prairie Meadows property, it does not have jurisdiction over its operations.

"All we are is the landlord," Mauro said. "We collect the rent for them being there. We don't have any say that goes on as far as operations go. But if the DCI is watching it, it has to be in good hands."

Meanwhile, Martin continues to be concerned about the labor situation at the central Iowa track - while also being worried about the workers.

When Martin went to the Polk County Jail to leave money for one of his former employees, he was forbidden to see him, he said. He said he thinks both of his workers are awaiting deportation in Bethany, Mo., but he isn't certain.

"I feel bad for them," he said. "I feel sad. Here they are working hard and sending money home. You know why they're working here? They don't have any money, they're poor. They want to better themselves."

Balancing available visas, workers
The immigrant-labor issue has become more profound in the past year as visas have become harder to obtain.

Agricultural work visas have a ceiling of 66,000, and a law that permitted exemptions expired in 2007.

Two racing groups - the National Thoroughbred Racing Association and the Horsemen's Benevolent and Protective Association - are lobbying for more agricultural work visas.

Trainers say they can't find nonimmigrant help.

"As far as putting an ad out for help - I've done it," trainer Ed Hardy said. "There's zero response."

Federal immigration agents have raided racetracks over the years. A 1992 raid at Belmont Park in New York resulted in 22 percent of the workers - 78 of 350 - being deported for not having documentation.

A 2003 raid at Saratoga in New York resulted in 15 workers being detained.

To get a parimutuel license from any state, workers are fingerprinted and have background checks done. The FBI checks the fingerprints.

If workers are from another country, they must supply proof they are here legally.

According to one ruling at Prairie Meadows, a groom bought fake identification for $150 in Phoenix before coming to Iowa.

"If there's a question, and they don't have any proof of citizenship with them, they're denied," said Jack Ketterer, executive director of the Iowa Racing and Gaming Commission.

Grooms supply Social Security numbers to trainers so their taxes can be withheld and they can be eligible for workers' compensation.

"I won't hire someone that doesn't have a green card, but I can't tell the difference (in a fake one)," trainer Ray Tracy said. "If there are some illegal ones, I don't think it's that many."

Long weeks, low pay, lots of anxiety
Grooms start their shifts at 5 a.m. and work to late morning. They come back to feed the horses in the afternoon and to ready horses that are competing in that evening's races.

"And it's seven days a week," trainer Judi Hicklin said.

"Sometimes, they might get an afternoon off, but the horses have to eat. They work really hard."

Rafael Sanchez, 34, is from Durango, Mexico, where he was a quarter horse jockey. He has a visa and taught himself English by watching TV. He has been working for Hicklin for 10 years and is now her assistant trainer.

Sanchez said that without Hispanic workers, he doesn't think stables could operate.

"It would be tough," he said. "If you go to Chicago, it's all Mexican."

Diego Avila, a groom for trainer Mike Natale, grew up in Mexico City and has worked in the United States the past five years.

"The U.S. dollar is 10 times what a peso is," Avila said. "You can get a job for 5,000 pesos a week. There aren't many jobs (in Mexico) that pay that much."

Most of the workers, even those who have been at Prairie Meadows for years with legal visas, are reluctant to talk about their situations.

"They're scared," Hicklin said. "They're scared that they'll be taken out. They shouldn't have anything to worry about, but they always do.

"When we drove up here (from Tampa Bay Downs), Rafael was pulling a utility trailer that has his furniture and things. We were driving through Tennessee and he gets pulled over. Traffic was backed up; he wasn't going too fast. They looked at all his identification."

Estimates of how many backstretch workers are here illegally vary.

Trainer Hardy estimated that there are more than 100 Hispanic grooms at Prairie Meadows and that "the majority of the employees are illegal."

Trainer Lynn Adams estimated that 75 percent of the backstretch help is Latino, and a third is illegal.

Avila estimated that 70 percent is illegal.

Most say they aren't sure. The DCI's Paulson declined to guess.

"I really don't know," said Jessie Soto, Kelly Von Hemel's assistant trainer, who is from Juanapuerto, Mexico. "But sometimes, illegal people that don't have a green card are real nice people. You come over here because you want a better life than in Mexico for you and your family."

''A good groom earns his money''
Former trainer Jim Arnett, 80, quit this year, not because of the rigors, but because he heard a rumor that trainers would be prosecuted if they had illegal immigrants working for them.

"The word that I got when I decided not to come back to the racetrack was that they were going to levy a $10,000 fine on the trainer," Arnett said.

"I decided at that time that I didn't want to take the chance."

The Department of Homeland Security announced in February that employers who knowingly and repeatedly hire illegal workers would be subject to fines of up to $16,000.

The thoroughbred-quarter horse meet at Prairie Meadows ends Saturday. But the issue of finding legally documented backstretch workers will be waiting when the track reopens in April.

Nonimmigrant workers are "not available any more," Arnett said.

"Probably because of the pay, and it's hard work. A good groom earns his money."

http://www.desmoinesregister.com/apps/p ... /809180391

Yeah, it's a real shame you can't pay slave wages and have citizens do the work. My heart bleeds for you.

once again, we have illegals taking jobs away from high school kids! when i was a kid we would work on horse farms and even a local race track, just to be around the horses. pay was low, but these people obviously didn't want to pay those meager wages so they brought in the slaves. like i tell everyone, if you hire a lawn service who has slaves that makes you also a slave master. when we hire anyone we always ask 'if i call ICE will you get into trouble?' if they get angery or very nervous you can bet they have illegals in their crews. look for a different company... service whatever. we have not had a problem finding Americans willing to work.

Well, let me tell you, Americans WILL take these jobs at the racetracks. My grandson is currently a groom at a racetrack on the west cost. he gets really good money and free living quarters. As he is in college, they work around his schedule without a drop in wages. He doesn't work very hard, either. He has six horses under his care and he mucks out their stalls, gets them ready for the race, leads the horse and the rider to the track, removes the horse tack and grooms the horse after the race is done. Now he's learning horse massaging. He loves it. But he did say there is an Hispanic who works there, too, although he didn't say if he's in the country illegally. Any young person who loves horses will take these jobs, and we have a lot of horse lovers in this country.

You get what you pay for. Maybe that's why there hasn't been a triple crown winner in forever.

As a horse owner I can tell you that they don't take these jobs because they are fond of horses.

Originally Posted by 31scout

Yeah, it's a real shame you can't pay slave wages and have citizens do the work. My heart bleeds for you.

Exactly! This despite the fact many of these owners in the horse racing business are millionaires (or well off), which is besides the point, but nonetheless, demonstrates sheer greed!

Nonimmigrant workers are "not available any more," Arnett said.

Thats alot of bs. There are alot animal lovers out there who would love to work with horses. I have alot of friends that love horseback riding and board horses and they never have trouble finding great American teenagers and young adults who share the same enthusiam.