Thread: 'I've Lived My Life on Top of Orange Trees'

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Published: Sunday, February 17, 2008

'I've Lived My Life on Top of Orange Trees'
ByKevin Bouffard & Yesenia Mojarro

LAKE ALFRED | Andres Mendoza-Samora, 51, has traveled throughout Mexican territory picking citrus since he was a teen.

"I've lived my life on top of the orange trees," Samora, a native of Veracruz, Mexico, said during a break picking citrus Feb. 7 at a Lake Alfred grove.

Three years ago he heard how he could make more money in the United States and be here legally.

"Amongst friends, we interview each other and pass the information along," he said.

This is Samora's second season picking citrus for Overlook Harvesting Inc., a subsidiary of Winter Haven grower BentleyBrothers. He's working through a federal guest-worker program known as H-2A.

H-2A provided Overlook with about 100 harvest workers last season and 335 harvesters this year.

Like Overlook, Florida growers are increasingly relying on the H-2A program as the only source for the legal immigrant workers they need to pick their crops.

Although it costs them more than relying on illegal immigrants, growers said,H-2A provides a stable, reliable work force.

It's also a good deal for the workers, according to four Mexican natives working for Overlook who talked to The Ledger.

Samora said he can pick about 120 boxes of oranges per day, which earns him about $550 a week. The same production in Mexico would earn him only about $300 to $350 a week.

But the temptation to earn more money was not enough to draw him into the country without going through H-2A, he said.

"I think it's wrong to be here illegally. If it's not my country there's no reason why I should be jumping over," Samora said. "But with permission I will continue to come."

Jose Francisco Briones-Hernandez, 19, never picked fruit before coming to work for Overlook in December, so his production is about 80 boxes per day, which earns $350 to $400 a week, he said.

Still, that's better than the $200 to $300 a week he earned in construction and other jobs in his hometown of Nuevo Leon.

"The work is not bad," he said. "If there is another opportunity, I would like to return."

While Overlook provides housing and transportation to and from the grove, all four workers said they keep about $100 to $150 a week for personal expenses, such as food, laundry and entertainment. They send the rest of the money home to their families. It makes a big difference in their daily lives.

Samora has three boys ages 20, 11 and 8. The money helps pay for the oldest son's room, board and tuition at a university in Mexico City, where he is studying computer technology.

"I am very proud of him," Samora said. "I hope the younger ones follow in his footsteps."

Gumaro Vargas-Ramos, 37, has a wife and five children, ages 2 to 18, at home in Nuevo Leon. He also supports both parents.

"Agriculture over there is very dependent on weather conditions, and the groves are not as organized as here," Ramos said. "It has been very hard to earn enough money to meet all the needs of my family in Mexico."

While in Florida, the laborers work Mondays through Saturdays from morning to dusk. On Sundays, they said, they'll shop for food and other items, do laundry and watch TV.

Like Samora, the other three workers said they heard about the H-2A program from friends. None minded the screening process, although it could mean a long trip to a U.S. consulate to fill out an application and do a 15-minute interview.

"It took about 15 days for me to get a work permit to come here," said Jose Luis Esteban-Garcia, 38, of Veracruz, who is in his first year with the program.

Under their contract with Overlook, the immigrant laborers will work until June, the normal end of the citrus harvesting season. Although the job is physically and emotionally strenuous, all said they hope to come back next year.

"I wouldn't like to stay here permanently," Ramos said. "It is difficult enough to be so far away from my family during the picking season."

[ Kevin Bouffard can be reached at kevin.bouffard@theledger.com or at 863-802-7591. Visit his blog at citruspulpwash.theledger.com. Yesenia Mojarro can be reached at yesenia.mojarro@theledger.com or at 863-802-7513. ]




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http://www.theledger.com/article/200802 ... 70456/1039

Oh, HALLELUJAH for this wonderful article: working LEGALLY in the United States REALLY DOES WORK WELL FOR ALL CONCERNED, employers and workers both!!!

We have many in this country who claim they cannot find work or make a career out of receiving welfare benefits. I would like to see these people in the fields picking fruit as a condition of receiving welfare benefits after a certain period if they have not been able to secure employment.

After we utilize that pool of workers, we can then import workers from other countries to supplement the work force.

$350 per week --or even $200-- should be pretty decent in Mexico. I submitted an article recently by an American who calculated his living costs at $350 per month in Mexico--if he could avoid unscrupulous people who charged him exhorbitant amounts owing to his Gringo naievete.

Since the cost of living is lower in Mexico than it is here it is not easy to tell whether the men in the article are now better or worse off.

I have never understood why non-violent people serving time in prison could not be taken out to the orange grooves to pick fruit.It seems even the greedy owners of these groves could pay less(prisoners could get like 2 dollars an hour which they could recieve when they get out of prison).Seems like this would solve a lot of problems plus the prisoners would have some money instead of being on the streets when they get out broke.