Vt. Migrant Workers Decry Immigration Crackdown
Gov. Shumlin Asked To Intervene
Stewart Ledbetter NewsChannel 5 - WPTZ SLedbetter@hearst.com
POSTED: 6:10 pm EDT August 19, 2011
(Video @ link)

MONTPELIER, Vt. -- A group of migrant farm workers and their supporters asked Gov. Peter Shumlin this week to denounce a new federal immigration policy called "Secure Communities" -- and lean on President Obama not to require states to go along with it.

The initiative, which New York and Massachusetts have resisted -- would effectively local law enforcement officers an arm of federal immigration police.

Individuals stopped for a minor traffic violation, for example, could have fingerprints run through immigration databases and those without documented status could be detained on the spot, officials said.

"This program that's being shoved down the throat of police departments in my view only promotes further targeting of minority populations," said Robert Appel, director of the Vermont Human Rights Commission.

For years, Vermont agriculture has depended on migrant labor. Many workers come from Mexico and some are here illegally. By some estimates 1,500 undocumented workers are now employed in Vermont's underground economy, milking dairy cows and doing other jobs farmers have been unable to fill with local labor.

"We work 70 hours per week, sometimes with no day off," said Over Lopez, 21, who said he came to Vermont three years ago to earn money to send home to his parents in Mexico. “We don’t go out, or go grocery shopping, nothing like that.â€