Thread: Vt. farms probed for illegal workers

Vt. farms probed for illegal workers





By GORDON DRITSCHILO
Published: November 20, 2009


Federal officials have subpoenaed employment records from several Vermont dairy farms as part of a national immigration investigation.

Vermont Agency of Agriculture spokeswoman Kelly Loftus and Dairy Farmers Working Together organizer Amanda St. Pierre both described the event Thursday.

"Starting last night, farmers started getting visits from immigration officials," St. Pierre said. She said the farmers were told they had three to four days to turn over records.

Reports of how many farmers are being subpoenaed varied. Loftus said the agency was only aware of four farms as of Thursday, but that more were expected. St. Pierre said between 86 and 100 Vermont farms were in the federal government's crosshairs.

Sen. Patrick Leahy, D-Vt., issued a statement saying he was disappointed in the timing of the investigation.

"We have a broken system that does not work well for anyone, and especially for dairy farmers and the workers they need to keep their farms running," he said. "This is all the more evidence that we need workable reform of the agriculture visa system, and it can't come soon enough."

Leahy's office said he has directed his staff to monitor the situation with the U.S. Department of Labor and U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement.

St. Pierre said she has heard from subpoenaed farmers around the state, including in Addison, Orleans and Franklin counties.

Loftus said ICE notified Vermont Agriculture Secretary Roger Allbee of the action Thursday morning and expressed surprise that the state did not get more advance notice.

"This is coming at a time when dairy farms are at the most severe crisis they've been at in 40 years," she said. "The level of anxiety and stress is very high."

Loftus said the subpoenas place a burden even on farmers who are doing nothing wrong.

"The added stress of this is unfortunate," she said.

St. Pierre expressed the same sentiment, saying her group would have preferred federal officials hold meetings or training on the issue before resorting to subpoenas.

"When you have someone showing up at your house saying you're subpoenaed instead of getting a letter requesting information — it's not a way of doing business," she said. "As far as Dairy Farmers Working Together is concerned, we've all followed the law. The way they've handled it has thrown people off guard."

Loftus confirmed that the Vermont subpoenas were part of a nationwide effort described on the ICE Web site targeting 1,000 businesses.

A statement dated Thursday says the agency is committed to catching businesses "who believe they can unfairly get ahead by cultivating illegal workplaces."

The agency also said the businesses were chosen because of "investigative leads and intelligence" and because they have a "connection to public safety and national security."

Agents will review the businesses' Form I-9s, according to the statement, which are completed on every person hired in the U.S. The forms require employers to review identity and work eligibility documents to determine that they appear legitimate.

Nancy Sabin of Charlotte, who advocates on behalf of immigrant workers and helps place them at Vermont farms, said dairy farmers are desperate because nobody wants to work on a farm. She said she believes 3,000 illegal immigrants work on Vermont farms.

"Who's going to do the milking?" she asked, adding that farmers have a hard time finding Vermonters who are willing to do the job.

Sabin said she thinks farmers should launch a statewide strike, dumping their milk in protest.

"What do they want the farmer to do?" she asked.

gordon.dritschilo@rutlandherald.com

http://www.timesargus.com/article/20091 ... 003/NEWS02

Feds hit farms looking for illegal immigrants
Government tracking down undocumented workers
By Sam Hemingway, Free Press Staff Writer • Friday, November 20, 2009

Comments(44)

Federal immigration officials served subpoenas on at least four Vermont dairy farms Thursday as part of a national crackdown on businesses suspected of using immigrant workers who have entered the country illegally.


Kelly Loftus, a spokeswoman for the state Agency of Agriculture, said the farmers were asked to provide paperwork to the federal agents to show that any foreign workers they employ have the proper documents.

Loftus did not identify which farms were visited by the federal agents, but Amanda St. Pierre of Richford, head of Dairy Farmers Working Together, said she understood the affected farms were in Orleans and Franklin counties.

St. Pierre said the action by the federal agents was troubling, given the dire economic predicament dairy farmers are facing because of a recent dramatic drop in the wholesale price paid for milk. She said she has heard that as many as 86 Vermont farms may be targeted by the federal agents.

“The timing of this is really hurtful,â€

I'm so sick of these farmers acting like the victims. They know good and well that hiring illegal aliens is against the law. The system works if you play by the rules.

Who did the milking before illegals were doing it? And what is so bad about working on a farm? The owners of the farm work there too.....are they illegal? There was a time when ALL THE FARMWORK was done by people here legally or by citizens. Farm work is not harder than other physical labor. What exactly is so hard about it? When farms in this country use to be run by families, even the older kids helped to work the farms. So it is not the labor itself. Lets see....what could it be......oh hey, what about the PAY. Maybe if they PAY A DECENT WAGE THEY WILL GET APPLICANTS.

I wish they would hit Idaho dairy farms and farmers They are the reason we are having such a hard time getting e-verify and an enforcement bill! They give our politicans too much money

Originally Posted by SOSADFORUS

I wish they would hit Idaho dairy farms and farmers They are the reason we are having such a hard time getting e-verify and an enforcement bill! They give our politicans too much money

And then they claim they are so broke that they cant pay a decent wage to Americans to attract them to the job. I say they have plenty of money. They just dont want to pay work comp tax. And they love it that they can get away with not really following the labor laws.