New York's Farmworkers: Toward Local Fair Trade

Last Updated on Thursday, 29 September 2011 21:20

By Marielle Macher

Our small group of Cornell Farmworker Program interns stood outside the home of some New York State farmworkers to whom we had been asked to  provide English lessons; we were unsure what to think.  While we had already been to many farmworker homes over the course of the summer, this one was different.  From the outside, the home seemed abandoned.  There were plastic bags where there should have been windows, the porch had begun to collapse and the roof seemed in need of substantial repair.  Inside, the furniture was sparse and falling apart, the walls were largely unpainted and the ceiling beams were exposed.  However, despite these poor living conditions, the workers welcomed us into their home with incredible enthusiasm and hospitality.  After we provided the workers with an English lesson, they taught us about life in Guatemala and their experiences in the United States.

While the conditions of this home were not necessarily typical of farmworker housing in general, this home nevertheless reflects the invisibility and isolation of farmworkers in our state, and the sometimes overlooked issues of injustice within our local food system.

Immigration enforcement is a key reason for farmworker invisibility. The vast majority of farmworkers are undocumented, causing many to live in constant fear of harassment and deportation.  Most farmworkers in this area come to the United States from rural Guatemala or Mexico, many arriving as young as seventeen or eighteen years old.  Many current NY farmworkers were previously small farmers in their countries of origin, who found themselves increasingly unable to provide for their families following the  Central America Free Trade Agreement (CAFTA) and the North American Free Trade Agreement (NAFTA), which flooded Central American agricultural markets with subsidized corn from the United States.  Contrary to commonly held belief, nearly all immigrant farmworkers pay taxes, including Social Security taxes (the benefits of which they will never collect). However, our nation’s current immigration policy does not recognize such contributions.

Farmworker immigration concerns have been exacerbated by increasing immigration enforcement over the last year.  Raids have become commonplace across the state, causing many farmworkers to fear leaving their homes to see the doctor or even to purchase groceries.  While Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) officials typically come with an arrest warrant for just one person, often as the result of a minor traffic violation, officers will often arrest all of the other workers in the home.  Raids are sometimes in the middle of the night and ICE officials frequently take advantage of workers being unaware of their legal rights.  The effects of these raids are felt by more than the laborers and their families; local growers fear that crops may go unharvested this year due to this increasing immigration enforcement.

Access to driver’s licenses is also a major issue for farmworkers.  As part of recent in-depth interviews conducted by the Cornell Farmworker Program with farmworkers about their social and economic integration in New York State’s communities, immigrant farmworkers expressed widespread interest in obtaining access to driver’s licenses.  Many indicated the importance of a license for social integration and access to key services, such as seeing the doctor.  Many also indicated that a driver’s license reduces dependence on employers and friends for transportation.  While the Spitzer administration recently announced that it will soon expand access to driver’s licenses to all New Yorkers (regardless of immigration status), this victory may be short-lived if New York policymakers decide to implement the newly enacted Federal Real ID Act. 

The Real ID Act mandates that complying states may only issue full driver’s licenses to legal residents.  Though special “nonconforming licenses” may be issued by complying states to those without legal status, these special licenses may become a “scarlet letter” of undocumented status, and may subject immigrants to further harassment and deportation.  Cornell Farmworker Program research indicates that NY policymakers can best meet farmworker needs by not complying with the Real ID Act.  It is essential for NY residents to voice their opposition to compliance with the Real ID Act if it is to be prevented.

Issues of particular concern to NY’s farmworkers include access to quality housing, healthcare, and English education.  Housing varies from acceptably clean and sound apartments to old, cramped trailers in need of major repairs. Though some farmworkers in our area receive care through the Finger Lakes Migrant Health System, few have health insurance.  Many growers and producers are very sympathetic to the needs of their workers. However, agricultural profits are often low; there is little room in farm budgets for improving worker conditions.  Instead, more and more farmers are forced to sell their farms each year.  The Cornell Farmworker Program has conducted preliminary research into the potential for local, fair trade, but this is only a possibility if local consumers are willing to spend a little more on produce.

Community efforts are also important for meeting English as a Second Language (ESL) needs.  Many farmworkers want to learn English so that they can go shopping or visit the doctor more easily, but few have access to ESL services.  Because most farmworkers work extremely long hours and rarely have consistent transportation, formal ESL courses are usually inaccessible.  While some local organizations, such as the Cornell Farmworker Program, Friends of the Farmworkers, and Tompkins Learning Partners, try to provide on-farm ESL courses in the evenings when farmworkers are off from work, more community volunteers are always needed, as there are far more farmworkers who want ESL lessons than can currently be served. The only prerequisites for becoming an ESL teacher are interest and a firm grasp of the English language.

Community involvement in general is key for providing services, developing policy solutions, and addressing other farmworker concerns. 
Community members who would like to get involved in addressing farmworker needs and students who are interested in working with farmworkers through a summer internship should contact Mary Jo Dudley, director of the Cornell Farmworker Program at farmworker@cornell.edu for further information.

Marielle Macher is a senior Sociology major at Cornell University.  She was an intern with the Cornell Farmworker Program for the last two summers.