It's hard not to wonder the extent of so-called "forced
labor" in the Rochester region in the wake of a former
farm labor contractor's admission that she treated illegal
farmworkers like indentured servants.
Law enforcement officials and farmworker advocates doubt
that the problem is widespread. But rather than hope they're
right, the case of Maria Garcia should be a catalyst for
President Bush and Congress to get serious about immigration
reform in 2005.
Garcia, currently a Texas resident, lived in Orleans County
when she transported young Mexican men from near the Arizona
border to Albion to do farm labor. The Mexican nationals,
who were provided false documents enabling them to work,
were given little or no pay and were told they couldn't
leave until debts were paid off. Garcia was charged under
a new federal law after the migrant workers escaped and
sought help.
Forced labor? This sounds more like modern-day slavery.
The federal Victims of Trafficking and Violence Prevention
law, used for the first time in the Garcia case, looks like
an effective punishment tool. But what's needed to prevent
horror stories like this one is substantive immigration
reform.
True, President Bush put his plan on the table as the presidential
campaign started to heat up last year. But he has said little
about it since.
Meanwhile, a compromise measure supported by agriculture
organizations such as the New York Farm Bureau and farm
labor advocacy groups such as Rural Opportunities of Rochester
has been languishing for more than a year.
Bush prefers his proposal over the so-called "AgJobs"
bill because it doesn't grant any form of amnesty to illegal
workers. He ignores the fact that in a rare display of unity,
farmworkers' advocates and farmers support creating a program
that would allow illegal workers to gain temporary resident
status.
No longer would these workers have to slip back across
the border to visit their families.
And no longer would many of the more than 4,000 farm operators
in the Rochester region have to worry about an immigration
raid at the height of harvest season that could wipe them
out financially.
