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Published: February 4, 2006
Quietly, the Douglas administration has been taking steps to help the growing population of illegal immigrants who in recent years have become an essential part of the dairy industry in Vermont.
At his press conference this week, Gov. James Douglas acknowledged the growing presence of Mexican farm workers in Vermont and that he knew many of them were illegal. Federal immigration officials deport them when they find them. Members of the Douglas administration are trying to help them while they are here.
A recent series of stories by Vermont Public Radio about the influx of Mexican workers into Vermont came as a revelation to many. It turns out there are as many as 2,000 Hispanic farm workers on Vermont dairy farms, many of them illegal. The Agriculture Agency estimates that half the milk produced in Vermont comes from farms with Mexican workers. About one-third of all farm workers in Vermont are Hispanic.
Vermont farmers are adamant about the importance of Mexican workers to the state's farm economy. Without immigrant workers, the farmers would face a dire labor shortage. It's no wonder that officials in the state Agriculture Agency are more interested in making the workers feel at home than in sending them away.
The situation in Vermont shines a light on the broader problem of immigration in the nation, and it shows also why immigration need not be considered a problem. In Vermont, lack of immigration would be the problem because farmers would be hard-pressed to find people to milk their cows.
Illegal immigrants play a similar role in agriculture and industry elsewhere in the nation. In some quarters, there is a great furor about illegal immigration, based on the assumption that immigrants are taking jobs away from American workers. In fact, immigrants often do jobs that no one else will do.
The effect of immigration law is to consign immigrants to a second-class status. They must live in fear, and they are easily exploited by those who charge higher prices for needed goods or services. The farm workers in Vermont do not complain of exploitation by farmers, but by people giving them rides or bringing them groceries. Because they lack drivers' licenses, they are dependent on others to go places, and their social life is extremely constrained.
The Agriculture Agency is helping to provide language instruction for farm workers, a service that benefits both the worker and the farmer. The University of Vermont also operates a migrant education program. Outreach to provide education for the workers' children is also essential.
The best way to think about the workers as human beings is to imagine that there isn't a U.S.-Mexican border at all. The border is a geopolitical abstraction that ought not to interfere with humane treatment of our new neighbors.
Much of the anti-immigrant fervor that exists in the American Southwest is the result of cultural bias. Residents of Arizona and elsewhere in the region are afraid their world will become Mexicanized. For them Mexican language and culture are a threat.
Vermont must continue to be a welcoming place. Spanish language and Mexican cuisine and culture are an enrichment where they exist. Federal immigration policy ought not to be governed by fear. It ought to recognize economic reality and the imperatives of human compassion. Till it does, Vermont can recognize both.
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