Part 2 of a two-part series on immigration and migrant farm workers

From the Fields to the Marketplace 
A Call for Solidarity

By Tom Tracy

At a fern farm in Crescent City, Fla., under the hot sun and a mesh net cover, which traps the humidity, Aldegunda Albarran wades through rows of foliage exposing herself to snakes, insects, pesticides and the elements. She and the other mostly Mexican workers here only pick the ferns that are ready for harvest that will soon be shipped around the country and to markets as far away as Japan. They stoop over deeply in order to cut the ferns near the roots, starting early in the morning to avoid stifling late-afternoon heat.
 

Migrant workers in the fern farms near Crescent City, Fla. perform back-breaking labor that pays just 25 to 28 cents a bunch.

Albarran and the workers tell jokes, laugh and talk about things going on in their lives, their sore backs and the recent cost of living increases effecting things like milk, gas and housing.

Weather permitting; with a good rate of picking, they may earn $40 to $50 a day. Some of these farm workers live up the road in mobile homes and apartments north of Seville, Fla. Some of them, like Albarran, are legal and have led stable lives in the community for a long time, while others are undocumented and worry about new measures being enforced by the Department of Homeland Security to target employers hiring non-resident workers. The situation has been a serious worry to not only workers but Florida’s agricultural industry.

“Immigration will come into a town and take everyone they find, going into homes, so the people run,” said Albarran’s daughter Myra, a teenager who said her mother has been doing this work since 1989 when the pay was just 18 cents per bunch. Now, the rate is 25 to 28 cents. Maira said she hopes to become a nurse one day.

Albarran, who is a resident, is clearly respected by the workers here, and is a volunteer and point person for the Farm Worker Ministry of the Diocese of Saint Augustine. From two satellite offices, Crescent City and in Green Cove Springs, staff of the Farm Workers Ministry minister to local farm workers.

Worried about loss of employment in agricultural jobs and a reduced demand for the ferns – a luxury item in a nervous American economy – more families are coming to the ministry to make ends meet this year, according to Olga Lara-Moser, who, with her husband Al, coordinates the Farm Worker Ministry for the diocese. “We are getting more requests for food and for help with utility, rent, and medical bills,” she said.

Recently a farm worker’s mobile home burned to the ground. Olga arranged for the woman and her daughter to pick up some furniture and clothing. Fortunately, no one was injured in the fire but the home was destroyed.
 

Aldegunda Albarran with her daughter Maira. Aldegunda has worked at the fernery for 18 years earning between $40 and $50 a day.

The adult farm workers here are so busy in the fields and raising their children that realistically they don’t have time to learn English, but their children, mostly American born and attending public school, do, often becoming good students and citizens. A typical scenario is for the wife to work in the fields while the husband may take a job in construction.

Pedro, a legal resident, who has been working in the fernery for 18 years and supports a wife and four children, said he doubts many other people will ever want to do this kind of work. The Mexicans here work in tremendous heat, cold winter mornings and suffer from insecticide induced itchy skin. They encounter snakes and rats. “Nobody else will do this work if they deport us to Mexico; and everybody here is Mexican,” he said.

The U.S. Bishops’ Justice for Immigrants Campaign, created to educate Catholics and the general community about undocumented persons in this country, breaks down some of the myths that may be driving the anti-immigrant sentiment in the United States:

• Immigrants do pay taxes – federal, state and local.
• Immigrants come here to work, not for welfare.
• Immigrants may send some money back to Mexico, but most of it stays in the community.
• Immigrants contribute in a positive way to the economy.

“The people here now are contributing to the community and they do pay taxes but often don’t get anything back for that,” said Al, who points out that the Farm Worker Ministry assists workers with annual tax preparation during tax season and connects adults with English-speaking classes and tutoring programs run by the ministry. “I would like to improve communications with the growers so we can help each other deal with the problems that come through our doors,” he said.

Father James May, pastor of St. John the Baptist Parish in Crescent City, said he views the farm worker and immigrant population in his midst as good people trying to do the best they can under the circumstances, and that he is impressed with how the community unites to help one another. He organized a special collection for the family displaced by the mobile home fire and was touched by the mother’s reticence to even mention her tragedy to him.

“We need to open our hearts more and be bothered by the situation of these people and about their well-being,” Father May said, adding that new immigration measures taken in Florida and around the country are not helping the situation. “We allow the Mexican people to come here to work but conditions are poor and it is difficult for them to carve out a decent living. We act as if the ‘American Dream’ is not really for them.”

“But the greatest happiness you can have is to make other people happy and my job as a priest is to show how the Gospel is speaking to us now. If you are going to be a Christian then let your light shine. When you respond to the Gospels your own faith is increased,” Father May reflects.