From Judiciary.House.gov, Bruce Goldstein, 9 Feb 2012. Written Testimony of Bruce Goldstein, President, Farmworker Justice, before the Judiciary Subcommittee on Immigration Policy and Enforcement. Mr. Chairman and Members: Thank you for the opportunity to testify about proposals to address our nation’s broken immigration system and solutions to ensure a productive, fairly-treated farm labor force. For thirty … Continue reading
From HawaiiReporter.com, Malia Zimmerman and Jim Dooley, 5 Aug 2011. Chakkree Sriphabun is one of 44 men who left his family behind in Thailand in September 2004 to come to Hawaii to work for Mike and Alec Sou at Aloun Farms. To pay recruiting fees, Sriphabun secured a $20,000 high interest loan with his family’s … Continue reading
From TRLA.Wordpress.com, Texas RioGrande Legal Aid, 12 July 2011. WESLACO, Texas – July 12, 2011 – Rio Grande Valley resident Rafael Trevino has filed a lawsuit against nine Iowa residents claiming he was the victim of a hate crime after a group of young people kidnapped and beat him while he was working as a … Continue reading
From KTVU.com, 2 May 2011. MONTEREY, Calif – California’s strawberry crop, the little red fruit that produces a lot of cash for farmers, has a dark cloud hanging over it. The pesticide used in strawberries, Methyl Bromide, is being phased out because it depletes the ozone. Its replacement is a controversial chemical, Methyl Iodide. While this … Continue reading
From UIdaho.edu, University of Idaho, Martin School of International Studies, Donna Emert, Apr 2011. Maria Mandujano Fashions Her Education to Make An International Impact As a child, Maria Mandujano worked as a field laborer alongside her sister. This summer, she will be among an elite body of students selected to attend the Public Policy and International Affairs … Continue reading
From CourthouseNews.com, Dan McCue, 13 Apr 2011. RALEIGH, N.C. (CN) – Migrant workers say farm labor contractors enslaved them after luring them to North Carolina, held them under threat of death, and shot at workers who tried to escape. Rumualdo Lainez and Marvin Maldonado claim Francisco Baltazar Sr. and Francisco Baltazar Jr. enticed them to … Continue reading
From SLTrib.com, Salt Lake Tribune Editorial, 9 Apr 2011. Can the Utah Compact become America’s Compact? We hope so. Utah leaders have said almost from the beginning that their goal in passing a package of immigration reform bills in the recently concluded legislative session was to create a model for national reform. They hope that … Continue reading
From Advertiser-Tribune.com, “Group educates farm workers about abuse” by MaryAnn Kromer, mkromer@advertiser-tribune.com, 28 Mar 2011. [Tiffin, OH]–The planting and growing season are about to begin in Northwest Ohio, and farmers are preparing migrant camps for the annual influx of farm workers and their families. These itinerant workers often need assistance with housing, language skills, health care, … Continue reading
From TheMonitor.com, “Slim Pickings: Texas lawmakers hope bills yield patch for farm-labor gap” by Jared Janes, 20 Mar 2011. MISSION [TX] — Most of the farm workers who harvest and process citrus for South Tex Organics are familiar faces who return each growing season to provide a reliable labor force. At the peak of the … Continue reading
On a farm in California, a teenage farm worker was sexually abused and propositioned while she worked, then fired after reporting the offenses. From EEOC.gov, U.S. Equal Employment Opportunity Commission, Public Service Announcement, “Farm Worker Teens Discuss Discrimination and Harassment on the Job,” March 2011. One of the groups most vulnerable to sexual abuse in … Continue reading
