immigration

For more than 20 years, CY Farms has been a major cabbage producer, but this year, not one seedling of cabbage will be dropped in the 400 to 500 acres of land normally set aside for the typically lucrative crop.

Instead, CY will grow a crop less labor intensive -- corn.

Craig Yunker said it was a difficult decision, but the twin challenges of Obamacare and the lack of immigration reform made growing cabbage this year untenable.

The decision will take millions of dollars out of the local economy, Yunker said.

Yunker and his staff made the decision in February because CY had to notify Pudgie Riner, owner of Triple P Farms, that CY wouldn't buy cabbage seedlings from him this year.

"We're not selling our cabbage equipment and we're not selling our cabbage facility," Yunker said. "We're taking a year off to see if this immigration thing settles out and to see if they can come up with more farmer-friendly regulations for Obamacare. If they do, we may grow cabbage again next year."

Typically, CY Farms employs 68 full-time equivalents, and 20 of those workers handle the cabbage operation.

Eliminating those 20 jobs, brings the CY workforce to 48, two below the 50-worker threshold that requires healthcare coverage under President Barack Obama's Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act.

The act requires employers with 50 or more employees, regardless of revenue, to provide health coverage or pay higher taxes.

There's also a farm labor shortage in Western New York because of decades of immigration mismanagement.

Yunker is hopeful, to some degree, that the House and the Senate will be able to agree on immigration reform this year.

There is a bill under review in the Senate this week that both farmers and ag-worker groups seem to agree is a good move.

The bill would create a "blue card" for experienced workers already in the country. The workers would pay a $400 fee, need to prove they've paid taxes on their earnings and show they've not been accused of committing crimes. Up to 113,000 workers annually who are currently in the country without documentation would be eligible for the newly created blue cards over the next five years.

The bill also sets new visa policies for farm workers to cross the border legally for temporary farm work.

Ag-worker advocates applaud the bill's new minimum wage requirements in several ag-worker categories and praise the chance for workes to gain legal status, which advocates believe will improve working conditions.

The bill also puts farmer worker immigration under the oversight of the USDA, which is where it belongs, said NYS Farm Bureau President Dean Norton.

"We brought together a coalition of agriculture and the farm workers unions and negotiated," Norton said. "Do we get everything we wanted? No, but if this becomes law, it will be a lot better than what we have now."

Maureen Torrey, who has been working on immigration reform for 17 years and has seen attempt after attempt at reform go down in flames, is worried the highly partisan climate in Washington these days will kill this effort as well.

Reform is absolutely necessary if New York wants to keep its dairy industry, she said.

"If Congress doesn't get this passed fast enough, our dairy industry is in trouble," Torrey said. "We don't have enough people to work on the dairies and the dairies have no other option."

Non-dairy farms can use the H2A visa program to bring in a limited number of temporary workers for seasonal work, but dairy work is year-round and there is no visa program to address that need, she said.

The lack of immigration policy is having an ongoing effect on the nature of agriculture in WNY, Torrey said, and not in a good way.

More and more farmers are growing more and more corn because it's cheaper to grow and less labor intensive, but with fewer workers and lower profit margins, millions and millions of dollars are being drained out of the local economy.

Torrey said the labor costs are from $70,000 to $90,000 to grow one thousand acres of field corn, but from $1.5 million to $2 million to grow one thousand acres of cabbage.

Even with the lower cost, she said, the amount of profit on corn isn't what it is for cabbage.

"I'm really concerned about our rural communities," Torrey said. "The ag community has always been very, very good about supporting nonprofits, the hospitals, the colleges, the Boy Scouts, but if you don't have a chance to generate a profit, you don't have a chance to make the community a better place."

Ag workers are also an important part of the local economy with a real multiplier effect when they spend their earnings at local stores, car dealerships and restaurants.

Some local farming families began as immigrant families, Torrey said, migrant workers also gain experience and fill other needed roles in the economy.

Migrant workers and their children tend to be the most qualified to take on food processing jobs, she said. They have the skills and experience necessary to do the work.

"Do you think a degree from a two- or four-year school is going to prepare you for food processing work?" Torrey said. "It isn't. Only hands-on experience is going to do that. Because of the lack of an immigration policy, we've lost two generation of workers."

Yunker is worried that the House and the Senate won't be able to arrive at a compromise with the biggest sticking point being the Senate version's "path to citizenship."

"My take on it is the Senate is intent on passing a comprehensive immigration reform package that includes a path to citizenship," Yunker said. "Personally, I don't object to that at all. The House has a conservative wing that is objecting to that pathway."

Yunker said he's spoken personally to Sen. Charles Schumer -- one of the key architects of the reform bill -- and Rep. Chris Collins about the legislation.

"Selfishly, I say the blue card is adequate and just get me workers," Yunker said. "I'm not sure that's the right thing in the long run. The House wants to go piecemeal on this and just solve some problems. The Senate will want a comprehensive package and they'll deadlock.

"I think Collins believes if the House pushes back on the path to citizenship and just takes care of agriculture that the Senate would accept that as a compromise," he added. "I'm not so convinced."

A traffic stop by State Police on Bank Street near College Road about 7:30 this morning led to the detention of 12 individuals who may have entered the country illegally.

All 12 are from Mexico, according Mike Gilhooly, spokesman for Immigration Control Enforcement.

Ten of the individuals were turned over to the U.S. District Attorney for criminal prosecution, one suspect is already awaiting a court hearing on a previous charge of entering the country illegally and the 12th was a minor who was turned over to the Office of Refugee Resettlement for processing.

One of the group had previously been deported, Gilhooly said.

The names of the individuals were not immediately available.

The driver of the white van was not picked up by immigration, Gilhooly said. He referred us back to State Police for information on that person and we are awaiting an answer to our e-mail on that subject.

Thank you to a reader tip for bringing this item to our attention.

State troopers stopped a van last night on Route 98 in the Town of Batavia for allegedly speeding and found that two people inside were apparently in the country illegally.

Taken into custody were Leodegario Vazquez-Rodriguez, 48, and Francisco Hernandez-Gomez, 24.

Both were charged with unlawfully entering the United States.

Hernandez-Gomez was also charged with seven vehicle and traffic violations.

Vazquez-Rodriguez was taken into custody by Immigration and Customs Enforcement, and Hernandez-Gomez was placed in Genesee County Jail on the alleged vehicle and traffic violations, awaiting transfer to federal authorities after the local charges have been answered.

Daily News reporter Tom Rivers spoke to the Elba Historical Society yesterday evening about his award-winning series on farm labor.

Rivers gave an energetic, anecdote-laden, hour-long talk on the series in which he explained that he set out to really understand what it's like to work in the fields, doing the work that migrant workers do, and whether an average American could handle the task.

His conclusion: Not only can't the average American not handle the jobs (and they rarely apply, and when  they do, they usually wash out after two hours of work), most world class athletes couldn't handle what immigrant workers do every day.

"After being out in the fields with these guys for eight hours a day, professional sports seems pretty lame," Rivers said.

He's used his experience picking cucumbers and tossing cabbage to help him get through running a marathon, which he said wasn't nearly as difficult compared to his work among the migrants.

The work ethic of the migrants astonished him, Rivers said. He explained that in picking berries, it's important to get the ones at the right stage of ripeness, otherwise the suburban housewife will be unhappy if she arrives home with bitter berries.  At the berry farm where Rivers worked one day, the owners had tried hiring teen-age workers once, but they just didn't take enough care about which berries they threw into baskets.

"The Mexican workers impressed me with their quality control," Rivers said. "Among themselves there is a lot of pride, you could even say perfection."

Such praise for the migrant workers didn't always win Rivers fans, he said. He said people actually called the paper to complain about his stories.

"Some people have a problem with showing the humanity of farm workers," Rivers said.

From Genesee Community College:

Helen Keller once said: "Character cannot be developed in ease and quiet. Only through experience of trial and suffering can the soul be strengthened, ambition inspired, and success achieved."

Moses Nhial, a refugee from Sudan and a full-time student at Genesee Community College, has experienced trials and suffering that most Americans can hardly imagine much less endure. Through it all, Moses has overcome adversity to become an ambitious young man, flourishing in an environment very unlike what he experienced growing up.

Genesee Community College is honored to announce Moses Nhial will take the Oath of Allegiance to become a United States citizen on February 12, 2009 in Rochester at the Federal Building. A College Citizenship celebration is planned for February 19 at 1:00 - 2:00 p.m. at the Batavia Campus in the Library Media Room. After much preparation for the Naturalization examination and a childhood replete of hardships, this occasion marks a pinnacle in this young man's life.

Born in 1987 in Sudan, Moses' childhood was filled with attacks on his village and constant fleeing to new refugee camps and other countries to avoid violence and brutality. As a youth, he took refuge in Ethiopia and Kenya with help from the United Nations. While in Ethiopia, he not only encountered the outbreak of another civil war, but his mother, the only family member with him at that time, died of an illness. Moses then relocated to northern Kenya and remained there until 2001, when he came to the United States.

Moses first applied to a refugee program in 1999 and through much diligence he was moved to the U.S. with help from Catholic Charities. He settled into Rochester with a foster family through the Catholic Family Center. He attended Thomas Jefferson High, where he flourished as a remarkable student. During his junior year at Thomas Jefferson, he was voted vice president of the student government and the following year he was voted president. Moses graduated high school in 2007 and started Genesee Community College in 2008.

Moses is now 21 and is no longer with the regional foster program. He lives in College Village, Genesee's campus housing facility, but he frequently visits his foster family for holidays and special events. He is studying General Studies with his favorite subject being History. He plans to one day work in International Relations. He has a work study position in the Library at Genesee and is enjoying his studies and time in College.

"I think my favorite part about Genesee Community College is that all the teachers and staff are really nice," Moses said.

Nina Warren, Director of Library Services at Genesee, first came to know Moses when he applied for a work study position. She and the library staff had learned some things about his life from his resume and through conversations during his first weeks of work. During the last week of October, he requested working Friday instead of his usual Thursday shift because he was scheduled to take the Naturalization tests to become a U.S. citizen.

"We not only willingly agreed, but we were awed by this young man's quiet progression in his life and his immense integrity," Ms. Warren said.

After he took the test and passed, the library staff talked at greater length and learned about Moses' challenging past and inspiring life story. There was also a new collective awareness about the long process required to become a U.S. citizen, and everyone waited with great anticipation for the official letter to arrive with news of Moses' final step-his Oath of Allegiance in downtown Rochester.

"We are all very excited and honored to have Moses working here in the library during this very significant event in his life," Ms. Warren said. "Everyone enjoys working with him because he's smart, calm, polite and enthusiastic about doing a wide range of tasks and projects for the library. His great smile is a perfect match for his patience that serves him well on either busy or slow days, or when assigned tasks by one or even five staff members."

Moses has adjusted to an American way of life and has taken the opportunity to share his life's tragic past with others. In November, he spoke at St. John Fisher College as part of a viewing and discussion for the documentary film, "The Lost Boys of Sudan."

A Citizenship Celebration is planned for February 19 at 1:00 p.m. in the Library Media Room at the Batavia campus. A pre-celebration Media Hour is scheduled from 12:00-1:00 p.m. for reporters or photographers interested in meeting and interviewing Moses. For further information, please contact Nina Warren at 585-343-005 x6256 or at ntwarren@genesee.edu.