A young daughter of Campo Rojo admires the setup for the cookout.
Photo by Rick Garcia
By Rick Garcia
Imagine working 10 to 12 continuous, back-breaking hours outdoors on a hot, humid field. Imagine finally coming home to a place where 20 or more families convene in an open camp circle to simply take in a luxury many take for granted- sitting and enjoying each other’s company.
The start of summer is when Michigan’s rich agriculture industry is at its peak along with seasonal migrant farm workers and their families. Members of The Hispanic Latino Commission of Michigan (HLCOM), a division of the Michigan Department of Civil Rights, spent the afternoon with migrant farm workers and their families at El Campo Rojo – a migrant camp located in Lake Leelanau.
According to Marylou Mason, Director of HLCOM, the commission has made annual visits to the camp over the last 15 years to better understand and link resources for the workers and their family on the quality of life, the conditions, and the importance of their role in the agriculture industry.
One of the highlights of the visit includes an outdoor dinner and delivering donated items from clothing, toiletries and toys for the children. HLCOM student interns were also on hand to distribute the items and provide information on support services ranging from health screening and wellness to translation and assistive consultation on documentation and registration.
The biggest challenge these workers and their family face is adequate and permanent housing. According to Gladys Munoz of the Peace and Justice Language Center in Traverse City, many of the migrant workers want to stay in the area year-round but cannot find affordable housing. Agencies like Peace and Justice and the Gaylord Diocese Catholic Charities play a big role providing support and consultation to these workers and their families.
Housing reform is essential, according to Mark Swartz, deputy director of the Environmental Stewardship Division of the Michigan Farm Bureau, especially with 90,000 workers and their families coming to work in the state’s agricultural industry.
“We’re dealing with crew leaders providing housing off-site, and there just is not a lot of oversight,” said Swartz. “Some workers wind up living permanently in housing designed for migrant laborers.”
According to the Commission of Agriculture and Rural Development, an insufficient workforce on farms is a growing concern. Currently there is a labor shortage of migrant workers.
Craig Anderson, manager of Agricultural Labor and Safety Services with the Michigan Farm Bureau, said a pilot H2-A guest worker program in the apple industry could shed some light on the challenges farm workers face. The program would offer significant protections to migrants by providing contracts and on-farm assistance, addressing what the Farm Bureau anticipates will be a 15-30 percent labor shortage, Mr. Anderson said.
Don Gregory, a farmer and one of the owners of Leelanau’s Cherry Bay Orchards, said giving migrant workers restricted drivers’ licenses would also help, especially where people can legally drive to get o and from work.
Mike DiBernado, a spokesperson for the Agriculture Labor Workforce Coalition, said decisions are being made not to plant crops or expand the industry because there isn’t enough labor. ”How much product is being left in the field because we can’t recruit enough talent?” said DiBernado. A lack of skilled workers makes harvesting crops far less effective and cost prohibitive in the long run when looking at crop quality.
Undocumented immigrants have become an integral part of the state’s economic and social fabric. There is an estimated 150,000 undocumented immigrants who live and work in Michigan, often in the shadows, yet the state’s diverse agricultural industry is a crucial part of the economy.
This was printed in the July 13, 2014 – July 26, 2014
