In northern Michigan’s vineyards and orchards, ablaze with fall colors, migrant farmworkers are known to sing corrido ballads and folk songs as they pick grapes and apples from sunrise to sundown. But their voices fell silent this autumn when targeted roadside arrests by U.S. Customs and Border Patrol and workplace visits by Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) increased starting in late September.
The current administration’s threats to repeal protections for immigrants brought to the United States as children, and who have few memories of their native countries, could hurt people like Gloria, who grew up in Leelanau County since age 11.
During these busy summer days in the Leelanau fields, Marcelino sometimes feels as though he carries the weight of two migrant farmworkers. He once picked grapes, cherries and apples alongside 12-15 other workers, but this year there are only seven splitting their time between two small farms.
Immigration reform would be a job creator for Northern Michigan, says Congressman Dan Benishek. But the Republican-controlled House of Representatives won’t move on immigration reform, following the Tea Party defeat of Majority Leader Eric Cantor in June.
The League of Women Voters Leelanau County (LWVLC) Farm Labor Task Force will host a panel program on “The Agricultural Migrant Worker in Leelanau County: Issues and Challenges, 2013-14” on Wednesday, Feb. 5, at noon in the lower level meeting room of the Leelanau County Government Center.
How our broken immigration system hurts Leelanau County farmers By Jacob Wheeler Sun editor Rosa Valenzuela and her family look forward to their annual trip up north, to see old friends, to prepare picnics in the park and to swim in Lake Michigan when the waters warm by mid-summer. But the Valenzuelas are not your […]