WCAX.COM Local Vermont News, Weather and Sports-Vt. Farm Crackdown Over?

Vt. Farm Crackdown Over?

Shelburne, Vermont - November 20, 2009

Visit a Vermont dairy farm and odds are you'll encounter a Mexican worker.

"They're loyal, they're reliable and they're honest," farmer Bernie Guillemette said.

And they're also willing to accept pay of $7 to $9 an hour plus lodging.

Guillemette owns a dairy farm in Shelburne and has hired several foreign workers over the years.

Asked why he doesn't hire a Vermonter for the jobs, Guillemette answered, "Well, for the simple reason that they don't respond to ads in the paper and if they do they certainly don't last long."

It's unknown how many foreign laborers are working here illegally.

Bernie Guillemette says most arrive at farms with the paperwork in hand.

The problem is the paperwork isn't always legit.

"I don't know how one can determine whether it's fraudulent or if they're authentic. That like me-- I don't know if I could identify a counterfeit bill," Guillemette said.

And that's why many were nervous about visits from federal authorities.

If it's determined a worker is here illegally they'll be deported.

Farmers feared others would leave preemptively-- depleting the work force at a time when milk prices are at historic lows.

"Nobody is arguing there shouldn't be legal documentation and legal people working on farms," Vt. Agriculture Secretary Roger Allbee said. "But the issue is certainly at this stressful time, forcing farmers into a quandary."

"They have their own network system, so I fear that probably the phones will be ringing and some will fear the immigration is coming in and they may just disappear," Guillemette said. "So before being moved off the farms they may move on their own."

So far that hasn't happened, even at the farms that were targeted by federal authorities.

And farmers are hopeful the scare has ended.

Farms visited by the feds have until at least next week to provide documentation for all their workers. Rumors circulated that more than 80 farms were going to be targeted, but Friday Vermont's two senators said federal authorities assure them no more than five businesses will receive a visit. There's no word on if another farm will be targeted in the crackdown. In fact, a spokesperson from Senator Leahy's office tells us it may be a non-agriculture related business. Nationwide 1,000 businesses were targeted.

There are no hard numbers on how many illegal workers are on Vermont farms. But the state estimates about 2,000 Mexicans work on dairy farms that produce about 75 percent of the state's milk.

Keagan Harsha - WCAX News

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Immigration Agents Raid Vt. Dairy Farms

Foreigners on the Farm: Vt.'s Reliance on Immigrant Workers