Open Season Again

It seems open season has again been declared on undocumented workers in San Diego County.

The most insidious aspect of this latest round of “alien bashing” is the attempt to stand the facts on their head and portray North County’s undocumented population--largely composed of migrant farm workers who are among the most abused and exploited in this state, possibly even the country--as the perpetrator of crime rather than as the terribly victimized group it actually is.

As city upon city in North County commissions a study on the effects of undocumented workers working and/or living within its limits, the grudging conclusion is the same: The workers are generally law-abiding, and crimes attributable to them are relatively minor.

Our program, which over the past 20 years has provided legal services to farm workers and other rural poor in California, recently opened an office in North County, drawn by the plight of farm workers here.

During nearly 15 years of representing farm workers in virtually all other agricultural areas of this state, I have not witnessed such generally appalling working and living conditions.

The non-payment of wages--not to mention the violation of minimum-wage and overtime laws--is a widespread practice. Illegal deductions are common. Kickbacks and the extortion of a first week’s work for free is fairly routine. Injured farm workers are often left untreated. Employer intimidation is prevalent, and some situations border on peonage. Moreover, the makeshift housing to which thousands of farm workers must resort is an absolute disgrace.

For public officials to indulge in the inflammatory rhetoric of late is, to say the least, not only disingenuous but unhelpful.

CLAUDIA E. SMITH

Regional counsel

California Rural Legal Assistance

Migrant Farmworker Project