Border Town Split Over Bush Plan

Every morning before dawn, hundreds of farmworkers pass through the U.S. Customs checkpoint in Mexicali and spill onto the adobe brick sidewalks of this border town’s business district, waiting to board buses that will take them to the fruit and vegetable farms of the Imperial Valley.

The laborers -- some of them Mexican citizens with work visas, others illegal immigrants with forged papers -- earn about $40 a day picking oranges, lettuce and artichokes.

It’s a routine that dates back generations and one that reflects the free-flowing nature of the border between the two towns. Mexicans not only work the fields in and around Calexico but they shop at the local Wal-Mart and eat at the city’s restaurants.

With this cross-border culture, Calexico residents said they have much to gain -- and to lose -- through President Bush’s plan for giving legal status to illegal immigrants who work in the United States.

Some of the illegal immigrants who now live with the fear of being caught by Border Patrol agents could win the legal right to work. But the law could draw more workers from Mexico into the Imperial Valley, increasing competition for jobs and depressing wages. More legal workers, some fear, could also strain the city’s health and social service programs.

Still, there is little doubt that both workers and farmers will eagerly take advantage of Bush’s program if it becomes law.

“If it’s your ticket to come to the U.S., well, they’ll work in the fields, easily,” said Ofelia Robles, director of La Esperanza, an organization that provides legal and immigrant assistance to Imperial Valley farmworkers. “People you wouldn’t imagine working in the fields, will -- they’ll work in the fields as a way to get to the U.S.”

Farmers say Bush’s plan could go a long way toward reducing the number of illegal immigrants they employ. Many workers use forged documents, and farmers said they don’t have the time or resources to verify the background of each employee.

“People depend on the food supply, on hotels and restaurants running, and we’re basically out here with an illegal workforce,” said Steve Scaroni, owner of Valley Harvesting and Packing Inc., a contracting company that hires about 1,500 laborers for daily farm work from Yuma to the Imperial Valley and as far away as Salinas. There are “simply not enough legal workers to do this type of work. It’s an impossible situation, and these people are ready to do this work.”

Scaroni estimated that about half his workers are illegal immigrants. He said the Bush plan would allow him to take some of these workers on as legal employees and also to cast a wider net for workers from Mexico.

“I have 30 crews out working today between Yuma and the Imperial Valley and most every crew is short one or two people. I’m not fully staffed anywhere. I have people calling me every day, asking for crews,” he said. “I want to go to bed at night and not have to worry about the INS raiding me and putting me out of business. I want a legal workforce.”

Some farmworkers agree that there is a need for more hands in the fields and that loosening work rules might help attract more people from Mexico.

“There’s always a need here. Every time we’re out there in the fields, you can tell we need more people working,” said Elva Rodriguez, 58, a longtime field laborer who lives in El Centro. “We need people.... It’s heavy work. For asparagus, you’re always hunched over, chopping at it.”

Indeed, Robles said, the Imperial Valley is grappling with the aging of a generation of farmworkers.

“People here are older; they get sick and hurt more,” she said. “There’s a need for a new generation.... There’s a need for a new set of workers.”

Still, some workers fear the Bush plan will ultimately benefit farming interests more than them by creating a larger labor pool that would result in lower wages.

For Bush and business leaders, “it’s all about money,” said Gilberto Marin, 59, who has been working the fields for decades. “They’re trying to get at the money and to eliminate people. Get the new people in, keep people moving.”

Marin first came to the United States in 1976, working odd jobs and on farms across the nation. He now lives mostly in Mexicali. He says he has a legal work permit and is employed on farms across the Imperial Valley and elsewhere.

His generation of farmers, Marin said, brings a level of expertise that would be lost if newcomers took over.

“Those who come here don’t have the experience we have,” he said. “We know the fields, we know the equipment. Aging is a beautiful thing.”

Agricultural interests, along with janitorial and construction firms, are expected to be most affected by a change in immigration policy.

Under Bush’s plan, which is subject to Congressional approval, temporary workers would enjoy many legal protections, including the opportunity to apply for green cards, minimum-wage and workplace-safety rules and retirement plans. The program would be open to undocumented workers already here, as well as to those who want to come to the United States.

To participate in the program, undocumented workers already in the United States would have to pay a “registration fee,” to be set in consultation with Congress, and to show that they are employed. Workers who want to come to the United States would need to prove that jobs await them.

The initial temporary work visa would be for three years and could be renewed. Once accepted as temporary workers, illegal immigrants could apply for green cards.

Because the plan would grant protections to workers, some in Calexico and elsewhere wonder whether businesses and the government might end up paying more for public services.

“I’ve heard some people say that if you give more rights and benefits, that is going to have effects on hospitals, social services and the benefits employers have to bear,” said Nicole Rothfleisch, executive director of the Imperial County Farm Bureau.

Many farmworkers in the Imperial Valley live in Mexico and commute into Calexico daily. But others stay in the United States, sometimes in hiding.

“They’re working and they’re hiding, but they mesh right in with the community ... they are never in trouble,” said Hildy Carillo-Rivera, executive director of the Calexico Chamber of Commerce. “They go to work, they go home, they pay their rent, and that’s fine, but I know people who are always in fear of getting caught.”

Rivera, who has lived in Calexico most of her life, said she had watched as the Anglo population has declined and the Latino population has risen -- a shift that allows illegal immigrants to blend into the community.

“A lot of transactions are done in cash around here,” she said. “There is this constant fear that they’ll be outed.”

This is the life Jose Manuel Escarino, 37, lived for years. He worked in the farms in Imperial Valley, Stockton and Fresno, trying to stay one step ahead of immigration authorities. He decided to go back to Mexicali several years ago, hoping for a less stressful life. He now works as a contractor.

“Before I would cross to work all the time,” he said. “But that was when I was younger.”