Customs and Enforcement (ICE),” says Farmworker Justice
Senior Attorney Adrienne DerVartanian. California grower
representative Manuel Cunha said that the increasing numbers of employment eligibility reviews conducted by ICE on
farms have been “devastating to our industry.”
A Specialty Crop Sector on Edge
Fruits, vegetables, and horticulture make up a class of agriculture known as specialty crops. About 75 percent of all
hired farm workers in the United States work on these laborintensive crops.24 The $51 billion specialty crop sector is increasingly a source of export revenue for the United States;
between 1989 and 2009, exports of high-value agricultural
products, including fruits and vegetables, more than tripled
(see Figure 4.).25
While California and Florida remain the largest specialty
crop producers, specialty crops are grown across the country
(see Figure 5, next page).26 In the following sections, we consider how immigration issues are playing out in two of these
states, Michigan and Georgia.
Michigan
Michigan is the second-most diverse agricultural state,
after California, with commercial production of more than
200 commodities.27 The resilience of its agricultural sector is
particularly important for a state that has suffered long-term
economic decline and job loss.
“Agriculture has been one of the real backbones [of the
state’s economy] as we’ve struggled with the manufacturing downturn,” said Don Koivisto, director of Michigan’s
Department of Agriculture.28 This is reflected in the state’s
population trends: while other Midwest states had shrinking
rural populations, Michigan’s rural population increased
faster than its urban population during the three decades
1980-2010.29
Michigan’s fruit and vegetable sector would be in peril
without immigrant labor. According to a 2006 report from
Michigan State University, crops using migrant labor comprised 58 percent of the total economic activity generated by
the state’s farm sector and related input supply industries.
“Without migrant workers, some farmers would reduce output or leave the business,” the report stated.30
Michigan growers describe the loss of foreign-born workers as a threat to their livelihoods. During a Senate Agricultural Field Hearing held at Michigan State University in May
2011, Michigan Apple Association Chair Julia Rothwell said
that if Michigan farmers do not have immigrants to harvest
their crops, “we will cease to exist.”31
This view is echoed by other Michigan fruit and vegetable
growers, who are unequivocal about the importance of immigrant workers. “We’re sweatin’ bullets every day that they’ll
www.bread.org
Figure 4
Major Fresh Fruit and Vegetable Exports,
2009
Fresh fruits
Value ($ millions)
Apples $753
Grapes 588
Oranges 345
Strawberries 325
Cherries 286
Grapefruit 185
Pears 153
Peaches 137
Lemons 110
Subtotal $2,882
Fresh vegetables
Lettuce & cabbage
$431
Tomatoes 179
Carrots 127
Onions 126
Potatoes 125
Broccoli 119
Subtotal $1,107
Note: Includes only fresh fruits and vegetables with export value over $100 million in 2009.
Source: USDA, Economic Research Service.
knock on the door and take our help away,” said Charles
Smith [a pseudonym], a third-generation specialty crop farmer. “We rely on migrants. If they go away, we’ll go back to
growing soybeans. At that point, you are dealing with the
same commodities they grow in Iowa…with many thousands
of acres when we have only hundreds of acres.” When asked
if he could switch to citizen workers instead of immigrants,
Smith echoed other specialty crop growers around the country: “They won’t do it,” he said. Frank Jones [also a pseudonym], a fourth-generation specialty crop farmer, relies on
immigrant workers to grow strawberries, cantaloupes, cucumbers, and apples, among other crops, on his 1,200-acre
farm. Jones said that if he lost access to his migrant workforce—about 200 seasonal workers—he’d switch to growing
corn and soybeans. But even if he can make a go of it with
new crops, the switch would harm his 12 full-time employees, all of whom are U.S. citizens that he employs to operate
heavy machinery. “[They] will not have a job,” said Jones.
According to farm worker advocates, small and mediumsized farmers like Smith and Jones are more likely to treat
their workers well compared to larger operations that employ
farm workers. “[Problems are less common with] the family
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