inmates replace migrant farmworkers in colorado

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___ Colorado to Use Inmates to Fill Migrant Shortage By Riccardi

The Los Angeles Times Thursday 01 March 2007Tough laws passed last year

against illegal immigration have created a needfor farmworkers. Denver - Ever

since passing what its Legislature promoted as thenation's toughest laws against

illegal immigration last summer, Colorado hasstruggled with a labor shortage as

migrants fled the state. This week,officials announced a novel solution: Use

convicts as farmworkers. The Department of Corrections hopes to launch a

pilot program thismonth - thought to be the first of its kind - that would

contract with morethan a dozen farms to provide inmates who will pick melons,

onions andpeppers. Crops were left to spoil in the fields after the passage

of legislationthat required state identification to get government services and

allowedpolice to check suspects' immigration status. " The reason this

[program] started is to make sure the agriculturalindustry wouldn't go out of

business, " state Rep. Dorothy Butcher said. Herdistrict includes Pueblo, near

the farmland where the inmates will work. Prisoners who are a low security

risk may choose to work in the fields,earning 60 cents a day. They also are

eligible for small bonuses. The inmates will be watched by prison guards, who

will be paid by thefarms. The cost is subject to negotiation, but farmers say

they expect topay more for the inmate labor and its associated costs than for

theirtraditional workers. Advocates on both sides of the immigration debate

said they were stunnedby the proposal. " If they can't get slaves from Mexico,

they want them from the jails, " said Mark Krikorian of the Center for Immigration

Studies in Washington,which favors restrictions on immigration.

ez of the Denver immigrant rights group Padres Unidosasked: " Are we going

to pull in inmates to work in the service industry too?You won't have enough

inmates - unless you start importing them from Texas. " Farmers said they

weren't happy with the solution, but their livelihoodsare on the verge of

collapse. " This prison labor is not a cure for the immigration problem; it's

justa Band-Aid, " farmer Joe Pisciotta said. He said he needed to be sure he

would have enough workers for theharvest this fall before he planted

watermelons, onions and pumpkins on his700-acre farm in Avondale. But he's not

thrilled with the idea of criminalsworking his fields. " I've got young kids, "

he said. " It's something I've got to thinkabout. " Pisciotta said he hoped the

program highlighted what he viewed as theabsurdity of Colorado's position -

dependent on immigrant labor but tryingto chase migrants away. He said the

people leaving were not just those whoentered the country illegally. " Some of

them have said, 'We think our paperwork is in order, but howabout if it's not

and we get caught on a glitch,' " he said. Ever since the

Democratic-controlled Legislature took a tough turn onimmigration, the new

requirements have worried those in the country legallyand illegally.

Immigrant advocates allege that some sheriffs have authorized deputiesto pull

over Latino drivers on supposed speeding violations and ask themwhether they are

in the country legally. And more stringent requirements put into effect last

year made it harderto get a driver's license. Numerous U.S. citizens, including

the daughter ofa state legislator, were refused licenses because they lacked

proper proofof citizenship. A judge has since ruled that the requirements must

berevised. Social service agencies say they have discovered few illegal

immigrantson public assistance since the laws were passed. Immigrant and

business groups agree that the heated rhetoric has led toan exodus of Latinos -

though no one is sure how many. Businesses includingcarwashes and construction

firms have complained of a worker shortage. " It's like, 'Don't go visit that

house, there's a guy with a shotgun atthe door,' " said state Rep.

Gallegos, who represents a heavilyLatino agricultural district in south-central

Colorado. He voted againstmost of the legislation. Farmers on Monday met with

state officials at the Capitol here todiscuss using inmate labor. The Department

of Corrections expects to beginsending about 100 prisoners to work on farms near

Pueblo this month. Some of the state's 22,000 prisoners have agricultural

experience.Convicts can participate in programs on prison grounds to break wild

horsesand grow crops. About 700 inmates work in other jobs outside prison, such

ason fire crews. Ari Zavaras, the executive director of the Department of

Corrections,said he knew of no other prison system in the nation using convicts

to fillagricultural labor shortages. In California, where growers also have

complained about a lack ofworkers, inmates have not labored in private fields

since the 1940s.Prisoners then were used as farmhands while laborers were

fighting in WorldWar II, said Terry Thornton, a spokeswoman for the California

Department ofCorrections. " The idea [of using prisoners on farms] has been

floated before, butthese are not unskilled jobs. They're jobs that require a lot

of trainingand supervision, " said Kranz, a spokesman for the California

FarmBureau Federation. " It doesn't seem like a very practical alternative. "

Krikorian, of the Center for Immigration Studies, said the Coloradoprison

experiment was " a sign that there are solutions other than importingforeign

labor. " He said " ultimately they're going to have to improve the wages

andworking conditions " to attract legal workers, as well as to mechanize partsof

their farming operations. Colorado's experience shows that hard-line measures

have an effect onillegal immigrants, Krikorian added, noting that arrests had

dropped alongthe U.S.-Mexico border since security was increased last year.

" We're seeing enforcement work, not just in Colorado, " he said, " but allover the

country. "