La Migra Viene

My brother-in-law, Steve, never reads the comics in the newspaper. There are many days when I think that's all that I should read. Most days, just glancing at the front page makes my blood pressure spike.

Chuck Brodsky is a well known folk singer / songwriter. He calls Asheville, NC home and I've been lucky enough to hear him perform several times. One of my favorite songs, of his, is "La Migra Viene" (the Imigration Police are coming.") It tells of him being a part of an apple picking crew. It's hard work and he isn't nearly as good as his co-workers. Right in the middle of work, a shout goes up, "La migra viene!" and many of his fellow workers and friends jump and run, afraid of being put aboard a big yellow bus and held for deportation.

In an article in today's Winston-Salem Journal, it is reported that Legal Aid of North Carolina "has filed a federal complaint against the N.C. Department of Labor alleging that state labor inspectors have failed to ensure safe working and housing conditions for migrant farmworkers." The filing states that "many migrant housing units are overcrowded, in disrepair and have unsanitary cooking and washing facilities." There are other allegations, but you get the picture.

Speaking for the N.C. Department of Labor, Dolores Quesenberry said, "This letter is just a political stunt to promote a leftist agenda. They're always talking about unregistered camps and horrible conditions, yet they will not provide adresses or locations. If they did, we'd go and inspecct. Instead of playing politics, we need to find solutions to everyday problems and help the hardworking men and women of our agricultural community."

I'm not sure why this would be considered a leftist plot. North Carolina's governor is a Democrat. Does the N.C. Department of Labor really think that those darned leftists believe things would be better if the governor could be discredited and a Republican be elected to office? For myself, I think that Legal Aid probably has valid grounds for the filing. I have friends in farm worker ministry who could take me to camps, like those described, today. Even without those connections, I believe that I could find such camps within a couple of weeks. Why do you suppose it is that NCDL can't find them without someone taking their hand and leading them?

If I was an Hispanic farm laborer, in this country legally, and happened to know that some of my co-workers were undocumented, I believe that I would still run when I heard, "la migra viene" rather than try to prove my legal status from inside jail. I also believe that any NCDL convoy showing up to inspect reported camps would be lead by an ICE bus. How trusting would you be?

Also in today's Journal, Alabama's new imigration law is creating hardship for plant and business owners, schools, and both legal and undocumented aliens. Both legals and illegals are frightened. It seems that it is very hard to prove you are innocent in an environment biased toward believing you guilty until proven innocent just because you are fluent in Spanish.