Alabama immigration: crops rot as workers vanish to avoid crackdown
The day before harsh new laws came into effect, Brian Cash had 65 Hispanic men picking tomatoes. Now he has none
The blow to Cash can be measured in those $100,000 – money he says he had wanted to put aside as insurance against a poor crop in future years. But it can also be measured in other ways.
Cash says that losing his pickers is much more than a commercial disaster. "Many of these people are friends and like family to us. They have been working for my family for years."
The crew leader for Cash's fields has been working for his family for 17 years. "He's my age and we pretty much grew up together," he says.
Cash has sponsored him in his application for American naturalisation – a process that the immigration authorities have said will take up to nine years and cost up to $17,000.
https://www.theguardian.com/world/2011/oct/14/alabama-immigration-law-workers
The day before harsh new laws came into effect, Brian Cash had 65 Hispanic men picking tomatoes. Now he has none
The blow to Cash can be measured in those $100,000 – money he says he had wanted to put aside as insurance against a poor crop in future years. But it can also be measured in other ways.
Cash says that losing his pickers is much more than a commercial disaster. "Many of these people are friends and like family to us. They have been working for my family for years."
The crew leader for Cash's fields has been working for his family for 17 years. "He's my age and we pretty much grew up together," he says.
Cash has sponsored him in his application for American naturalisation – a process that the immigration authorities have said will take up to nine years and cost up to $17,000.
https://www.theguardian.com/world/2011/oct/14/alabama-immigration-law-workers
