By Courtney Faith Maxwell

Excess paperwork for a farmer is unrealistic. Paperwork for obtaining migrant workers, for tomato farmers specifically, is impractical.

“I have a lot of respect for migrant people and what they do,” says Glenn Abbett, a second-generation farmer near Valparaiso in northwest Indiana. “I really love their upbeat, happy, get-to-work attitude. But we have to figure out a way to let them work and help us, where no one is going to get in legal trouble.”

The paperwork system currently in place can have many negative effects on farmers. It slows down farmers’ preparatory time for planting and harvesting, he says. The additional costs of hiring outside sources to help with paperwork are high, and production performance can be harmed if procedures aren’t done correctly.

In the 1980s, Abbett’s dad, Lou, decided to diversify the farm. They began to raise tomatoes for Red Gold. 

The Abbett family didn’t use migrant laborers until the mid-’90s, when locals stopped working the tomato planting and harvest seasons. They didn’t know how to make the initial contact with migrants.

Finding migrant help
Abbett knew that seed corn companies used migrant labor for detasseling, and he reached out to them to ask about the process of receiving laborers. He credits seed corn companies for helping him take the first steps in using migrant workers.

Red Gold informed him of the processes required to obtain migrant workers legally. As his tomato business grew, Abbett didn’t have enough time to ensure the migrant paperwork was being completed correctly. He hired an on-staff attorney to protect his business, making sure the bookwork and migrant paperwork were completed. Abbett must continuously grow his business to afford these expenses.

While the paperwork for obtaining migrant workers is difficult, Abbett hadn’t faced many struggles in terms of getting laborers on-site. However, this year was the most difficult yet.

The United States Border Patrol can demand more documentation before immigrants are allowed to enter the U.S., and has the legal authority to conduct stops and ask about immigration status, according to U.S. Customs and Border Protection.

This year there were longer lines at the borders, and extra documentation was required. “I do my best to follow all the regulations and do processes legally,” Abbett says. But the combination of extra documentation and following the rules resulted in half of Abbett’s migrant laborers being a week late to planting season.

“I tried to hold off planting for as long as possible, but the tomato plants were growing too large,” he says. “I ended up having to hire locals to fill the spots of my missing laborers.”

Livelihood at stake
If the process of getting migrant laborers continues to get more difficult, Abbett may be driven out of the tomato business, especially since finding locals to do the work is challenging. He explains how terrifying that thought is, and that he doesn’t think it’s that far out in the future.

“The scary part about the procedures continuing to get more difficult is that it could run tomato farmers out of the Midwest,” he adds. “If that happens, I will lose half of my annual income. If we can’t get access to migrant labor, we can’t have a crop, and then processors will go out of business.”

Abbett’s best idea to improve the process is to overhaul the system. The current process is complicated. If it were easier and an incentive was implemented to follow processes legally, the employer’s job could be smoother. The need for outside source help could be lessened, as well.

Amy Bolen is an attorney with a Bachelor of Arts from Indiana University and Juris Doctor from Valparaiso University. She was practicing personal injury law from the plaintiff’s side when one of Abbett’s tomato-hauling trucks was in an accident, resulting in two deaths. Bolen assisted throughout the case and ended up working full time for Abbett, doing all sorts of legal work: buying and selling land, handling contracts, and handling the migrant laborer paperwork.

“With the government regulations changing constantly, keeping up with those regulations can be impossible without outside help … it can be a nightmare,” Bolen says. She notes how time-consuming it is, and how much work is required to keep up with the government regulations.

“Farmers have to keep good records and paperwork of migrant workers,” she says. “Failure to do so can lead to high civil penalties per violation.”

According to Bolen, the paperwork can be less daunting for attorneys. They know where to look up specific laws and can go to classes or talk with colleagues with more experience who can help lead them in the right direction.

Legal hurdles
“If you use migrant workers who fall in the Migrant and Seasonal Agricultural Worker Protection Act, then it can be extremely confusing on what you need to do to comply,” Bolen explains. “You must comply with the U.S. Department of Labor — more specifically, its wage and hour division. There is so much paperwork involved, it gets a little intimidating for some people.”

DOL literature says the Migrant and Seasonal Agricultural Worker Protection Act (MSPA) protects migrant and seasonal agricultural workers by establishing employment standards related to wages, housing, transportation, disclosures and record keeping. The MSPA also requires farm labor contractors to register with DOL.

Bolen stays on top of new issues and law changes by continuing her legal education yearly. Attorneys must complete continuing education once a year, choosing what area they brush up on. Bolen likes to attend and get materials for classes that deal with everything from setting up a farm business to immigration issues.

For farmers without time to research the changes in laws and complete the paperwork themselves, or who aren’t fortunate enough to know an attorney with experience in the matter, the migrant labor process can be daunting and seem nearly impossible, Bolen says.

Many believe the paperwork tomato farmers must complete to get migrant labor is impractical. Tomato farmers’ lives could be made easier if they were able to access resources that are needed to aid in this paperwork process. Then migrant workers could be viewed as the valuable source they are.

Maxwell is a senior in ag communication at Purdue University. She is related to Amy Bolen.