MIDDLEBURY, Vt. – A Mexican diplomat says more illegal Mexican immigrants are deported from Vermont than any of the other New England states.

Deputy Consul Rodrigo Marquez told a meeting of the Addison County Migrant Workers Coalition that in 2006, 123 Mexican farm workers were detained in Vermont. By contrast, Maine deported 60, Massachusetts 33, Rhode Island 30 and New Hampshire 21.

And Marquez estimated Vermont had almost 2,000 fewer Mexican farm workers than Maine, 28,000 fewer than Massachusetts, 6,800 fewer than Rhode Island and 5,500 fewer than New Hampshire.

“It is very important for you to talk about this,” Marquez said at the meeting attended by 125 people. “If the Mexicans were not helping the farmers, maybe the farms would not be here.”

Marquez called on Vermonters to urge their political leaders to confront the issue.

“The Mexicans are here just to work,” he said. “If you ask them if they want to go back to their families and friends and tacos, most would say yes. Of course they need a job. That is how life is.”

Bridgeport dairy farmer Cheryl Connor, a coalition member, said many Mexican workers are afraid to venture off the farm for fear of being caught and deported.

“The most traumatic thing they deal with is they suffer from loneliness,” she said.