The authors of “Farmworkers need a heat shield” (BDN 8/09/08) make a compelling case for enforcing regulations which protect farmworkers from unsafe labor conditions. Farm work is backbreaking and dangerous, but vital to us all. Workers deserve fair pay and protection, not only from dangerous working conditions, but also from unfair labor competition which destroys their unions and undermines their wages. Cesar Chavez knew this when he complained to Congress that growers were using illegal workers to bust his United Farmworkers Union. Give employers unlimited access to illegal labor, which Congress has done for three decades, and many will treat those workers like dirt. Deny them that access and their treatment of their workers will have to improve.

True compassion lies in those old-fashioned American values: respect for the rule of law and respect for truth. It’s time to stop legitimizing this shameful grab for cheap labor. And it’s time for journalists to give us more intelligent immigration coverage, recognizing that immigration is more complex than “they do jobs Americans won’t do.”

It is ironic that both farmworker advocates and Democratic leadership demand strict enforcement of workplace safety, and at the same time shaft those workers by supporting amnesties for illegal migrants. Farmworkers deserve better.

Jonette Christian

Mainers for Sensible Immigration Policy

Holden