Farm Workers and Dreamers Work Hard To Reach the American Dream

By Patrick Cavanaugh, Farm News Director

Joe Del Bosque is a diversified farmer in western Fresno and Merced counties. At one time, Del Bosque was a farm worker in the field and eventually was able to buy some acreage and expand over time. Now, Del Bosque has his own farm worker employees who are climbing the economic ladder like he did.

“When I see the farm workers on my farm, it’s like looking at my ancestors. It’s like looking at how hard they worked, working in the fields, picking crops, and so forth, and trying to do the best they can to raise their families and give their children a push-up the way I got it,” Del Bosque said.

“I know that my farm workers are trying to do the same thing. They’ve got children, they’re trying to push them up, and I see that happening because a lot of them have children in college right now. They’re getting educated, they’re going to go on to become professionals, and I’m very happy about that,” he said.

“There’s no doubt. They’re definitely climbing the economic ladder. I see on our farm that a lot of our farm workers have bought homes. Even some of the Dreamers, who are now at risk of being deported, have bought homes and they’re worried about what’s going to happen to them,” Del Bosque explained. “Some of them, and other folks in our communities that have invested in small businesses and so forth, have really become members of our society, of our economy, and their efforts are sometimes underappreciated.”

Del Bosque spoke of Dreamers that are working with him. “We have one, for instance – he does maintenance for us. He’s so skilled with repairing equipment and building things and so forth. He’s been with us for a while, and is a very valuable member of our team.”

Supreme Court Ruling on Immigration

Manuel Cunha Jr. Fires Off Letter RE: Supreme Court Ruling on Immigration

The following is a letter that Manuel Cunha, president of the Nisei Farmers League sent out about the Supreme Court ruling on immigration TODAY:

“As the president of the Nisei Farmers League, board member of the National Immigration Forum in Washington, D.C., chair of the Insure America Project, and as a farmer myself, I am deeply disappointed in the Supreme Court ruling that was announced TODAY. Their ruling provided no guidance nor direction to this Congress and ignored the safety of those affected by the ruling.

The 4-4 deadlock leaves in place an appeals court ruling blocking President Obama’s immigration plan. His plan would have allowed parents of citizens or of lawful permanent residents to apply for a program that would spare them from deportation and provide them with work permits.

Dignity, integrity and justice is what this country believes in and has made this country great. This country was built and strengthened by immigrants. Many of us today realize it was our parents and ancestors from other countries that brought us here. However, there are those that have forgotten, many of which are currently members of Congress.

This decision does not move us closer to immigration reform, but allows Congress to repeatedly refuse to support bipartisan legislation to update immigration laws. Congress continues to not deal with Immigration, but rather deal with their own party politics.

Millions of families will remain in limbo, and our system remains broken. The attention now turns to Senate and House Republicans to provide leadership on this issue. What is their solution to our broken immigration system? This escalates many of the problems that currently exist. Drug and human trafficking will continue, U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) raids will not go away. Millions of immigrants living in the shadows is not the answer. Deportation of the people that clothe and feed us is shameful and not the answer.

We must remember that the “Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals,” DACA (Dreamers), is untouched. We need to focus on providing alternatives to the children who were brought here and have grown up here as Americans and identify themselves as Americans. The DACA program is still in play and we need to encourage those that are eligible to apply.”