December - St. Augustine Catholic

aAt a fern farm in Crescent City, Fla., under
the hot sun and a mesh net cover, which traps
the humidity, Aldegunda Albarran wades
through rows of foliage exposing herself to
snakes, insects, pesticides and the elements.
She and the other mostly Mexican workers
here only pick the ferns that are ready for
harvest that will soon be shipped around
the country and to markets as far away as
Japan. They stoop over deeply in order to cut
the ferns near the roots, starting early in the
morning to avoid stifling late-afternoon heat.
Albarran and the workers tell jokes, laugh
and talk about things going on in their lives,
their sore backs and the recent cost of living
increases effecting things like milk, gas and
housing.
Weather permitting; with a good rate of
picking, they may earn $40 to $50 a day.
Some of these farm workers live up the road in
mobile homes and apartments north of Seville,
Fla. Some of them, like Albarran, are legal and
have led stable lives in the community for a
long time, while others are undocumented and
worry about new measures being enforced by
the Department of Homeland Security to target
employers hiring non-resident workers. The
situation has been a serious worry to not only
workers but Florida’s agricultural industry.
“Immigration will come into a town and
take everyone they find, going into homes, so
the people run,” said Albarran’s daughter Myra,
a teenager who said her mother has been
doing this work since 1989 when the pay was
just 18 cents per bunch. Now, the rate is 25
to 28 cents. Maira said she hopes to become a
nurse one day.
Albarran, who is a resident, is clearly
respected by the workers here, and is a
volunteer and point person for the Farm
Worker Ministry of the Diocese of Saint
Augustine. From two satellite offices,
Crescent City and in Green Cove Springs,
staff of the Farm Workers Ministry minister
to local farm workers.
Worried about loss of employment in
agricultural jobs and a reduced demand for the
ferns – a luxury item in a nervous American
economy – more families are coming to
the ministry to make ends meet this year,
according to Olga Lara-Moser, who, with her
husband Al, coordinates the Farm Worker
Ministry for the diocese. “We are getting more
requests for food and for help with utility, rent,
and medical bills,” she said.
Recently a farm worker’s mobile home
burned to the ground. Olga arranged for the
woman and her daughter to pick up some
Tom Tracy
furniture and clothing. Fortunately, no one was
injured in the fire but the home was destroyed.
The adult farm workers here are so busy
in the fields and raising their children that
realistically they don’t have time to learn
English, but their children, mostly American
born and attending public school, do, often
becoming good students and citizens. A
typical scenario is for the wife to work in the
fields while the husband may take a job in
construction.
Aldegunda Albarran with her daughter
Maira. Aldegunda has worked at the
fernery for 18 years earning between
$40 and $50 a day.
Pedro, a legal resident, who has been
working in the fernery for 18 years and
supports a wife and four children, said he
doubts many other people will ever want to do
this kind of work. The Mexicans here work in
tremendous heat, cold winter mornings and
suffer from insecticide induced itchy skin. They
encounter snakes and rats. “Nobody else will
do this work if they deport us to Mexico; and
everybody here is Mexican,” he said.
The U.S. Bishops’ Justice for Immigrants
Campaign, created to educate Catholics and
the general community about undocumented
persons in this country, breaks down some
of the myths that may be driving the antiimmigrant
sentiment in the United States:
• Immigrants do pay taxes – federal, state
and local.
• Immigrants come here to work, not for
welfare.
• Immigrants may send some money back
to Mexico, but most of it stays in the
community.
• Immigrants contribute in a positive way
to the economy.
“The people here now are contributing to
the community and they do pay taxes but
often don’t get anything back for that,” said Al,
who points out that the Farm Worker Ministry
assists workers with annual tax preparation
during tax season and connects adults with
English-speaking classes and tutoring programs
run by the ministry. “I would like to improve
communications with the growers so we can
help each other deal with the problems that
come through our doors,” he said.
Father James May, pastor of St. John the
Baptist Parish in Crescent City, said he views
the farm worker and immigrant population
in his midst as good people trying to do
the best they can under the circumstances,
and that he is impressed with how the
community unites to help one another. He
organized a special collection for the family
displaced by the mobile home fire and was
touched by the mother’s reticence to even
mention her tragedy to him.
“We need to open our hearts more and
be bothered by the situation of these people
and about their well-being,” Father May said,
adding that new immigration measures taken
in Florida and around the country are not
helping the situation. “We allow the Mexican
people to come here to work but conditions
are poor and it is difficult for them to carve
out a decent living. We act as if the ‘American
Dream’ is not really for them.”
“But the greatest happiness you can have is
to make other people happy and my job as a
priest is to show how the Gospel is speaking to
us now. If you are going to be a Christian then
let your light shine. When you respond to the
Gospels your own faith is increased,” Father
May reflects.
Dignifying Human Work
• Do our attitudes show respect
for the dignity of work and the
human person? Or do we see
not human persons, but “labor
costs” or “illegals”?
• Do our laws and institutions
protect workers? Or do we see
human persons as a “workforce,”
which exists to produce
economic goods?
• Do we honor the “work of
human hands”? Or do we accept
as normal that many of Florida’s
working poor can only afford to
live in dilapidated rental trailers.
-Florida Catholic Conference
St. Augustine Catholic December 2007 25