Migrant Workers in Michigan: An Invisible Population

• More than 90,000 (migrant workers) come to Michigan every year to harvest crops. That number includes family members - children, spouses, parents - who don't work in the fields but travel to keep the family together.

• An estimated 70 percent of them are in the United States on legal work visas or are U.S. citizens.

• Their average income: $12,000 to $16,000 for a family of five.

• Most live in one of 800 migrant camps around the state provided by the growers who hire them.

The Civil Rights Commission began investigating migrant working conditions in 2009 after a public forum in Kalamazoo raised some red flags about possible health and safety violations.

The commission decided to investigate further through a series of town hall-style meetings around the state where workers, growers and migrant advocates could testify about everything from wages to clean water.

Commissioners also visited several of the state's 800 licensed migrant camps.

Among their more startling findings:

• At one camp, there were three showers available for 35 women and children to share.

• At another camp, there was a single toilet and shower for all workers and their families to share with no curtain or other form of privacy.

• Several instances of overflowing or broken toilets and no running water.

After a (Civil Rights) report was released, Michigan Farm Bureau issued a statement lambasting it for casting a "damaging black eye" on all farmers. Now, a Farm Bureau representative is on the state task force and the Office of Migrant Affairs is publicly applauding farmers who take proper care of their workers. Even critics say they've witnessed farms where workers have access to on-site day care, schools and health clinics.

"This situation is not unlike others," Core said. "There are good apples in the bunch, and there are bad apples. We have to find a way to effectively deal with the bad apples."

Several state agencies have some responsibility for dealing with migrant farm workers, including the Department of Energy, Labor and Economic Growth, the Department of Agriculture and DHS.

www.lansingstatejournal.com/article/20101121/NEWS01/11210505/Recent-report-cites-Third-World-like-living-conditions-for-migrant-workers