migrant workers, part two

The picture that Larry posted below, of a migrant camp surrounded by barb-wire, from the 1940s, was a scene that I think may have been repeated in a number of places around the country. There were some hard times for people who moved where the work was, and there still are. The population of migrant workers in the US hasn't gotten smaller, and the work hasn't really gotten much easier. There is some hope, and some efforts to try to make things better.

I found a couple of sites that focus on today's migrants' problems and concerns. Rural Migration News considers such issues as Housing in San Diego, new difficulties for non-citizens to get driver's licenses, the December indictment against Tyson Foods, and many others.

The Geneseo Migrant Center is an advocacy group for migrant farmworkers and their families. The center provides a number of health and educational services near where they are located in New York. They also have a pretty good links page, which leads to a number of other regional and national sites.

The U.S. Department of Labor also includes in their Employment Law Guide a section about Migrant and Seasonal Agricultural Worker Protection which gives a brief overview of Title 29, Chapter 20 of the U.S. Code -- The Migrant and Seasonal Agricultural Worker Protection Act.

One local organization that helps migrant workers with housing, education, job training, and food is Telamon Corporation. The Legal Aid Bureau, in Maryland, has a Farmworker Program that provides advice and legal representation to migrant and seasonal farmworkers in Maryland, and Delaware. The Food Bank of Delaware also provides assistance and support.