Inmates fill labor gap for farmers

Stricter immigration rules spur growers to tap state prisons

Ann Imse, Rocky Mountain News

Published February 28, 2007 at midnight

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Five Colorado farmers are contracting for prisoners to work their fields this summer because they fear the state's strict new immigration laws will keep migrant laborers away.

State prison officials are negotiating for crews of 10 to 20 minimum- to low- medium-security inmates to do farm work near Pueblo.

This may be the first time that inmates leave prison to work in private industry, Corrections Department spokeswoman Alison Morgan said. About 2,000 inmates work inside the prisons, including some in Buena Vista who make saddles for a private company, she said.

Farmer Joe Pisciotta, of Avondale near Pueblo, hopes they'll be hoeing, transplanting and harvesting the onions, watermelons and pumpkins on his 700-acre farm from May 1 to Oct. 1. The number of workers would vary from week to week, and the prisoners would get their usual 60 cents per day.

Corrections is asking the farmers to pay $9.60 an hour per prisoner to cover guards, transportation to the fields and food, Pisciotta said.

That's a bit more than the cost of minimum wage plus benefits such as workers compensation insurance, the farmer said. He's negotiating for a lower fee.

A new state law took effect Jan. 1 requiring employers to verify Social Security numbers and save proof that workers are legal. Some migrant workers have heard about the law and are choosing to work elsewhere.

Pisciotta said he started looking for alternatives after his winter onion packers said they might not be back to Colorado - fearing harassment, even if they are legal.

To enforce the new law, the state will perform random audits and fine employers $5,000 for the first offense and up to $25,000 for the second.

"If it is $25,000, can you take that chance?" Pisciotta said.

He said he checks his workers' identification papers.

"They look fine. But whether they're legit or not, I don't know," he said.

Agriculture Commissioner John Stulp said he's heard similar stories across the state. One farmer in northern Colorado reported cutting his vegetable fields from 2,000 acres to 500 acres last fall because of the labor shortage.

But the shortage creates a perfect fit for inmates, state corrections boss Ari Zavaras said.

"We'll be filling a need in the community, and it wasn't being filled by anyone else," Zavaras said.

imsea@RockyMountainNews.com or 303-954-5438

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