Latino milkers and the recession

I met someone at a kids’ birthday party yesterday who remarked about the reporting I did two years ago about Mexicans and Central Americans working (illegally) on dairy farms in the North Country.

It got me thinking about what’s happening today: the recession, the milk price crisis on the farm. Over the last few months, I’ve casually inquired about whether the latino labor situation has changed. People in the know have told me it hasn’t changed substantially.

But articles like this one in the New York Times make me wonder. In a pretty stunning reversal, Mexicans in Mexico are sending money North to help out their unemployed family members. Remember, remittances from the United States have been Mexico’s second largest source of foreign revenue for years.

Still, the article mentions something I think plays out here in the North Country. Immigrants have sacrificed and risked so much to get here and work on the farms that they’re reluctant to leave now, regardless of job prospects:

Although a study by the Pew Hispanic Center from July showed a sharp decrease in the number of Mexicans heading north, there has been no sign of a mass exodus of migrants back to Mexico. Immigrants’ families say it took great effort to scrape together the thousands of dollars needed to send relatives to the United States, a sum that includes the fees charged by the people who help them sneak in.

Another factor is the relentlessness of dairy life: the cows always have to be milked by someone.

These are my theories and wonderings. Do you have any answers? Has anything changed in the North Country latino immigrants-dairy farm connection? What do you know? Comment below or e-mail me directly: david-at-ncpr-dot-org.