(Host) Federal immigration officials are investigating whether Vermont dairy farmers are employing illegal foreign workers.
Many Vermont dairy farms hire Mexican farmworkers to help with milking and other chores.
Farmers have acknowledged in the past that some of the workers are undocumented – or have entered the country illegally.
Kelly Loftus is a spokesman for the Vermont Agency of Agriculture. She said that federal agents began arriving at farms this week.
Loftus says she knows of at least four farmers who have been contacted by immigration officials so far.
(Loftus) "Secretary of Agriculture Roger Allbee was informed this morning that the United State Immigration and Customs Enforcement … was visiting farms in Vermont to review employee documentation, specifically I-9 paperwork and paperwork regarding payroll."
(Host) Federal law requires workers to fill out the I-9 form, which is supposed to show the worker has a valid Social Security number and is here legally.
Loftus said that Agriculture Secretary Allbee has reached out to the Vermont congressional delegation to find out the focus of the federal investigation.
She said farms could end up losing their workforce as a result of the federal investigation.
(Loftus) "There is a possibility that they would be removed from the state and sent back to their state of origin."
(Host) Amanda St. Pierre farms with her family in Richford. She’s also an organizer of a group called Dairy Farmers Working Together. St. Pierre said her phone has been ringing all day with calls from concerned farmers.
(St. Pierre) "We’re just trying to calm any panic that’s going on in the dairy industry. Farmers are feeling the burden already. And we just need everybody to kind of remain calm and be very polite if someone comes to your farm, make sure that you’re dealing with official people – you know, request to verify the documents they’re giving you. But not to feel like they’re all by themselves, they do have a number they can call within the Agency of Agriculture."
(Host) St. Pierre said the immigration investigation comes as farmers are already struggling with record low milk prices.