On Thursday, May 30, we left San Antonio for El Paso where we were hosted by the Border Agricultural Workers Project. As we drove into El Paso we could tell we were entering a border town -- hundreds of eighteen wheelers, green and white border patrol SUVs, high rise buildings next to old stores that never seem to see time pass. We arrived at the Farmworker Center barely a hundred yards away from Juarez across the border into Mexico where we were greeted by farmworkers and staff from the Center. They had prepared a meal for their members and us. This stop gave the us a real insight into the lives of migrant farmworkers and the issues of immigration along the border region.

Ignacio Ibarra, from the Border Agricultural Workers Project, welcomes the South African delegation and provides a brief history of the Center before opening the floor for farmworkers to describe their living and working experiences. The Center is a safe haven for most migrant workers who look upon the building as they cross the bridge into the US. Depending on the season, anywhere from 80 to 200 migrant workers will sleep at the Center every night.

Amelia Torres, Board Member of the Center, describes how she started working in the fields since she was five years old. She raised nine children on her own while working in the fields. She talked about how working  becomes an economic necessity instead of school.

On Friday, June 1, we were taken on a morning tour of the US border with Ciudad Juarez, Mexico. Thousands of migrant workers cross this border daily to come and work in the US. From the end of July to September, during the intensive chili picking season, the Border Patrol mysteriously disappears while Mexican workers come over to fill the jobs in the chili fields. Chili pickers get paid 55 cents for a 15 pound bucket of chilies. This region of the US produces more than one third of all the chilies used in the US hot sauce market. The profit margins for the growers are much higher in processed chili than selling them in the markets. After the season is over, the Border Patrol makes its presence felt once again.
 

Carlos Marentes, Director of the Border Agricultural Workers Project, shows us the new fence along the canal that separates Mexico from the US. Thousands of families and communities were torn overnight with this type of partition.

A camera and listening post along the border. El Paso was the first border town to have a military post established.

Miles and miles of fencing separates the two countries. Over 3,000 bodies of people attempting to cross into the US have been found in the desert so far. These workers are usually the only ones supporting their families by sending money back to Mexico.

Colonia Anapra on the Mexico side developed by people coming to Juarez seeking employment at the maquiladoras, industries set up on the Mexico side to exploit cheap labor and environmental regulations. Many of the companies in this region are high tech companies manufacturing computer and cell phone chips. In this desert region, these companies have access to unlimited amounts of water and are also the biggest water polluters. These intense jobs are largely done by women who get paid around $4 a day for their labor.

People makes their homes from whatever materials are available to them. Most of the colonias do not have access to clean water to sanitation. A truck comes around selling water to residents in the area.

Later that day, we went in search of onion fields in southern New Mexico where we talked to workers about their conditions and pay. At least one third of all farmworkers in the US are Mexican. The most of the workers wake up around midnight or 1 a.m. to travel a few hours to the fields where they will work until 5-6 p.m. Their annual income is around $5,900 and often they have no access to Social Security because they are paid in cash or the contractor never pays into Social Security even when a percentage of the wages are taken out for this purpose.
 

Onions ready to be picked and put into huge boxes in order to be shipped or trucked off. Young children are often seen working in the fields with members of their family. The low wages makes this practice the norm for economic survival.

Workers picking onions to fill these white boxes that can hold about fifteen sacks weighing thirty pounds. Each team gets paid $11 per filled box. It takes two people roughly one and a half hours to fill one box -- resulting in approximately $3.66 per hour for these workers.

Carlos Marentes listens as workers tell him about their fathers or grandfathers who worked as Braseros in the US. The Brasero program was established after W.W.II to bring some of the best Mexican agricultural workers to the US. At least five million Braseros came over to the US destroying Mexico's agricultural base. Ten percent of their wages were taken out to be paid to them upon their return to Mexico. This money has never been paid back and the Center is compiling profiles of the Braseros so some of their families can seek compensation from the Mexican government.

Carlos translates Bertha Sanchez's remarks: At least one third of the labor force here is comprised of women. She used to work in the once thriving garment industry which has disappeared. Women are paid less than the men and are often ridiculed and harassed by the contractors and some fellow workers.

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