Okla.’s Anti-Illegal Immigration Law Affecting Agriculture Sector

Oklahoma’s new anti-illegal immigration law has some farmers and agricultural businesses scrambling for laborers as Hispanic workers fearful of being deported stay away from work.

House Bill 1804, which went into effect Nov. 1, gives local authorities more enforcement options against undocumented workers and increases penalties against employers who hire or harbor illegal immigrants.

Chris Ellison of the Motley Gin in Hollis said he is worried about the future of his operation after he had to cut his labor force by 50 percent and cease ginning during the night shift.

“In the small communities where you’ve got seasonal work, it’s hard to find legal people who want to work,” Ellison said. “I’m down to one crew because I can’t find enough help to run 24 hours a day anymore.”

In seasons past Ellison said he had 30 to 40 applicants for the seasonal jobs, and now he’s only getting about eight or nine per season.

Stopping the night shift, he said, will force him to work three to four weeks longer into the season.

“My only option is to cut back on labor that I have to have, and that’s not going to help anybody,” he said.

David Lingle, gin manager for the Red River Gin at the Tillman Producers Co-op in Frederick, said while he makes sure his employees have the documentation they need to work for him, the law has intimidated even legal workers from coming to Oklahoma during the cotton-ginning season.

He said he has had to recruit from a labor pool that doesn’t want to do the work or don’t work out if they are hired. Lingle said workers are paid more than $700 a week.

“It’s the sorriest help I’ve ever seen in my life,” Lingle said. “The ones that are born and raised here are just not willing to do the work. This law is putting us in a bad situation.”

On the other hand, Jimmy Kinder Jr., who farms wheat and runs cattle in Cotton County, prefers using domestic labor in his operation 12 miles west of Walters.

“I have tried in the past a time or two, and basically there were language problems and there were other things that I didn’t personally agree with culturally,” Kinder said. “One of them was getting food stamps in two counties in Oklahoma and one county in Texas … things like that.”

Kinder said presently his crew is composed primarily of family.

“Right now I’m using grandsons that are in their early- to mid-teens. They picked up a lot of work during the summer, but when they went back to school, they left us hurting somewhat,” Kinder said. “I’m not saying that (domestic labor) is the way to go. But that’s how we’re getting by.”

Information from: The Lawton Constitution, www.lawton-constitution.com

Topics Agribusiness Oklahoma