Issue of August 19, 2009

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Four Farm Workers Detained After Roadside Stop

Photos and Story by Louise Hoffman Broach | Wayuga Editor
Wednesday, August 19 2009

Image 6102 
U.S. Border Patrol Officer E. Rodriguez prepares to pat down one of Brian Doyle’s employees during a stop on Route 414 in North Rose on Aug. 17. Doyle, a Wolcott fruit grower, said Rodriguez told him the men “looked suspicious at us” when their car passed the Border Patrol cruiser. Doyle said the men all have resident alien cards and refutes the contention they are undocumented.

 Image 6100
Roman Diaz, a long-time employee of orchard owner Brian Doyle, waits in the back of a state police cruiser. Doyle said he’s never gotten a “no match” on Diaz’s social security number and believes the man is in the U.S. legally.

NORTH ROSE – A Wolcott fruit grower is accusing the U.S. Border Patrol of racially profiling four of his workers who were stopped on Route 414 Aug. 17 as they were returning to his farm from a trip to purchase clothing.
The men were all detained and taken for processing; Border Patrol Officer E. Rodriguez, who was in charge of the scene, told fruit grower Brian Doyle the men volunteered they were in the U.S. illegally.
Doyle said Rodriguez then accused him of being a “federal criminal” because he employed the men. He said Rodriguez continually referred to the men as “illegal immigrants.”
Doyle said he doesn’t believe Rodriguez because all four have I-9 resident alien cards, which they were carrying at the time of the stop, and social security numbers. He said two, brothers Roman and Quirino Diaz, have worked for him for several years and he’s never received “no-match” letters on any of their paperwork, which would indicate they are undocumented and their papers were phony. Payroll deductions for Social Security and state and federal taxes are regularly taken from their paychecks, as they are from all of his employees.
And Doyle said when he reached the scene after being alerted by a friend of the employees who had seen them pulled over, the four men remained silent in the presence of the border patrol officers. Doyle is incredulous they would have volunteered information about their status, information he has no evidence to believe is true.
Doyle said there is no reason for the Border Patrol to presume the men are illegal, and no probable cause to stop them, except for the color of their skin. He, as well as the other farmers who came to the scene on behalf of him and his workers, questioned the authority the Border Patrol had to detain them.
Border patrol officials in Grand Island did not return phone calls before press time. Rodriguez made no comment to the media at the scene.
Doyle called Wayne County Farm Bureau President Phil Wagner and another nearby fruit grower. Wagner arrived with his son, and the other grower brought his daughter, who began taking photos of the stop. Doyle, Wagner and Wagner’s son  said as soon as Rodriguez, who had removed his name tag and initially refused to identify himself, saw the camera, he called for back up from the state police.
Wayne County Farm Bureau and the New York Apple Association, as well as U.S. Apple in Washington, D.C. and U.S. Rep. Dan Maffei, have been monitoring Border Patrol stops in Wayne County.  Farm Bureau and the apple growers have previously accused Border Patrol of racial profiling in the state’s largest apple producing county. Maffei initiated his own investigation and is setting up meetings between Homeland Security and local farmers that should take place later this month.
Doyle said Rodriguez would not tell him at first what triggered the initial stop, but then later after several inquiries said the four men “looked suspicious at us” when the Border Patrol drove by them, and when Rodriguez turned his car around to initiate a pursuit, the driver immediately slowed down.
“Of course he slowed down,” Doyle said. “They were behind him, attempting to stop him. Wouldn’t it have been suspicious if he speeded up?”
The trooper at the scene, Ben Kauder, said he wasn’t going to comment on whether the border patrol had probable cause to stop the car because he wasn’t there at the time of the stop. He did, however, tell Doyle there were no problems with the car the farm workers were riding in and that they were no warrants for them.
The farmers said Rodriguez also became less confrontational once Kauder arrived. The trooper suggested to Rodriguez he not force all four of the Mexicans into the back seat of the border patrol sedan. Kauder transported two of the Mexicans and also arranged for Doyle to take the money that his employees were carrying.
“Are you accusing me of stealing their money?” Rodriguez said.
Doyle told about a previous incident where the Wolcott Village police stopped workers from Teeple Farms and later notified Border Patrol. The workers were taken to the federal detention center in Batavia. The incident resulted in the theft of several hundred dollars from one of the workers, who was later released and returned to Teeple’s operation. Teeple notified Wayne County District Attorney Richard Healy, who had the state police investigate the incident. Healy said he and the state police found the farm worker’s story credible, but it could not be determined who took the money.
Doyle said he didn’t want a similar incident to happen again. He also said he was going to call a labor contractor he knew to see what he should do next to try to get the men released. He told them to call him as soon as they could.
Wagner said the Aug. 17 stop was blatant racial profiling.
“I want to see the Border Patrol answer to this,” Wagner said. “They saw Hispanics, and they stopped them. I served in the Army for 27 years; I was a colonel. This is not what I served my country for.”
Wagner’s son, Chris, who lives in Pennsylvania and is working in his father’s orchard for the summer, said he too is a migrant farm worker. His truck even has out-of-state plates, yet he hasn’t been stopped once by border patrol since he came to the area in March.
“Of course not, you’re white,” his father said.


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Posted: Wednesday, August 19, 2009
By: bbarber275@yahoo.com
Subject: Illegals deport them now

I am getting tired of all the illegal's here.They come here and work on stolen SS numbers and everything else.My dad is a farmer and does not hire illegals.If and business is hiring or employing illegals maybe they should be charged.These illegals come here and use are system, when hundreds of AMERICIANS are out of work, and can't get any help.
Posted: Wednesday, August 19, 2009
By: uzi@izbekastan.ca
Subject: Cheap Reporting

What a poor, poor example of journalism. Agents put their butts on the line every day stopping illegals like the ones above. Inept media coverage like this is a reason why newspapers are in trouble. Journalists have lost their vision. Stupid, stupid, stupid.
Posted: Wednesday, August 19, 2009
By: o_brien_phil@hotmail.com
Subject: illeagle's

There are a lot of us that spent time in Germany, Korea and VietNam. Just because this guy thinks because he was a Colonel means it's ok if he breaks the law.
Posted: Thursday, August 20, 2009
By: Rafter DOT Ferguson AT yahoo.com
Subject: We can do better than this

We are certainly all going to hell in a handbasket, but it's not because of migrant farmworkers - either undocumented ones, or the OBVIOUSLY legal and documented ones in this story.



The thing that makes me fear we are truly doomed is the mentality of the folks who commented before me. The US runs on immigrant labor, documented and undocumented. If all the undocumented workers in the US didn't go to work for a week, the economy would collapse - well, it would collapse harder than it is already.



We are all immigrants and the descendants of immigrants - unless you're First Nation! People deserve to be treated with dignity and respect. US citizens don't deserve to be treated any better than anyone else, just by virtue of being born in the USA.

That's just some left over tribal warfare culture that we haven't grown out of yet. Think bigger.
Posted: Thursday, August 20, 2009
By: Betsy
Subject: Thank You!

THANK YOU! "Rafter DOT Ferguson AT yahoo.com" For your voice of reason... I agree wholeheartedly.
Posted: Thursday, August 20, 2009
By: Susie
Subject: bbarber comment

Why don't you check YOUR english skills and get back to us
Posted: Thursday, August 20, 2009
By: mikemerson1@hotmail.com
Subject: double standard

I saw this morning on Today a story about the three American hikers that were picked up by the Iranian Border Patrol and are being held with little or no communications with the outside world. This was portrayed as egregious by the mothers of the hikers and by the news media but when it is done here in the United States it is apparently allright to do the same thing. One of the above persons commented that the workers were obviously illegal....really how do you know that? I recently vacationed on Cape Cod and I would say that a majority of the wait staff,bell boys,housekeeping staff etc. for sure didn't speak English,so I am guessing were not here legally at least not WORKING legally but never once did I see a Border Patrol Agent. I even asked some shop owners if they were ever harrassed by immigration or the border patrol and none could ever recall any actions by either. For those of you "sick" of illegals can you PROVE that you or your ancestors are here legally? I know I can't, I assume they came here by legal means but who knows. And finally when many of our ancestors did come to the United States all you did was show up at Ellis Island and if you were not visibly sick you were in. It is much much more difficult today. I had a white Canadian friend, a veterinarian try to emmigrate and after spending over $5000 and several years trying finally gave up. Veteranarians are needed and wanted in the U.S. as are the workers being hasseled and detained here. What is even more troubling and what is really the argument here is that even legal migrants are staying away from the area because of all the inherrant hassels ascociated with trying to work in this region. Racial profiling is and should be illegal, how many of us would tolerate being stopped for no apparent reason and hauled off to Batavia for a night or two untill your status could be verified without any ability or oppurtunity to notify your family? Any volunteers ?
Posted: Thursday, August 20, 2009
By: jlghertner
Subject:

Whether one believes that undocumented people in this country is a horrible thing, it should be clear that there are constitutional rights, other legal rights, and moral rights for everyone in this country.The Bill of Rights clearly gives protection from inappropriate search and seizure to everyone in this country. There is no requirement of citizenship or legal documents. The Universal UN Declaration of Human Rights,originally ratified by the United States, grants rights to everyone, not to be removed by agents of a federal agency. Our Congress has asked that this activity be curtailed and our Department of Homeland Security has stated that it would be stopped, and yet, these roadside, home, and workplace invasions continue.



It is also a right and obligation of our newspapers to report on these events particularly when they result in such strong comments. To demean an editor for choosing to print this information, as do most national newspapers, is inappropriate.



The tone and language of the above negative comments suggests that it is our Border Patrol agents who are again infiltrating our press with anonymous bigotry.
Posted: Thursday, August 20, 2009
By: FMF
Subject: Illegal Search and Seizure of Farm Workers

Thank you to the Wayne County Star for continually keeping Wayne County citizens informed of these incidents.
Posted: Thursday, August 20, 2009
By: Catherine
Subject: Some replies are ridiculously embarrassing.

I have to say that it's highly embarrassing to read some of the above comments. I'm referring to the negative ones written by people who obviously don't understand what's happened. The workers for the Doyle's are obviously legal, and whatever makes you think that they aren't I lack to see. And the experience in Germany has nothing to do with his farm. He is clearly not breaking any rules. These workers were stopped without probable cause besides the color of skin. They clearly are legal workers. I agree, having illegal workers is wrong with so many American's out of jobs. But to have legal ones, as is obvious the Doyle's do have, is not wrong at all. And I'm willing to bet that half of the people who say that these workers are obviously illegal and that the Doyle's should be punished are most likely racial profiling themselves. I highly doubt most Americans would want to work at an apple farm, so what's the problem when legal mexicans do the work?

If this article shows anything, it's not the illegal workers in Wayne County. It's the problems in our government, whom apparently stop people just for looking suspicious.
Posted: Thursday, August 20, 2009
By: paul
Subject:

If they are illegal, lock up the employer
Posted: Thursday, August 20, 2009
By: anona
Subject:

Want to see what unlimited illegal immigration produces? Come on down to Southern California; where the billboards are in Spanish,and English seems to be a foreign language. Watch the continual degradement of the cities. Throw all of them out!
Posted: Friday, August 21, 2009
By: Joe
Subject: misguided sympathy

If those guys are here legally, bless them. If not, toss them out, and they take the bleeding heart / useful idiots who post here with them.



Let me make it real easy for you.



People who want all illegals guaranteed entry and who whine about the UN and morality have two things on their little minds:



a/ they want cheap labor and cheap food and they don't care that millions of Americans are out of work but McObozo will put more Americans out of work by giving illegals free health care, free state tuition and amnesty.



b/ the other nimrods are leftist dreamers who think America stinks and what will fix it is some leftist overlord who they think everyone will welcome once the country is completely destroyed by obamacare, obamacars, obamaclunkers and the rest of the Obozo leftist BS that will turn this country into a 3rd world debtor nation.



These fools believe "borders are so 20th century", all cultures are equal, America is evil and anything that makes us closer to self destruction is good.



These are the same kinds of yoyos who didn't want to go to war against Hitler because hitler had a pact with stalin and stalin was "cool" - when hitler turned on stalin they finally wanted to go to war to save stalin. These yoyos still think mao was "an agrarian reformer" and thats what would help here...



Toss out the illegals, AND the leftists.
Posted: Friday, August 21, 2009
By: mrmeat2u@yahoo.com
Subject: Reading skills

Some of the 1st comments in the reply section need to re-read the article. All 4 people stopped had the "PROPER PAPERWORK".

Komrads, you had better watch what the government is doing to these workers , because they will be doing it to you next.








Posted: Friday, August 21, 2009
By: jwood
Subject: traffic stop controversy

First: To Louise Hoffman-Broach: keep covering the news as you see fit. Your small town reporting is first rate and community based.



Second: To those who appear to cruise the internet from Southern California and other distant locales looking for opportunities to spew their venom without investigation into the facts of this case, look inward. Your willingness to jump to conclusions about the four farm workers' status and the employer's hiring intentions indicate that you are willing to hand out justice without due process. That is what Hitler did. You have used sound bites and twisted logic to degrade your own points. Reasonable people, whether applying a conservative, independent or, as you put it, "leftest" perspective to analyze Ms. Hoffman Broach's article would reject your comments for what they are...thoughtless, racist, prejudicial, regionally ignorant misinformation.
Posted: Friday, August 21, 2009
By: Local Farmer
Subject: Article

Don't believe evrything you read in the paper...take a look a the article in yesterdays post standard...that paper stated both sides of the story....read what that border patrol man had to say...by the way....they do not arrest people unless they are in violation of LAW....I'm just glad I hire my Jamaicans thru the H2A program....all these other farmers are making me look bad
Posted: Friday, August 21, 2009
By: Roger kaputnik
Subject: Violation

I agree with Local Farmer; if those four are here legally then Doyle should be able to take their documents to Batavia and have them released. I am not going to hold my breath on that.
Posted: Friday, August 21, 2009
By: Amanda/ abates4@naz.edu
Subject:

The two reasons given for pulling these men over make no sense to me. They gave the cops a suspicious look? When was that a crime? Look at examples like the Greece police force. There's a reason why tons of people are suspicious of cops.



And how is the driver slowing down suspicious? That's common sense! If a cop begins to pursue you and you're a law-abiding individual, you slow down.



I really hope this story gets more coverage. This isn't the first time Border Patrol in this area has been accused of suspicious actions, and unless serious investigations are started and changes are made, it won't be the last.



Finally, to everyone huffing and puffing to kick migrants and illegals out of the country because they think they're taking U.S. jobs: There are very few U.S. citizens who are willing to take the jobs these migrants accept. Few lifelong U.S.citizens (even those who are unemployed) would want to spend dawn to dusk on a ladder with a incredibly heavy bag picking fruit in a huge orchard. The next time you think a migrant has stolen someone's job, consider the fact that no one else was going to claim that job anyway.
Posted: Friday, August 21, 2009
By: Ken/DEKSS418
Subject: tiny minds

Reading the comments of some of the writers here makes me ashamed to be a locally born citizen. Of course there are illegal aliens in this country, but every hard working, dependable Mexican working on local fruit farms is not an illegal. The reason they are here is because they are doing a job locals will not do.

BBarber and the rest of these small minded bigots should crawl back into their holes.
Posted: Saturday, August 22, 2009
By: jc@yahoo.com
Subject: Missing the point.

As the grandson of LEGAL aliens/immigrants I'm going to add my .02 cents here.



The point that I think people are missing is that under U.S. immigration law there are 2 basic types of aliens....legal and illegal. Legal aliens have permission to be in the U.S. and are allowed to work depending on the conditions of their permission to come to the U.S. Illegal aliens either overstay their permission to be in the U.S. or they are just smuggled into the U.S. illegally. The only people who have anything to worry about, from immigration authorities, are the illegal aliens (and those who smuggle, exploit and hire them). The Border Patrol or ICE aren't going to arrest a legal alien because there is no crime committed. Those legal aliens are allowed to be in the U.S.



I think there are 3 basic types of farmers/employers. Some of the farmers just don't know that their employees are illgal aliens (the illegal aliens apply for a job with fake immigration documents and/or stolen social security numbers, etc). There are other farmers turn a blind eye and don't really want to know. However, the worst group are the farmers who knowingly hire illegal aliens soley because they are looking at their profit margin. If you hire an illegal alien you can pay them less than you would HAVE to pay a legal alien or citizen. Who are the illegal aliens going to complain to? They aren't supposed to be here and fear for their jobs and being deported because they are in the U.S. illegally.



Hundreds of people die being smuggled illegally into the U.S., each year, in the deserts of the southwestern U.S. because of the greed of those who are trying to increase their profit margin by offering wages that it would be illegal to pay a legal alien or U.S. citizen.



It all comes down to greed despite however they try to spin it.
Posted: Monday, August 24, 2009
By: carrie
Subject: artical

i think that it is unjust the way illegal immigrants and hispanic people are treated and the truth of the matter is that if the lazy americans wanted a job they would apply in the agriculture field but the bottom line is THEY ARE USE TO HAND OUTS and dont want to work it is easier for them to sit at home.
Posted: Tuesday, August 25, 2009
By: rinky dinky doo
Subject: Lazy Americans?

Carrie; can you name one "lazy american"? Where will he apply, if the farms don't take out ads in the classified section of the news? Of course they don't advertise; they like having slaves. You seem to have a very shaky grasp of the concept of law and order. An illegal alien will get deported, every time he/she is found. That's what "illegal" means. It's no different from the police taking dope or an illegal handgun from someone they encounter; those types of items are just not given back.



This article and others like it in this paper are very insulting and condescending to Mexico and Central America; those are all wonderful countries full of terrific, industrious, smart and of course hard-working people. It's obvious that their best and brightest are here; that's what is keeping their homelands from emerging from the third world.
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