Nine out of 10 people, no, 10 out of 10 people, including my own relatives and best friends look at me with absolute confusion when I tell them that a large majority of my client base is crawfish farmers. And it's Louisianians asking the questions. To the casual person who asks me, "How's work?" and gets the response from me, "This year has been insanely busy; crawfish season is my busiest time," I usually see them tilt their head to the side and look at me like I just grew antlers. "Wait, what? I thought you did immigration law?"
Because most crawfish farms can't find enough U.S. workers to sustain the workforce they need for flooding fields, mending traps, placing traps, baiting, trapping, harvesting and sacking the crawfish, most of that work is done by temporary workers who enter the U.S. on temporary agricultural visas for 10 months each year. Due to the economic situations in Mexico, Central and South America, most send money home and then only see their spouses and children for their two months off. It's better to work in the U.S. than anywhere else, it seems.
Crawfishing isn't really Louisiana work at all, or at least not entirely. And nobody seems to know this. I certainly grew up not knowing anything about the industry, and it wasn't until I found my interest in immigration law that I was clued in, and I must be in the minority. I'm not even sure other attorneys know what I'm doing over here in my little office. So, I'm here to give you the information. Besides, now you'll know that most guys you see in or around crawfish fields are sustaining the industry we love so dearly. And, it doesn't really matter how anybody feels about it, because it's the nature of the beast, the nature of the migrant and seasonal dirty work. So, when you do eat crawfish, it's a lot bigger than just Louisiana cuisine, it's a multi-country, legal paperwork-full, working sacrifice that brings it to your -- mmmmm -- mouth.
Happy Crawfish Season to all and to all a good mayonnaise/ketchup sauce to dip them in.
Very interesting, thanks for sharing! The fruit of the work of migrants is enjoyed by all of us and we have no idea about it. Now, do you happen to know if the farms really can't find any U.S. workers? Or do they underpay migrant workers? I'm curious, because every time I get into these discussions, people say that it is because migrants do the work for cheap, which wouldn't surprise me. I've met a lot of exploited migrant workers in my experience with working with them.
ReplyDeleteThanks for sharing,
Katerina
Thanks for asking!
ReplyDeleteTo hire legal agricultural workers, we are required to put out advertisements (paper and online) and report to the Dept. of Labor office in Chicago about the recruitment efforts before the farmers can get certified to hire the foreign workers. Most farmers can only get approved if they can show that there are no US workers available or applying for the job; which is normally the case, save a few calls here and there. Also, now the Dept. of Labor sets the wages at 9.10/hour for LA so it's regulated nationally.
I know there is still alot of abuse, but for those who do go through the process, they usually find workers who they enjoy bringing back year after year.