"The coming crackdown on illegal immigration that was announced Aug. 10 has sent up red flags of concern among members of the equine industry of Central Kentucky.
Though Congress could not agree on comprehensive legislation for combating illegal immigration, Homeland Security's Michael Chertoff and Commerce's Carlos Gutierrez said they would use other tools to confront the issue, such as penalizing employers that hire illegal immigrants. The Bush administration proposed a rule in early August to be effective within 30 days that will require employers to fire employees unable to resolve problems with their Social Security numbers 90 days after they've been notified of such discrepancies by letter. Employers who fail to comply with discharging illegal employees will face possible criminal fines and sanctions, as well as increased fines by 25 percent.
If all goes as planned, the new rule will undoubtedly have a negative impact on the equine communities of Lexington and other surrounding areas, where more than half of horse farm and race course workers are believed to be undocumented. Though Gutierrez said the Labor Department would try to make existing temporary seasonal agriculture worker and non-agriculture worker programs easier to use and more efficient, time is ticking away for action on the issue to actually take place.
"I think (a crackdown) is going to be very hurtful for the Thoroughbred and farm industries in general," said Mary Lee-Butte, executive director of the Blue Grass Farms Chaplaincy. "Farmers will have to lay off workers, or revert back to the old days of paying people under the table with cash.
"The majority of (immigrants in Lexington) want to work legally, but the government isn't doing anything to work with them," she continued. "Instead of working with (immigrants) to be contributing members of society, (the government) is looking at them as criminals, and most of them (in Lexington) are not — they're hard working people."
Lee-Butte predicted the local horse industry would be in a state of panic if there is a mandatory layoff of workers. She said the chaplaincy was prepared to step in and help immigrant families with physical needs if worst comes to worst.
"The government is failing the American farmer by not enacting legislation (for guest worker programs and helping immigrants to obtain legal status.) I'm very concerned," she said.
David Switzer, executive director of the Kentucky Thoroughbred Association, expressed his disappointment that Congress decided not to take on the immigration issue in a constructive manner.
"Who's going to take their places?" Switzer questioned of the thousands of immigrants working in Kentucky's horse industry. "I don't think anyone realizes there will be no labor (after a crackdown). This is the part that's the most disheartening to us. It means that after more than two years of training these people how to care for our animals, we'll have to let them go."
Davant Latham, president of the Kentucky Thoroughbred Farm Managers' Club believes the Central Kentucky horse industry is almost completely dependent on Hispanic labor.
"This is a tough, federal issue, which makes it even tougher," he said, explaining his concern that farm employers have being lumped into a group of people that have been accused of taking advantage of the immigrant situation.
"No one (that I'm aware of) in the Thoroughbred industry is taking advantage of anyone's illegal status," he said. "There are farms here that have been paying attorneys for years to get (these workers) legalized. They've tried to jump through every hoop, but the rules keep changing; they're in a constant state of flux. We need (set) rules so we can act on them. Until then, we're in limbo. We're trying to help these people to be able to improve their lives."
Latham said many immigrants were told that paying United States taxes was a major step toward becoming a U.S. citizen; however this approach has proved to be no guarantee for obtaining full citizenship.
"The system has been marred by people who are taking advantage of the situation. Farms are without question unknowing violators who have done everything they can to follow the rules and regulations," Latham said. "