WAMSUTTER, Wyo. (AP) — Alone and thousands of miles from home, the immigrant sheepherder roams some of the West's most desolate and frigid landscapes, tending a flock for as little as $600 a month without a day off on the horizon.
"You take it or leave it. You take it because the economy is worse at home," Pepe Cruz, a 40-year-old Peruvian, said in Spanish.
Cruz is one of hundreds of immigrants from South America, Mexico and Nepal who work as sheepherders in states like Wyoming, Colorado, Utah and California, and their brutal work conditions are getting increased attention these days.
News
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Advocates push change in working conditions for isolated immigrant sheepherders, LAtimes.com
Thursday, January 14, 2010
Poor treatment of immigrant sheep herders alleged, The Denver Post
Thursday, January 14, 2010
Immigrant sheepherders from South America working in western Colorado routinely are paid low wages and live in small campers without electricity or toilet facilities, according to a report to be released today.
However, officials with the sheep industry vehemently dispute the report's findings, calling them anecdotal and unsubstantiated.
The report by Colorado Legal Services was based on interviews over two years with 93 of the estimated 300 immigrant sheepherders working in the state under H-2A visas.
The workers, mostly from Peru, are brought in to work for up to three years herding sheep.
But there are few safeguards for the workers, the report said.
"A lot of the actual shocking stuff is allowed under current law," said Jennifer Lee, a Colorado Legal Services attorney who oversaw the report.
Tancredo proposes law that would require immigration-status checks of new hires, The Denver Post
Saturday, December 05, 2009
Former U.S. Rep. Tom Tancredo wants every Colorado business to verify that new hires are U.S. citizens, a proposal that prompted cries of racism from critics.
Tancredo filed a ballot proposal Friday that would force the 2011 Colorado legislature to pass a law requiring businesses to use a federal program to check the immigration status of all newly hired workers.
The proposal is aimed for the 2010 ballot.
Denver voters drive off vehicle-impoundment initiative, The Denver Post
Thursday, November 05, 2009
Denver voters Tuesday soundly defeated a ballot initiative that would have significantly restricted police discretion on whether to impound cars driven by unlicensed drivers.
Initiative 300 had prompted opposition from an array of civic and political leaders. They told voters the initiative would unnecessarily tie up police resources and become a costly bureaucratic burden. Opponents also said it was a thinly veiled attack against illegal immigrants.
The measure was rejected by nearly seven of every 10 voters.
To Read the entire article, click here!Denver car impound initiative has many foes, LAtimes.com
Monday, November 02, 2009
Reporting from Denver - Like their counterparts in cities across Colorado, Denver police decide when to seize cars from people they find driving without licenses. Sometimes they issue a ticket and let a relative take the car home; other times, they call a tow company.
But officers stand to lose that discretion as voters on Tuesday will consider a measure that would mandate authorities to impound vehicles driven by unlicensed motorists -- an initiative pushed by a local man who says law enforcement isn't doing its job of ridding city streets of unsafe, uninsured drivers.
"They talk about how police have better things to do. I don't agree. I think taking unlicensed drivers off the road is one of the most important things they can do," said Dan Hayes, 62, who wrote the initiative and collected enough signatures to place it on the ballot.
Opponents contend the initiative is a thinly disguised attempt to target illegal immigrants, noting that it would require police to take the cars of anyone suspected of being an "illegal alien."
Read the entire article here!
But officers stand to lose that discretion as voters on Tuesday will consider a measure that would mandate authorities to impound vehicles driven by unlicensed motorists -- an initiative pushed by a local man who says law enforcement isn't doing its job of ridding city streets of unsafe, uninsured drivers.
"They talk about how police have better things to do. I don't agree. I think taking unlicensed drivers off the road is one of the most important things they can do," said Dan Hayes, 62, who wrote the initiative and collected enough signatures to place it on the ballot.
Opponents contend the initiative is a thinly disguised attempt to target illegal immigrants, noting that it would require police to take the cars of anyone suspected of being an "illegal alien."
Read the entire article here!
Thousands of immigrants rally in Washington for reform bill, The New York Times
Wednesday, October 14, 2009
WASHINGTON — Thousands of immigrants came to Capitol Hill on Tuesday for a day of lobbying and an afternoon rally calling for comprehensive immigration reform.
The event was timed to coincide with the unveiling of an immigration bill by Rep. Luis V. Gutierrez, D-Ill., chairman of the Immigration Task Force of the Congressional Hispanic Caucus.
To read the entire article, click here!
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