Working at Kansas Ranch ‘Like Slavery,’ Immigrants Say

 

Immigrants working at a large, remote farm in the state of Kansas are forced into hard labor¹ to pay back the farm’s cost of illegally bringing them into the country, an Associated Press report says.

The AP spoke² with former workers at the Fullmer Cattle ranch³. The company raises cows for dairy companies across four states.

Esteban Cornejo is a Mexican citizen and an undocumented immigrant in the United States. He spent eight months cleaning out calf⁴ pens and doing construction work. He left Kansas in November after paying back his loans. He thinks his loans totaled nearly $7,000.

One of Cornejo’s paychecks shows he worked about 15 hours a day, with Sundays off. He earned $10 an hour. Before taxes, his pay was $1,828.34. But the company took away $1,300 from his pay because of a “cash advance repayment⁵.” Cornejo said this was to return the loan for smuggling⁶ him into the country.

In the end, he received just $207.46 for two weeks of work. He made just over $1 an hour.

“It’s like slavery”

Rachel Tovar also used to work at the ranch. She told the Associated Press, “It’s like slavery what they do to those poor people.”

Former workers say they received no holidays, health insurance or overtime⁷ pay. They even had to buy their own safety equipment.

Dean Ryan, the company’s lawyer, said in an email that the former workers’ accusations⁸ “are simply not true.”

“There was no smuggler⁹’s fee and has never been,” Ryan wrote. He added that there are “plenty of people willing to work in western Kansas without having to ‘import’ them.”

Ryan said company policy is to give pay advances to workers who have no credit history. He said those loans are made so employees can buy vehicles or homes.

President Donald Trump’s administration has made an effort to reduce the number of immigrants living in the country illegally. But it has focused less on companies that employ them or possibly smuggle¹⁰ them into the United States.

Bringing outside workers

The case in Kansas brings attention to exploitation that immigrant workers may face.

Under U.S. law, employers do not have to give agricultural workers overtime pay. Erik Nicholson, national vice¹¹ president for the United Farm Workers union, said it is not unusual for employers to hire immigrant farm workers.

Rachel Tovar’s husband, Arturo, was a Fullmer manager for 11 years. He was living in the country illegally. He described the company’s smuggling process to the AP.

When the company needed workers, Arturo asked employees if they knew someone who wanted to work in the United States. Then, Arturo was told to call the company’s smuggler, who lived in Piedras Niegras, Mexico.

The smuggler would then begin to make preparations.

The company would give Arturo Tovar a check, which he would exchange for cash. He would give the smuggler some of the money before he transported the immigrants. The smuggler would get the rest of the money after the immigrants arrived San Antonio or Houston, two cities in Texas. There, the workers would be picked up and taken to the ranch in Kansas.

A history with illegal immigrants

Fullmer Cattle’s calf-feeding operation is outside of Syracuse, Kansas. It is about 25 kilometers from the Kansas-Colorado border.

The company says it raises thousands of cows for 18 dairies in Texas, Kansas, Colorado and South Dakota. Fullmer Cattle says on its websites it has “lower labor costs.”

The ranch’s owner is Que Fullmer. In 1998, law enforcement officials carried out an immigration raid at his ranch in Chino, California. They found workers living in what a California labor official described as “economic slavery.”

Fullmer admitted guilt¹² in 1999 to hiding immigrants in the country illegally. He was sentenced to six months of home detention¹³. Court records also show Fullmer was ordered to pay a $10,000 fine and perform 500 hours of community service.

The Kansas ranch’s lawyer noted¹⁴ that, because of Fullmer’s past, the company takes “extra care” not to hire workers who are in the country illegally.

I’m Phil Dierking.

Words in This Story

calf - n. a very young cow?

cash - n. money in the form of coins and bills?

dairy - n. a place where milk is kept and butter or cheese is made?

exploit - v. to use (someone or something) in a way that helps you unfairly?

fee - n. an amount of money that must be paid?

focus - v. a subject that is being discussed or studied?

hire - v. to give work or a job to (someone) in exchange for wages or a salary?

manager - n. someone who is in charge of a business, department, etc.?

pen - n. a small enclosed area for farm animals?

remote - adj. far away?

smuggle - v. to move (someone or something) from one country into another illegally and secretly?

trailer - n. a long platform or box with wheels that is pulled behind a truck or car and used to transport things

1 labor   

n.劳动，努力，工作，劳工；分娩；vi.劳动，努力，苦干；vt.详细分析；麻烦

参考例句：

• We are never late in satisfying him for his labor.我们从不延误付给他劳动报酬。
• He was completely spent after two weeks of hard labor.艰苦劳动两周后，他已经疲惫不堪了。

2 spoke   

n.（车轮的）辐条；轮辐；破坏某人的计划；阻挠某人的行动 v.讲，谈（speak的过去式）；说；演说；从某种观点来说

参考例句：

• They sourced the spoke nuts from our company.他们的轮辐螺帽是从我们公司获得的。
• The spokes of a wheel are the bars that connect the outer ring to the centre.辐条是轮子上连接外圈与中心的条棒。

3 ranch   

n.大牧场，大农场

参考例句：

• He went to work on a ranch.他去一个大农场干活。
• The ranch is in the middle of a large plateau.该牧场位于一个辽阔高原的中部。

4 calf   

n.小牛，犊，幼仔，小牛皮

参考例句：

• The cow slinked its calf.那头母牛早产了一头小牛犊。
• The calf blared for its mother.牛犊哞哞地高声叫喊找妈妈。

5 repayment   

n.偿还，偿还款；报酬

参考例句：

• I am entitled to a repayment for the damaged goods.我有权利索取货物损坏赔偿金。
• The tax authorities have been harrying her for repayment.税务局一直在催她补交税款。

6 smuggling   

n.走私

参考例句：

• Some claimed that the docker's union fronted for the smuggling ring.某些人声称码头工人工会是走私集团的掩护所。
• The evidence pointed to the existence of an international smuggling network.证据表明很可能有一个国际走私网络存在。

7 overtime   

adj.超时的，加班的；adv.加班地

参考例句：

• They are working overtime to finish the work.为了完成任务他们正在加班加点地工作。
• He was paid for the overtime he worked.他领到了加班费。

8 accusations   

n.指责( accusation的名词复数 )；指控；控告；（被告发、控告的）罪名

参考例句：

• There were accusations of plagiarism. 曾有过关于剽窃的指控。
• He remained unruffled by their accusations. 对于他们的指控他处之泰然。

9 smuggler   

n.走私者

参考例句：

• The smuggler is in prison tonight, awaiting extradition to Britain. 这名走私犯今晚在监狱，等待引渡到英国。
• The smuggler was finally obliged to inform against his boss. 那个走私犯最后不得不告发他的首领。

10 smuggle   

vt.私运；vi.走私

参考例句：

• Friends managed to smuggle him secretly out of the country.朋友们想方设法将他秘密送出国了。
• She has managed to smuggle out the antiques without getting caught.她成功将古董走私出境，没有被逮捕。

11 vice   

n.坏事；恶习；[pl.]台钳，老虎钳；adj.副的

参考例句：

• He guarded himself against vice.他避免染上坏习惯。
• They are sunk in the depth of vice.他们堕入了罪恶的深渊。

12 guilt   

n.犯罪；内疚；过失，罪责

参考例句：

• She tried to cover up her guilt by lying.她企图用谎言掩饰自己的罪行。
• Don't lay a guilt trip on your child about schoolwork.别因为功课责备孩子而使他觉得很内疚。

13 detention   

n.滞留，停留；拘留，扣留；(教育)留下

参考例句：

• He was kept in detention by the police.他被警察扣留了。
• He was in detention in connection with the bribery affair.他因与贿赂事件有牵连而被拘留了。

14 noted   

adj.著名的，知名的

参考例句：

• The local hotel is noted for its good table.当地的那家酒店以餐食精美而著称。
• Jim is noted for arriving late for work.吉姆上班迟到出了名。