ORESTES — Every August, 430 migrant workers flood Orestes and Elwood to spend just over two months sorting tomatoes at Red Gold. According to Steve Austin of Red Gold, the majority of the workers are Hispanic but they are not, as some believe, immigrants.

“They are migrant workers. They’re not immigrants. There is a difference. They are seasonal migrant workers that are already here and they move around and they do agricultural migrant work as a choice,” Austin said.

Earlier in the day, Austin had attended a meeting of 50 trade organizations hoping to stop legislators from penalizing employers who hire illegal immigrants.

While the company opposes this legislation, Austin says, it does not support illegal immigration.

“No. 1, we do not support illegal immigration, and that’s what the business community is trying to be clear on. But there is a labor shortage in Indiana. We were supporting an exemption for seasonal migrant workers who’ve been coming to Indiana for decades to support agriculture. There’s probably 15,000 migrants come to help get the crops planted and harvested.”

Austin says Red Gold only employs documented workers but says the company would be devastated if anti-immigration laws were passed.

“That law, No. 1, the issue should be left to be handled at the federal level. Outside of that, once Indiana passes such a law, we fear that the documented workers will stop coming to Indiana because they fear that they will be hassled unduly just because of their race. These are folks who have faced a lifetime of distrust and persecution. When they get pulled over by a local law enforcement officer, they have to immediately prove that they’re a citizen. You and I don’t have to do that. There’s anecdotal evidence of this happening in Oklahoma and Arizona.”

Rep. Scott Reske, D-Pendleton, says the new law could actually help legal migrants in Indiana. “If we have common sense laws that deal with illegal immigration, people will feel comfortable that if somebody has a foreign accent and they’re working, they’re going to feel most likely that the person is here legally and they won’t feel negatively. Now, they suspect everyone with an accent is here illegally because it’s not under control.”

Austin says both Oklahoma and Arizona recently passed legislation similar to that proposed by state Sen. Mike Delph, R-Carmel, which penalizes employers who hire undocumented workers. Reske is the house co-sponsor of the bill and says it is necessary to penalize employers to get to the heart of illegal immigration — wages. “I think illegal immigration needs to be addressed and what I’ve said often is to get it under control, you have to go towards the motivation, which is jobs. They don’t come to Indiana for the weather.”

“It will create a chilling effect. The documented workers will leave as well and that’s where agriculture in Indiana will be hurt,” Austin claimed.

Austin also says that migrants cannot be considered the same as immigrants. “The immigration issue is different. It appears to be related but it’s not. That’s where agriculture and the seasonals are getting confused. The immigration issue should be handled differently from guest worker programs and seasonal workers.”

“They’re just looking to do seasonal work and go home. Immigrants are wanting to stay and become U.S. citizens. They should be handled as two separate issues.”

Austin says Red Gold only employs three American seasonal workers. All workers are paid an average of $10 per hour. Austin says there’s one reason why Red Gold doesn’t employ more American seasonal workers. “They won’t take them,” he said, explaining that Americans do not apply for seasonal work with the company. “About everybody that wants a job has got a job. Few people will leave a job to come and work for two months.”

Reske says he believes that some Americans are losing jobs to illegal immigration but agrees that most probably aren’t agricultural seasonal jobs like those at Red Gold. “Do I think there’s jobs that obviously a lot of people don’t want to do? Yes. There’s still a lot of good jobs that people are getting bumped out of by illegal immigrants. The jobs that Red Gold’s talking about, I think that’s probably true, with the agriculture.”

Red Gold maintains that its seasonal workers are all documented. “We go to great, great effort to recruit documented workers. They are required to give us the same documents. You have to produce certain pieces of I.D.”