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June 15, 2013
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HIRING ANGLOS: Bad Axe Dairy Farmers Get National Press on Worker Woes
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John Verhaar knows his cows, and now he knows U.S. immigration laws.
Arrests by Homeland Security and hefty fines have changed the lives of a Huron County dairy farmer, John Verhaar, and his wife, Anja, natives of the Netherlands.
And their fines beefed up the petty cash funds of the state police and sheriff's department.
Last year Aquila Farms, Bad Axe, was ordered to pay fines and payments in lieu of forfeiture of more than $2.7 million for harboring illegals, according to a Homeland Security Investigations report.
And they were sentenced to three years probation.
The funds were distributed to the Michigan State Police and Huron County Sheriff's Office received checks in the amounts of $250,652 and $35,807, respectively in a ceremony at the Michigan State Police Caro Post.
The Bad Axe dairy operation employed 78 different illegal aliens from approximately 2000 to 2007, amounting to almost 75 percent of its workforce over that time period, according to Homeland Security. The company also failed to conduct the necessary inquiries to determine the employment eligibility of their work force, as required by federal immigration laws, according to the federal agency.
John Verhaar, interviewed by Progressive Dairyman and Dairy Herd Network, says on YouTube videos the farms have totally changed their labor practices.
Aquila Farms milks 2,500 cows.
John believes his challenges in finding qualified labor for his dairy are similar to other producers.
On the videos Verhaar explains his hiring protocols and experience in dealing with Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE). He says what happened to him could happen to others.
Now, they are shying away from Hispanic workers and requiring all job applicants to go through E-Verify, the federal electronic verification program.
The Verhaars' Aquila Farms in Bad Axe was the site of first of three immigration raids in May 2007. At various times, the farm owners were held hostage in their own backyard, jailed, had their computers seized, and charged with employing illegal aliens.
"The last time, they came in with a helicopter and tank to pick up me and my wife," John Verhaar told a World Ag Expo seminar audience.
Eventually, their attorneys negotiated a plea deal.
Federal agents can come onto their farm unannounced at any time and check to see who is working there. That is why they had to start hiring Anglos, despite the difficulty many dairies have in retaining Anglo workers once they are hired.
"We had to go through 150 (job applicants) to get 20 decent people we could trust somewhat," Verhaar says. Some of those people are still there.
The Verhaars are also looking into robotic milking systems.
Asked what advice he has for farms that are still hiring Hispanics, Verhaar told Dairy Herd Network in the video interview, "Know what you're doing. Be very careful, because it could be a disaster."
- See more at: http://www.dairyherd.com/dairy-news/latest/139409788.html#sthash.BeLKMO4L.dpuf ###
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