European Stars and Stripes (Newspaper) - October 17, 1977, Darmstadt, Hesse                                By Rosemary Armao United press International ingers cramp and Knees ache. That s Good picking. Bend wrong or throw out a hip when hoisting 33 pounds of tomatoes on a truck an the inexperienced Back is set afire. But each hamper is Worth 30  workers in the Tomato Fields of Northwestern Ohio the Midwest s largest employer of migrants Are there for the  Long As the tomatoes last they Are there 12 hours a Day six Days a week. Elizabeth Lopez 17, babysit a year old Nephew while her sister and brother in Law pick in John j. Luckey s 40-acre Tomato Field. She says she is still asleep when the alarm goes off at 6 or earlier. The hotter it is the earlier they get started said Luckey who has never had to set time limits on his migrants. They Don t return until 5, except for some of the women like Elizabeth s sister Connie who Cook and carry Back lunch. Connie Joe and Luckey s 16 other work ers All Lopez relatives from around Brownsville tex., drive in camper trucks to Fields a half mile away. They Wear jeans and to shirts under Long sleeved shirts. Sneakers and Straw hats tied with bandannas or baseball Caps. One picker lashes Tough rubber pads to his Kneecaps. They All Wear yellow rubber gloves. It does t keep the dirt from caking in the creases of Adam Lopez neck or Wear ing away Minda Lopez nails. The trucks kick up itchy swirls of dust but said Minda the Sun that s definitely the  it makes picking sweaty hot work in Fields that smell like baking sauce. But each hamper is Worth 30 cents so the migrants Bend or Kneel scrap Ping red globs off vines slapping branches against hampers to unload a Bunch at once. There is Only occasional talk or hum Ming from a truck radio. For a break they straighten and Light a cigarette. For a bathroom they use a nearby Cornfield. For 10 years migrants have listed Field out houses As a top desire. I be watched these Guys go Down a Row for an hour and a half said an Ohio Bureau of employment services worker and they Don t straighten up. If i tried that they d have to Send someone in with a Jack to straighten me  Minda fills a hamper every five min utes. That s 12 baskets or about $3.60 an hour ,$43.20 a 12-hour Day. Farmers in the area Are fond of telling about the Money to be made picking. They each can Tell you about some Guy who picked 335 or even 505 baskets in a Day. Some migrants make $400 a week said Ezequiel Gonzalez Obes Rural Man Power representative. But such weeks come Only late in the season when the crop is abundant. They May not come at All in Case of rain cutworms labor surplus or Market slumps. Federal statistics say the average migrant makes $3,000 and has four kids. After five and on sundays migrant life centers on the Camps. Luckey s is a Low Slung corrugated Metal Barracks. The floors Are Cement a Hazard to the handful of toddlers that race through the units gig gling hauling their Shepherd Puppy Star by a rope. An old Box television takes up one Corner a sink and huge tin of shortening another. The panelled Kitchen and two bed rooms furnished with a Couch and bunks Are separated by curtains. A wringer Washer and showers Are in a room Between two units. The Lopees mostly sit and talk at night Elizabeth says. But they go out too to the Spanish movie in nearby Woodville or toothed Camps to see friends and relatives. Monday nights a Spanish radio program i broadcast. Priests like father Ramunda Ladonna of St. Paul s Church in Toledo travel to the Camps weekday evenings for mass baptisms first communions and weddings. For an altar we use whatever the people have an old table or yester Day i used a garbage can. Towels and sheets not Linen. Ill look out said Luckey on the Patio of his farmhouse and see four or five Guys standing around the trash barrel drinking Beer. I can t blame them. They d probably go crazy if they did t. " others Are not so tolerant. Robert heft Napoleon Ohio s part time mayor says the migrants flood Wood county every year at the same time. Crime especially shoplifting increases. The mayor says he resents that we find its cheaper to let them violate the Law. Take them to court for a traffic Case he said and they Don t have any insurance and they need court appointed Law yers. It costs us $200 to $300 to  Bill Browning Napoleon police Dis Patcher says that aside from a few extra arrests for Public drunkenness migrants Don t mean much of a change for the department. Drinking. That s All they have to do up Here in a strange country he said they hang out in certain bars two in particular we get called to All the time. One you be got to give them credit. There s no racism. If a Guy wants to come in and relax have a drink that s Fine with  by Isaac a. Levi associated Pressa l . At the . Border patrol tation at Chula Vista Calif recently Luis Sandoval stood Shiv ering despite the summer  wore a brightly printed shirt and dark Slacks. Mud from water ditches caked his shoes. Among those with him in the room was Patrick Lucey the . Ambassador to  few hours earlier Luis Sandoval and other mexicans were apprehended As they crossed illegally into the United states. Now he was undergoing interrogation in the station before being placed on a bus and sent Back to Mexico. Sandoval said his take Home pay was around $130 a week. He paid $40 to $50 a month for food $135 a month for rent in a Small House he shared with four other mexicans and managed to Send Home $20 to $25 a week to his family. That was All they had he said. My sister and my children do not work. It was their  Sandoval said that when he left Mexico six years ago he was averaging 70 to 80 pesos a Day. That amounted to $5.60 to $6.40 at the time. But since last year s devaluation of the mexican currency it is no More than $3.50 to $4 now. One study a year ago said that illegal aliens such As Sandoval Send Home any where from $1.6 billion to $2.5 billion a year. President Carter has proposed the granting of full resident status to All aliens who can prove they entered the United states before Jan. 1, 1970, with eventual rights to gaining full american citizenship. The proposal also Calls for a new Type of non deportable status for All those who came in after that Date and before Jan. 1, 1977 so they can enjoy full Protection of american labor Laws. The idea is to do away with abuses such As the payment of below minimum wages. A reporter asked Sandoval if he had heard of Carter s amnesty proposal and if that was the reason he came to the United states. I heard about it he replied. But i Don t know much. I read the newspapers very Little. I Don t  Sandoval said another of his Sisters came to the United states Many years ago and now is a Legal resident in los Angeles. A Border patrol chief said he suspected this was Sandoval s first at tempt to get into the United states and that he was trying to make a Ca Sefor himself to prove he was in the country before the Carter proposed deadline of Jan. 1,1970. The Border patrol s assistant chief at Chula Vista Robert d. Mccord says about 38,000 illegals were apprehended in july 9 out of 10 of them mexicans. This was 13, 000 More than the number apprehended in july 1976. Mccord said the increase was due to the fact the station has 100 More agents this year. I feel sad said ambassador Lucey after listening to Sandoval there is an unequal contrast Between the men equip ment and activity Here and the poor people who Are coming to the United states in sheer desperation. I am also con Vinci that Many people that come Here illegally do not get apprehended. However their problem is our prob Lem. With a 2,000-mile wide open Border we cannot ignore the plight of the mexicans. I am also sure the mexican govern ment is fully aware that we cannot accept this  then turning to Sandoval he asked you have no Money you say. What Are you going to do after you Getto mexican Sandoval shrugged Call my sister Long distance collect in los Angeles and maybe she can come to help with  monday october 17, 1977 the stars and stripes Page 13