Migrants: Putting Down Roots - With a Permanent Job comes a new Home in the North

April 10, 2002

Cuthberto Paniagua raises his pruning shears and squints into the sun as he carefully clips
another branch off an apple tree. It‘s a cold, clear day on the Old Mission Peninsula farm where
he works, but he‘s glad for the quiet stillness and the wide-open blue sky.
Things weren‘t always so settled for Paniagua. Twenty years ago, he was like many
migrant workers -- picking oranges in Florida during the winter and traveling north to Michigan every summer to pick cherries. But it wasn‘t an easy life. There was the stress of raising a family on the road, the constant struggle for adequate housing, and the rigors of working outside every day.
In 1982, he gave up the nomadic life and started working full-time for Dean Johnson, an
Old Mission fruit farmer. Now he‘s Johnson‘s right-hand man, handling all aspects of the 500-
acre operation with a never-ending smile and a “work is work“ philosophy.
“This place could not run without him,“ says Johnson, adding that Paniagua has also
evolved into a “crew boss,“ overseeing the 15 or so migrants who work on the farm during the
busy summer months.
“He gets the crew, and I stay right out of it,“ notes Johnson. “I‘ve had people ask me for
work, and I tell them, ‘You‘ve got to talk to Cuthberto.“

AN INSPIRATION
In fact, Paniagua, who originally hails from Mexico, has been an inspiration to other
migrants who‘ve chosen to find year-round work in Northern Michigan. “He was one of the first
that stayed,“ says Johnson. “Other people have seen his lifestyle and see that he‘s got a pretty
good vehicle, a nice house, good food... if you start looking around the community, you see others going, ‘This is a pretty decent life.‘ They don‘t want to go back to Florida and deal with all that.“
That‘s fine with Johnson, who admits he‘d rather hire migrants than locals any day of the
week. “This country needs them,“ he says. “Local people won‘t do it. I‘ve tried and tried. I had
one guy come out last year who thought it‘d be kind of neat to pick apples. He worked one day
and that was it.“
With an ever-expanding farm operation that includes mainly cherries and apples, worker
reliability is extremely important for Johnson. It‘s a far cry from the old days when tractors and shaker crews were manned primarily by friends and family.
“Those days are gone,“ he notes. “The farm is so big and there‘s so much fruit now that
we can‘t afford down time. We get on the machines at seven in the morning and get off at seven at night, and we can‘t afford to have guys out there who don‘t know what they‘re doing.“

FINDING PERMANENT WORK
Every year, more and more migrants are choosing to put down roots in Northern
Michigan, finding work not only on farms, but also in motels, factories and other businesses.
Many turn to Silvia Cortes, director of Catholic Hispanic Ministry at Immaculate Conception in
Traverse City. Cortes serves as a liaison for the local Hispanic population, connecting them with various agencies, food pantries, even acting as a translator at times.
“Most of the people don‘t speak English,“ she says. “It‘s very hard for them, so we go to
the schools to help with translations, to doctor‘s appointments, to the Social Security office or courthouse. We also translate papers from Spanish to English, because now the Secretary of
State, they ask for three documents in order to get a driver‘s license, and sometimes they ask for papers that people don‘t have. It‘s very hard for them to get a driver‘s license.“
And although most migrants aren‘t fond of cold weather, the benefits of staying here
outweigh the disadvantages: they can usually find year-round work, discrimination isn‘t as
rampant as in other states, and it‘s a peaceful environment.
“I think most of the people come here looking for tranquility,“ says Cortes. “There‘s not
so many people like in Chicago or Grand Rapids.“

A LONG HISTORY
They also have a pretty good time of blending into the community, maybe because
Northern Michigan has a long history of migrant workers, dating back to the 1920s. “There are
some cases, like everywhere, where people feel discrimination, but I think that most feel it‘s not a big problem here,“ notes Cortes. “Most people feel good here and don‘t feel too much rejection from the community.“
That feeling was helped along a few years ago when Miguel Osorio opened Osorio El
Mexicano, a well-stocked specialty-food store and unofficial gathering place for the local
Hispanic community. Osorio also serves up authentic Mexican fare on the weekends at Willie‘s
Rear, a restaurant just a few doors down from the grocery store on South Airport Road in
Traverse City.
Osorio not only knows most of the local Hispanic population, he knows where they live,
helps them find jobs and housing, and hands out flyers for the Catholic masses held at
Immaculate Conception.
“I work with Catholic people, but Miguel knows everybody,“ says Cortes. “He‘ll say to
the people, ‘Ok, the mass is at this time...go to mass, it‘s important, you can meet other people
and know each other.‘ We try to organize the people because I think it‘s important, but some are very busy working. Many people work seven days a week, and they don‘t have time to come to mass.“
If there‘s one thing Cortes could change, she‘d like to see Hispanics expand their job
opportunities in the area. “There are people who are very talented, and I would like to empower them,“ she says. “They have many, many skills, more than just working in a factory, and I sometimes feel frustrated that I cannot do too much. But we try to keep the people‘s faith in themselves and keep them in contact with their roots and their culture and values. Because if we forget that, we‘re lost.“
For more information about the Hispanic Catholic Ministry, contact Silvia Cortes at (231)
946-1205.