Earlier this month, about a dozen workers arrived in Wolcott, a small town about 40 miles west of Syracuse, to grow apple trees. At this time of year, farmworkers are grafting and budding — farmer-speak for fusing trees together — and planting long rows of seedlings.
They traveled to Wafler Farms, an apple orchard and fruit tree nursery, from Jamaica. Some have been making the journey for many years, living on the farm for up to three seasons and earning money to support their wives and send their children to school back home. It’s a precarious arrangement: They can only return to the farm, and therefore to the U.S., if their boss brings them back.
“Sometimes you have to see something being done wrong and shut your mouth — you can’t say nothing. Because if you say something, you just might not come back next year,” said Christopher, a seasonal worker who has been returning to the farm for a decade. (Four Wafler Farms workers spoke with New York Focus and asked to have their names changed to protect them from retaliation.)…