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New York. On June 12, 2009, Border Patrol agents detained several suspected unauthorized Mexican migrants in western New York, prompting a discussion in the comment section of the Wayne County Star. Some comments blamed local apple farmers for encouraging illegal migration, while others accused the Border Patrol of racial profiling. An investigation found that some of the comments came from Border Patrol computers.

There are a peak 8,000 farm workers in Wayne county, which is the number two US apple producing county. In Sodus, a village of 5,200, local residents stand vigil outside a Catholic church during a Spanish-language Mass to discourage Border Patrol raids; a worker riding his bike to Mass was arrested and deported in 2007.

Migrant Support Services draws on 120 volunteers; many were mobilized after a September 28, 2008 raid on the Sodus Trailer Park that was seen as heavy handed? 12 people were arrested in the search for two suspects.

Senator Charles Schumer (D-NY), chair of the Senate's Immigration Subcommittee, explained the need for immigration reform as follows: "The people we needed didn't come. And the people who came didn't fill the jobs that were most needed. That made people strongly against immigration, period." He continued: "No one has any problem with a farmer having some immigrants pick some crops, particularly when it's clear most Americans don't want the work."

Washington. Several of the 40 workers at Ruby Ridge Dairy, a 2,000-cow dairy herd near Pasco, approached the UFW after several of their colleagues were fired in August 2009. Ruby Ridge is an owner-member of dairy farmer cooperative Darigold, which tried to develop a procedure under which Ruby Ridge workers could determine if they want UFW representation. Farm workers in Washington are not covered by a labor law that establishes procedures to determine whether workers want union representation.

The UFW has about 200 members in Washington at Ste. Michelle Wine Estates and at Beef Northwest, and Oregon cattle-feeding operation.

On August 11, 2009, 14 workers sued Ruby Ridge, alleging that four workers were fired in retaliation for their attempts to unionize and that employed workers were not given required meal and rest breaks.

Most farm workers in Washington harvest apples and cherries. The US apple crop for 2009 is forecast to be 241 million 42-pound bushels, including 57 percent from Washington. The US and Washington crops are about the same as the five-year average level of production.

Oregon. Several suits were filed by workers employed at a Del Monte Fresh Produce plant in Portland, Oregon that was raided on June 12, 2007. ICE agents asserted that fewer than 50 of the 600 workers had valid Social Security numbers. The raid resulted in the arrest of 167 workers, prompting Portland's mayor to complain that going "after local workers who are here to support their families while filling the demands of local businesses for their labor is bad policy."

Workers sued Del Monte and North Carolina-based American Staffing Management Group, which supplied workers to the plant, in September 2007. On October 7, 2009 a jury ordered Del Monte to compensate the 1,200 minimum wage workers for the time it took them to don and doff their uniforms and protective equipment. Del Monte was found to be a joint employer with American Staffing Management Group.

The decision allows the workers to proceed to a second phase of the trial on damages and penalties. Oregon law provides a penalty of 30 days wages, about $1,800, to each person whose minimum-wage rights were violated. Del Monte plans to appeal. In 2006, a similar suit resulted in a $400,000 settlement.

Colorado. Colorado is one of 10 states where the minimum wage is tied to inflation (Others are Arizona, Florida, Missouri, Montana, Nevada, Ohio, Oregon, Vermont and Washington). The cost of living went down, and the state's minimum wage is slated to drop from $7.28 to $7.24 an hour (most employers will have to pay at least the $7.25 an hour federal minimum wage).

Shannon Dininny and Manuel Valdes, "Washington farm workers push for unionization," AP, October 7, 2009. Diana Louise Carte, "Sodus residents take stand for illegal farmworkers," and "US awaits reform of immigration laws," Rochester Democrat and Chronicle, August 9-10, 2009.