News (Noticias) for Maine

For the past seven years, the Pentagoet Inn in Castine has relied on five temporary foreign workers to take jobs local people aren’t interested in — washing dishes, cleaning rooms, changing beds and cooking. This year, changes to the H-2B visa program will make it even more difficult for owners Jack and Julie Burke to fill those positions and keep their business running smoothly.

“It’s definitely a crisis,” said Jack Burke in a recent interview. “If you’re in Bangor or Portland, you’re probably not in as much of a pinch because you have a larger pool [of labor] to draw from. But here on the coast, it’s tough.”"*

The report says there were 15,656 Hispanics in Maine, a little over one percent of the state’s population. But that represents a 65 percent increase from 2000, when there were 9,480 Hispanics in Maine.”*

When harvest time rolls around in Maine, 10,000 to 12,000 migrant farm workers and their families come to the state to harvest wild blueberries and cranberries, pick apples and cut broccoli. Others tend chickens, work in the forests, and help grow Christmas trees.
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The workers who travel from Mexico, Central America, Caribbean nations and Canada play a key role in keeping Maine-grown food on the supper tables at a reasonable cost.

Their unsung role is documented and celebrated in an exhibit which itself will migrate from Augusta to Boston and back to Maine in the weeks ahead. Its final tour will be in areas where migrants will toil during the next harvest season. The list of stops is being finalized.”*

*From: http://www.boston.com
Traducido: usando Google o Altavista/Babel Fish

As a national debate over immigration rages, Maine’s policy of granting driver’s licenses to nonresidents and people with no proof of legal residency is coming under closer scrutiny.

The Secretary of State’s office says active driver’s licenses are currently issued to 2,521 people who have no Social Security numbers, meaning they could be in the United States illegally.
“*

“A stalwart of the Down East Hispanic community pleaded guilty Wednesday in U.S. District Court to visa fraud and conspiring with her husband to hire illegal aliens.

Doris Amanda Ayala Escalante, 38, of Harrington admitted that between January 2005 and June 2006 she hired at least 10 illegal aliens to work at a Washington County sea cucumber processing plant and the restaurant she operated with relatives.

She also pleaded guilty to having two sets of documents, one in her own name, the other under the name of Amanda Ayala Centeno.”*

“After a successful concert night last Saturday, Tito Puente Jr., members of his band, and a select group of guests reunited at Su Casa to continue the FIESTA. The night was full of energy, Latin rhythms, good drinks and great food. Our own Sandie Bedell performed a few songs solo and on a duet with celebrated Latin performer/song writer Edwin Pabon.

Tito was very impressed with the people of Maine, saying “I got the good people of Rockport up on their feet and dancing”.”

“When college teacher Sara Wright went to the Amazon jungle on a grant to study medicinal plants, she didnt plan on falling in love. That trip proved to be a life changing experience for Wright. She now plays a major role in helping women from four communities in Peru maintain a sustainable lifestyle while practicing conservation of the natural world around them. She has just returned from a recent visit to Peru.

Wright says, “I not only fell in love with the Amazon, but with the people. As an artist I was struck by the quality of the Peruvian arpilleras. As a woman with Native American roots, I felt a personal pull to act as a bridge to help bring this South American Indian art form into the United States to sell. This is how I became a part of the arpillera story.”"

“Ramirez is one of six Mexicans working at the big Piper dairy farm, located on the Solon end of Embden. The Piper farm has 500 milking cows on its combined 1,200 acres of owned and rented land, and the family needs Ramirez as much as he needs them.

“Life here is better,” said Ramirez, a small but strong man who speaks better English than the rest of his countrymen on the farm, and does it with a smile. “I learn things every day here. Now, I know about breeding cows.”

Unlike some of his married countrymen who send money back to their families, Ramirez is single. A day away from his 30th birthday, which he celebrated by shopping for clothes in Augusta with his girlfriend, he is able to put some of the money earned in a 62-hour week into savings. Ramirez is proud that he owns a car.”