‘Afraid of getting sick’: Borderland migrant farm workers fearful of returning to fields amid virus

EL PASO, Texas -- Thousands of migrant workers are expected to flock to the Borderland to harvest onions and chiles towards the end of May and June, according to Carlos Marentes, the director of Sin Fronteras.

Sin Fronteras is a non-profit in El Paso, which provides temporary shelter, food and social services to agricultural workers in the region.

"This is not your typical shelter," Marentes said. "We provide all types of services for the migrant agricultural workers who come to this area to look for work in the agricultural production."

The Border Agriculture Workers Center, or Sin Fronteras, is home to about 20 to 50 migrant workers any given day of the week.

"The numbers change each day," Marentes said. "We will go up and up. The capacity of this facility is 120 farm workers."

As El Paso fails to flatten the curve for Covid-19, Marentes fears for the migrant workers using the facility.

"Our biggest concern is maintaining a safe place," he said. "[The migrant workers] are afraid of getting sick and if they get badly sick, they will lose their lives and they problem is their families live and survive by the little they make by the fields."

The shelter is doing what they can to ensure the safety of their guests.

"We require everyone to wear a face mask at the entrance of this place," Marentes said. "When they come back from the field or from doing something outside the center their temperature is checked."

He added, "we are hopeful and confident that with the assistance of other programs we will find other means to provide protection to the agricultural workers."

Marentes noted that they are doing the best they can to keep this essential labor force healthy, while they are housed at their facility.