By Gabbie Burton
Contributing Writer

On the eve of the 39th Mushroom Festival in Kennett Square last weekend, WHYY-FM’s Studio 2 podcast hosted a presentation at the Kennett Library on Sept. 4 that wove together the issue of immigration and the area’s thriving mushroom industry, illustrating how the labor needs of the local mushroom industry highlight the flaws of the country’s federal immigration policy.

The 90-minute event, entitled “Immigration, Mushrooms and the Impact on Chester County’s Economy,” was moderated by Studio 2 podcast hosts Cherri Gregg and Avi Wolfman-Arent and included immigration attorney Nancy Ayllon-Ramirez; Zeke Hernandez, a professor at the University of Pennsylvania’s Wharton School and author of the new book The Truth About Immigration: Why Successful Societies Welcome Newcomers; and Guy Ciarrocchi, former president of the Chester County Chamber of Commerce. 

“We are going to ground the immigration debate in one community, this community, Southern Chester County which, as I’m sure all of you know, is America’s mushroom capital,” Wolfman-Arent said at the start of the event. “For decades, the people who’ve worked in these mushroom picking and packaging facilities have largely been immigrants. So today we’re going to ask, ‘Why did they come here? How and what happens, or what would happen to this community if America’s immigration system would change dramatically?’” 

Ayllon-Ramirez shared her family’s story and connection to the mushroom industry, that began soon after her father arrived in the U.S. after immigrating from Mexico, which led to a long career working in the industry. Ayllon-Ramirez, who arrived in the U.S. when she was six, graduated from Kennett High School in 2005, and after her graduation from college, attended law school and opened her immigration law practice in Kennett Square three years ago. She provided insight to the conversation on both what mushroom workers experience and on the tribulations some of those workers face with immigration laws. 

“Because of the mushroom industry, I am here today because my father has worked so hard to raise us here in the United States and give us better opportunities,” she said. “It was hard work. I saw how he would come home, and he would just sit on the couch, and even today, he’s just falling asleep, just because he’s exhausted from all these years of working.”

Additionally, on the legal end of things, Aylon-Ramirez said that laws have not changed in a long time, “so it seems like as time goes on, there’s people that have limited opportunities to gain some status,” she said.

Gregg provided some background context to the conversation by explaining that the USDA reported a few years ago that about half of the people working at crop farms across the United States were undocumented. 

Ciarracchi then spoke to the economic perspective through his experience and insight gained while working for the chamber of commerce. 

“I felt that in the recent impasse of the last five or 10 years over the whole issue of the border and immigration, no community has suffered more than southern Chester County in the mushroom industry, because neither side was really talking to them,” he said. “It is important that we have a healthy, vital immigration policy and no place more important than here, because it’s vitally important to our growth.”

Ciarracchi said that despite the other million or billion-dollar industries in Chester County, agriculture is still fundamentally important to communities here despite its success being threatened by immigration policy and debate. 

Hernandez, whose research links immigration and economic growth, brought up the issue of shortages in labor markets including agriculture and how immigration is an aid to that issue, not something to be avoided. 

“One claim that you are going to hear often during political season is, ‘Oh, all new jobs are going to immigrants,’” he said. “That’s like saying all preschool spots are filled by children under seven. Well, of course, because there are no new workers going into the economy through natural birth, so the only way we get them is by importing them.”

Hernandez proposed an argument that moving away from compassion and fear as the core of the immigration debate and towards self-interest can help bridge the divide and solve some of the issues. 

“Immigrants don’t need your pity nor your fear,” he said. “Immigrants are essential for us, for a community like Kennett Square, for a country like the United States, to generate jobs, investment, innovation, taxes, demographic balance and talent, and that’s good for us. America has been an immigration chooser for a long time. We’re going to become an immigration beggar out of necessity because our demographics aren’t keeping up, and when we become an immigration beggar, self-interest will kick in.” 

The event concluded with a question-and-answer segment, when one audience member asked about subcontractors in the mushroom industry who hire undocumented immigrants for the growers to “shield” the growers from liability.

“Once contractors are brought into the picture, they’re taking advantage of the employees and sometimes not paying them completely,” said Allyon-Ramirez. “They’re also providing housing, providing transportation and providing a place where they can cash their check, but the place where they’re cashing their check is owned by the contractor, so the money is going back to the contractors.”

After the event, Ayllon-Ramirez elaborated on her view of contractors to the Chester County Press and stressed the importance of public knowledge on this issue. 

“By definition, these individuals who are experiencing all these issues with the subcontractors are considered trafficking victims,” she said. 

To listen to the entire Studio 2 podcast presentation, visit www.whyy.org/episodes/immigration-chester-county-pennsylvania.