Speech #870275646

Moving in three general areas. they travel thousands of miles each year. Their lives are without the roots known to stable society. The domestic migrant farm labor force follows three patterns of movement. The east coast stream works in Florida in the winter and journeys to the upper east coast and Middle Atlantic States for the harvest periods during the balance of the year. The Central States stream moves through the central South and Midwest. and the west coast 1962 .. .. steam of migratory farmworkers works the Rockies and the Pacific coast. Being composed mainly of minority groups. and having little if any schooling and knowledge of the English language. the migrants living conditions leave much to be desired in many areas. Although the American farmer has done much to provide adequate housing and sanitation for his workers. the cost of such facilities is high. The average wages of the migrant laborer do not allow him to acquire living fixtures in each area of employment. and the uncertainty of his return to the same area add to this problem. Thus with little knowledge or interest in improving his surroundings. the domestic migratory farmworker becomes as much a potential menace to society as he is an asset to it. Migrant camps are breeding grounds for chronic diseases. many of them the result of neglect and ignorance. Intestinal disorders. respiratory infections. venereal disease. diphtheria. and typhoid are common maladies in migrant camps. These diseases are increased threats to the surrounding permanent residents because of poor sanitation. Such diseases would pose a serious health hazard to any community if isolated. But consider the problem as amplified by the constant movement of the migratory farm labor force throughout the Nation. In effect. the migrant laborer is a carrier of disease to literally any part of the Nation. To cite specific examples. take the case of a 1960 diphtheria outbreak in a Texas migrant labor camp. Seven cases were discovered in migrant worker families. The third week a diphtheria epidemic had spread among 43 local residents. including 2 cases in an adjoining county. Five cases of diphtheria occurred among migrant children in Illinois. Since the families of several diphtheriainfected children had come from the Texas diphtheria area. there was thought to be some relationship to this new outbreak. Later the next year. diphtheria was reported in a labor camp housing 75 migrants in Florida. Other diphtheria outbreaks have been reported in Michigan and California. There have been reports of such diseases as typhoid fever. hepatitis. and Asian flu spreading in this same manner.