Fingers To The Bone: United States Failure To Protect Child Farmworkers

This report was researched and written by Lee Tucker, consultant to the Children's Rights Division of Human Rights Watch. It was edited by Lois Whitman, Executive Director of the Children's Rights Division, and Michael McClintock, Deputy Program Director of Human Rights Watch. Other Human Rights Watch staff who assisted substantially in the review or preparation of this report were: Dinah PoKempner, Deputy General Counsel of Human Rights Watch; Jo Becker, Children's Rights Division Advocacy Director; Shalu Rozario, Children's Rights Division Associate; and Lance Compa, Program Researcher.

We are grateful to the many people and organizations who offered their assistance and expertise in connection with this report, not all of whom can be named. In particular, we thank: Diane Mull of the Association of Farmworker Opportunity Programs; Darlene Adkins of the National Consumers League Child Labor Coalition; Emma Torres, Coordinator of Bridges in Friendship: A Project of the Border Health Foundation; Gary Restaino, former staff attorney of Community Legal Services in Phoenix; Rupert Sandoval, Coordinator of the Arizona Interagency Farmworkers Coalition; David Dick and Maria Elena Badilla of Pinal-Gila Legal Aid Society; Janice Porter and Sister Emily Gezich of Aguila, Arizona; Blanca Rodriguez, United Farm Workers attorney in Sunnyside, Washington; Gina Lombardi of the National Center for Farmworker Health; Michelle Gonzalez Arroyo of the Labor Occupational Health Program at the University of California in Berkeley; and Dr. Marion Moses of the Pesticide Information Center. Dr. John Arnold of Project PPEP in Tucson offered great assistance by putting us in touch with several other Project PPEP staff members-teachers Karen Lowe, Jimmy Pruitt, and Doug Davidson, and regional directors Augie Zaragoza and Raoul Salazar-all of whom were extremely helpful and to whom we give our heartfelt thanks.

Many government officials gave graciously of their time, sharing information and responding to our queries. Our thanks to: Corlis Sellers, Libby Hendrix, and Esther LaPlante of the U.S. Department of Labor; Marcos Cordoba of the Arizona Department of Economic Security; Art Morelos of the Industrial Commission of Arizona; Frank Zamudio of the Arizona Department of Agriculture; Kevin Keaney of the Environmental Protection Agency; and Cindy O'Hara of the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission.

The Natural Resources Defense Council's excellent report, "Trouble on the Farm: Growing up with Pesticides in Agricultural Communities," was invaluable to our report and is cited numerous times. We gratefully acknowledge the NRDC and author Dr. Gina Solomon for this outstanding contribution, as well as their ongoing work aimed at protecting children from pesticides. We also acknowledge the National Research Council and the Institute of Medicine for their comprehensive 1998 book, Protecting Youth at Work, cited frequently in our report

Above all, Human Rights Watch would like to thank all of the children and youth who shared their experiences with us, making this report possible. In order to protect their privacy, all of their names have been changed except where otherwise noted.