The hours are long. The weather is brutal. The tasks – picking apples, milking cows, pruning vineyards, cleaning barns – are laborious and monotonous. The pay is at or just above minimum wage.
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A worker clears leaves from a grapevine. Not many Americans want to work on a farm, according to local farmers, so farmers turn to immigrants, who eagerly take the jobs.
Joed Viera, Buffalo News
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An aerial view of Becker Farms in Gasport.
Joed Viera/Buffalo News
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Oscar Vizcarra, owner of Becker Farms, checks a grapevine on his property in Gasport. Though he has lived in Gasport for decades and owns a successful farm, he looks different from most of his neighbors: He was born and raised in Peru.
Joed Viera, Buffalo News
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A worker prunes a rosebush.
Joed Viera/Buffalo News
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Lettuce grows in a field at Becker Farms in Gasport. “We cannot ignore the fact that a broken immigration system has left both (farmworkers) and the farmers who rely on them in an impossible situation,” says State Sen. George Borrello.
Joed Viera photos, Buffalo News
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In this Series
Updated
Feb 25, 2026
Updated
Feb 25, 2026
Updated
Feb 25, 2026
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