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State funds may increase for inspections of migrant worker housing

Laura Elizabeth Pohl
/
Flickr

Governor Snyder wants to allocate $400,000 in next year's budget to hire three more inspectors to investigate living conditions of migrant farm workers. 

Alberto Flores is with the Michigan Department of Civil Rights. He says that leaves only 8 inspectors to look at housing for the more than 90-thousand migrant workers that come to Michigan every year.

"When they were down to bare minimum in terms of inspectors, they were only doing preseason inspections just so that the growers could open up the housing, the camps," he said. "With those inspectors that are going to be hired with those funds, it's to do in-season inspections when the farm workers are there and that's when we need the inspections."

Flores says inspectors need to be able to see fully how people are living to be able to determine what work needs to be done to the housing.  

Emily Fox- Michigan Radio Newsroom