Pierson immigrants have leader on their side

Daytona Beach News-Journal (FL) April 6, 2010
Author: FRANK FERNANDEZ - STAFF WRITER

PIERSON - Marcos Crisanto was a teacher in Mexico before coming to the United States to work in fields and factories.

But he has made his way back to teaching. Not in a classroom before fresh-faced elementary, junior or senior high school kids, but rather in an office in Pierson before the often weary and tired faces of migrant farm workers.

Crisanto has been coordinator of the Farmworker Association of Florida's office in Pierson for six years. He wants to make sure the area's many Mexican immigrants know he and the association will battle so they can have a better life.

"They can see that this organization fights for workers' rights," Crisanto said in a recent interview, "to give them power so they can represent themselves."

Although Marcos has had difficulty filling the shoes of well-known campesino leader Alfredo Bahena, who died in a traffic accident six years ago, he has had success in getting community leaders to work with the agency's office in Pierson, said the association's state coordinator, Tirso Moreno.

"He still has some improvements to make but he has advanced and kept the issues affecting campesinos a priority," Moreno said.

During the week, Crisanto spends much of his time in the Pierson office, helping Mexican immigrants get answers to a variety of questions. The topic could be immigration, employment, health or any other number of things.

Posted By: Ayanna Spikes

Pierson immigrants have leader on their side
- STAFF WRITER, FRANK FERNANDEZ. "Pierson immigrants have leader on their side." Daytona Beach News-Journal (FL) 12 Apr. 2010, N-J Final, Section C: 01C. NewsBank. Web. 16 Apr. 2010.