Migrant families feeling fuel costs

MISSION - The Gutierrez family has made the 2,000-mile trip to Urbana, Ohio, every summer for 19 years to pick, sort and clean vegetables.

Sometimes, the family broke up the 25-hour trip and stayed in a hotel or stopped at McDonald's for a meal.

This summer, though, the family - whose children attend La Joya schools - says rising gas prices will force them to use that hotel and food money on their 2005 Ford F-150's gas tank.

"It is a lot. Gas is very expensive," said the family's mom, Graciela Gutierrez. "Now, we might have to stay in our vehicle."

Despite the record-high gas prices this year, many Rio Grande Valley families who migrate north to work in the fields say they have no choice but to keep doing so because the work up north is their only source of income. Their livelihood simply depends on it.

"Everybody's crying because of the gas (prices)," said Juan Reyna, the dad of a family whose children also attend La Joya schools.

Reyna and his wife, also named Graciela, have traveled to Colorado and Wyoming since 1987 to harvest onions, bell peppers and other vegetables. In recent years, their two sons have helped them in the fields.

Even though they usually stay with Graciela's brother to offset some costs, they still help her brother pay the bills in addition to their own living expenses.

They expect to spend $400 on gas one-way. Last year, that bill was $275.

"It's affecting everybody," Graciela Reyna said.

Beyond the Valley
Some, like the Gutierrezes, are taking out short-term loans to pay for their trip, planning to pay it back once they start work.

The Alaniz family of Sullivan City, for example, said it plans to take out a $1,000 loan to cover its trip to Brownfield, Texas, near Lubbock.

Though there is no way of knowing how much gas will cost in the months to come, prices usually increase during the summer because more people are on the road, according to AAA Texas.

The most recent national average price for gas is $3.98 a gallon. In Texas it is $3.85 a gallon.

Last year, the average prices in Texas were $3.02 a gallon for regular unleaded and $2.83 a gallon for diesel, said AAA Texas spokeswoman Rose Rougeau.

The Valley's gas prices aren't so much the issue for families who must also mind costs in other parts of the country.

In Ohio last year, Graciela Gutierrez remembers gas at $3.39 a gallon as they returned south in November, when it only cost $3.15 a gallon in the Valley.

To go or not to go?
Some employers are helping ease the cost of living for their employees.

For example, Monsanto, a seed company in Williamsburg, Iowa, gives employees gas money to pay for their trip north.

A manager at the company wouldn't say exactly how much, but said it is at least half of what families spend to come up north.

"It's one of our perks," Bob Lillis said.

The company also provides housing, utilities and transportation to and from work to employees, most of who are from the Valley.

Not all families work for major companies, though.

So some Valley migrant families are reconsidering their trips north.

Maria and Ruben Ramirez normally travel to Minnesota in the summers to work.

Last summer, though, Ruben suffered a heat stroke and cannot work in the sun now.

To travel north for just her to work, the couple expects to pay about $600 to fuel up their Ford F-150 and another $400 to replace the tires.

So, before deciding on whether to trek to Minnesota this year, Maria said she's looking for job down here to help pay the family's bills.The Valley only has so many jobs to offer, though.