Final 2-Day Vigil Launched Over 17-Year-Old Farmworker's Death

It's getting down to the wire to salvage some justice in the death of 17-year-old pregnant farmworker Maria Isabel Vasquez Jimenez, who perished after being illegally denied water or rest breaks while working under the hot California sun. Within two days, District Attorney James P. Willett plans to let the girl's killers off with a bit of community service — barely a slap on the wrist for taking a young life — unless he really feels the pressure to take this offensive plea deal off the table. Fifteen thousand of you have already called for jail time to send a message that farmworkers' lives are not expendable, but we need to step it up in these last days.

Today, United Farm Workers (UFW), advocates on the ground, and Maria Isabel's mourning family and friends launched a vigil on the courthouse steps in Stockton, California, that will last until the final decision on the plea bargain is made. The UFW Facebook page is being constantly updated with photos and news from the vigil. DA Willett and those who caused her death believe that because Maria Isabel died in 2008, and the legal system has taken its time in bringing the case to trial, people have just forgotten about this outrageous death. All the emails from Change.org members and the presence of protesters on the courthouse steps should make it clear that this is not the case: that the wrongful death of a poor, young, hard-working girl does matter to many people.

Maria Isabel's death wasn't just an "accident." It was the result of conscious decisions made by the owner and safety coordinator of Merced Farm Labor that the health and lives of their workers didn't matter, and that the law stating otherwise didn't apply to them. Maria Isabel died despite a strict law passed by the state of California mandating protections for farmworkers — protections that should have been common sense (or common human decency), like not forcing someone to work nine hours in blistering heat without fluids or rest. She died despite a fine already levied against Merced Farm Labor for jeopardizing the safety of its employees (a fine they ignored). She died after being taken to a local clinic (not a hospital) by coworkers instructed to lie and say she'd collapsed while exercising, so Merced Farm Labor wouldn't get the blame, further endangering her life.

There's not much time left to convince DA Willett to insist on real penalties for Maria Isabel's killers. Otherwise, he's not only disrespecting her memory, he's telling other employers that it's okay to neglect the safety of their farmworkers — that nobody really care what happens to them, not even if you kill them. Please sign and share the petition from United Farm Workers before it's too late.

Photo credit: UFW Facebook page