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Field Day

Inmates fill in for immigrant farm workers
News - From the October 13, 2008 issue of High Country News by Marty Durlin
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ECKERT, COLORADO Sixty acres of peaches are ripening up on Antelope Hill Fruit Farm, row after row of trees loaded with fuzzy, sunset-colored fruit. The pickers work quickly, tattooed arms reaching toward high branches, calloused hands carefully plac"ing the fruit in their shoulder bags. Occasionally one of the men makes a short comment, or cracks a ragged smile. Waylon Majeski -- his head shaved, beard neatly trimmed, wearing a crisp white T-shirt -- likes the work. "You're able to get out of the facility for the day, and you get to see the beautiful sights, and you feel to a certain degree free," he says. Just a few steps away, a uniformed guard keeps a close eye on Majeski and the rest of the crew, making sure they don't feel too free. Immigrant farmworkers have worked these orchards for decades, but this year, the peach-pickers are prisoners from the

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