Officials in Idaho say buses carrying children of migrant workers are harassed

Officials from Idaho said Tuesday that drivers were tracking and harassing buses carrying children from seasonal and migrant workers to early childhood education programs, Idaho Statesman reported.

In response to this abuse, the Idaho Community Council plans to remove and conceal the "Assistance to Migrants and Seasonal" signs in buses.

The Council's Head Start program serves approximately 800 children each year in 10 centers throughout the state.

"It's really heartbreaking because they are children," Council spokesman Sonnay Alvarez said, according to the politician. "They do not understand what hate is."

Program staff stated that the abuse of buses could stem from the mistaken belief that the parents of the children are illegal immigrants.

"Migrant does not necessarily mean" illegal "," Alvarez told the state, referring to the signs on buses that will now be concealed.

"Migrant means that people are moving in search of a job, this is our program. We have people who could move from Eastern Idaho to Caldwell because of their work, "he added.

Alvarez stated that reports of harassment had so affected staff that there had been brief discussions on the full name change of programs.

"But that's the name of the program," Alvarez said, according to the politician. "People just should not be offensive to our buses or our kids. For the moment, we will cover it. "