Ava Mandoli, Investigate Midwest

Farms need to recruit US residents before hiring foreign farmworkers. Some skip that step, lawsuits allege.

Farms are allowed to hire foreign workers through the H-2A visa program to help fill labor gaps. But, as several recent lawsuits and federal investigations show, some farms favored H-2A farmworkers over U.S.-based farmworkers willing to do the job.