El incidente ejemplifica los riesgos que enfrentan los trabajadores cuando vienen a trabajar a Estados Unidos a través del programa de visados laborales H-2A del gobierno federal.
Two Mexican farmworkers died in a trailer fire in North Carolina. Their story illustrates how the nation’s most important agricultural visa program is failing the workers it is supposed to protect.
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.
H-2A farmworkers often complain of housing and employment abuses, and the federal government can temporarily ban employers from the visa labor program. But the bans are easy to evade, according to government reports, experts and Investigate Midwest’s data analysis.
Recognizing farmworkers endure unsafe housing and wage theft, the government created a program 50 years ago to address the inequities. Internal documents show a failing system.
While oversight of H2A farmworker housing is enforced by the federal government, migrant farmworker housing is state jurisdiction. Some Midwestern states inspect twice — others not at all.
