Housing for immigrant workers on dairy farms is often tucked away and largely exempt from inspections. Advocates say that can lead to poor conditions. ‘You have no one to protect you,’ one worker says.
FarmSTAND focuses resources on specific cases that can change precedent on agricultural issues in the courts, working in collaboration with grassroots organizations from local to national levels.
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.
Una quinta parte de las muertes de trabajadores relacionadas con el calor registradas entre el 2017 y 2022 fueron de trabajadores agrícolas, según datos de la OSHA. Académicos, especialistas en salud ocupacional y grupos de defensa llaman la atención sobre el impacto poco reportado del cambio climát
A fifth of reported heat-related deaths between 2017 and 2022 were agricultural workers, according to OSHA data. Academics, occupational health specialists, and advocacy groups are calling attention to the under-reported impact of climate change on this group from heatwaves.
Si bien el gobierno federal hace cumplir la supervisión de las viviendas para trabajadores agrícolas H-2A, la vivienda para trabajadores agrícolas migrantes es jurisdicción estatal. Algunos estados del Medio Oeste inspeccionan dos veces, otros no inspeccionan en absoluto.
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.
At least 65 farmworkers have died from heat-related causes since 2002, according to an Investigate Midwest analysis of OSHA data. The Biden administration has promised to address the dangers of extreme heat in workplaces.
The average age of farmworkers born outside the U.S. steadily increased from 2008 to 2019, while the average age of U.S.-born workers has stayed about the same
