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.
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.
Undocumented immigrants in the state can own and register their vehicles, but they aren’t allowed to drive them, forcing many farm workers to risk fines and arrest. “It’s a Catch-22 for a lot of folks,” advocates say.
The state requested the federal government protect from deportation the approximately 500 temporary visa workers formerly employed at the Windom plant.
The legislation stems from a 2019 incident where dozens of farmworkers, including their children, were exposed to pesticides. Advocates said the new bill will help prevent incidents like that from happening again.
When an 8-year-old Nicaraguan boy was run over on a Wisconsin dairy farm, authorities blamed his father and closed the case. Meanwhile, the community of immigrant workers knows a completely different story.
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.
En Michigan, a los trabajadores que son indocumentados y se lesionan en el trabajo se les niegan las prestaciones por pérdida de salarios, basándose "únicamente" en su estatus migratorio, según una demanda.
In Michigan, workers who are undocumented and get injured on the job are being denied wage-loss benefits based “solely” on their immigration status, according to a lawsuit.
