Latest News

LTE: Agriculture and Immigration Article One Sided

Most representatives of agricultural employers and farmworkers agree that immigration reform is desperately needed so that the hard-working, experienced agricultural workers who lack authorized immigration status have an opportunity to earn immigration status and a path to citizenship.

However, the article, “We’d better have a good door: Colorado farmers depend on immigrants to feed the country,” should not have accepted the one-sided viewpoint of some farmers about the H-2A agricultural guest-worker program. The reality is that the program is not all that difficult to use. It’s been around in one form or another for decades. It has certain wage and labor protections to prevent displacement of U.S. workers or undermining of their wages and minimize exploitation of vulnerable foreign workers. There is no limit to the number of H-2A visas each year, and the U.S. Department of Labor approves almost all employers’ applications.

The H-2A program protections should not be weakened and should be enforced more effectively. More importantly, undocumented farmworkers and their family members should be given a chance to obtain a green card and continue their work to feed our nation.

Bruce Goldstein, president, Farmworker Justice, a national advocacy organization for farmworkers

NYT Letter to the Editor : Guest Worker Programs

“A Framework for Managing Immigration,” by Eduardo Porter (Economic Scene column, Oct. 26), supports a proposal for a United States-Mexico temporary foreign worker program made by the Center for Global Development.

In discussing the Bracero guest worker program, the column notes the serious labor abuses that are inherent in guest worker programs but suggests that there can be solutions to prevent labor abuses in a future program. The experience with guest worker programs in the last century justifies skepticism about this claim.

An even greater concern, not discussed in the column, is the threat to our country’s democratic values posed by guest worker programs.

If this country truly needs to draw from other countries to find additional workers, such workers should be given the opportunity to become immigrants with a path to citizenship. They should not be deprived of the opportunity to earn the right to vote and participate in the civic life of this country.

Our democracy is undermined by relegating people to a temporary status and denying them the opportunity for immigration status and citizenship.

Bruce Goldstein, President Farmworker Justice

Letter to the Editor: Congress Should Pass Immigration Reform

The article “Ag issues crop up in Gardner’s tour” quotes a farm operator who suggests that problems in the H-2A agricultural guest worker program should be solved by turning the program over to the U.S. Department of Agriculture. The USDA has no infrastructure, expertise, or history administering guest worker programs, in agriculture or in any other sector.

The U.S. Department of Labor has the longstanding responsibility for several guest worker programs. Taxpayer money would be wasted in such a restructuring.

Although H-2A program delays are being addressed, we agree that there should be more resources to administer the program and enforce the modest labor protections for U.S. and foreign farmworkers. The fees charged to employers for this program’s services are woefully low, inadequate to the task, and should be raised. The more important solution is for Congress to pass comprehensive immigration reform that includes an opportunity for immigration status and a path to citizenship for undocumented farmworkers, who make up the majority of the agricultural workforce.

BRUCE GOLDSTEIN
Washington, District of Columbia

Disappointing Loss: U.S. Supreme Court Punts on Obama Immigration Action, Leaving Injunction Against DAPA/Expanded DACA Programs in Place

Today, the Supreme Court ruled against the Obama Administration’s executive action on immigration. The Court announced that the eight Justices were split 4-4 in U.S. v. Texas, and consequently the lower court rulings against the Administration remain in place. The one-sentence opinion simply says that the lower court decision is affirmed. The injunction against the programs remains in place while the litigation proceeds.

The decision means that the Obama Administration may not implement the Deferred Action for Parents of Americans (DAPA) and expanded Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals (DACA). More than 700,000 farmworkers and family members would have been eligible to apply under these programs, which would grant a temporary reprieve from deportation and temporary work authorization.

“We are extremely disappointed and saddened that hard-working farmworkers and their family members who contribute to this country will not have the opportunity to apply for DAPA or the expanded DACA initiatives,” said Bruce Goldstein, President of Farmworker Justice, a national advocacy organization for farmworkers. “The majority of the people laboring on our farms and ranches lack authorized immigration status; these programs would have provided some of them with temporary protection from deportation and authorization to work.”

He added: “We will continue to help farmworkers fight for immigration reform to bring greater justice to the fields and to ensure a prosperous, productive agricultural sector of the economy. We count on farmworkers for our food and they should be able to count on us for fair treatment. Farmworker Justice will continue to advocate for Congressional action to grant a path to immigration status and citizenship for undocumented farmworkers and other undocumented immigrants living and working in the US.”

Spring/Summer Newsletter Now Available

The newest Farmworker Justice Newsletter contains timely updates on our immigration work, a new skin cancer prevention project, an update on the progress of the Equitable Food Initiative and much more.

Farmworker Justice Statement: California and New York minimum wage increases will benefit many farmworkers, but more progress is needed

Many farmworkers in the United States are paid the minimum wage and therefore will benefit from the minimum wage increases that California and New York plan to adopt. Farmworker Justice applauds California’s and New York State’s actions and all of the workers and advocates who fought hard for the increases. However, we are somewhat disappointed with the shortcomings in the New York legislation and even in California there is more policy change needed.

Farmworker Justice is pleased that the California legislation will boost wages for workers statewide from the current $10.00 an hour to $10.50 in January and gradually up to $15.00 by 2022 and will be adjusted annually for inflation after that. While some farmworkers earn more than the minimum wage, the increase will affect tens of thousands of California farmworkers.

California legislators should now pass the bill extending overtime pay to agricultural workers, who deserve equality with other workers.

While workers in New York will also receive a sorely needed minimum wage increase above the current $9.00 per hour, Governor Cuomo compromised on the minimum wage for upstate New York, where the minimum wage will increase by $0.70 a year going up to only $12.50 by 2021. There are many farms, as well as urban areas, in upstate New York. New York City’s minimum wage will increase to $15 by the end of 2018. New York City’s suburbs will be given a few more years to reach the $15 minimum.

According to media reports, the New York budget deal also “includes $30 million set aside to help farmers pay the higher wage to workers.” That money could be better spent improving farmworkers’ conditions and enforcement of their rights.

The NY Farm Bureau expressed strong opposition to the bill, even after the subsidy was announced. Growers’ claims of the effects of wage increases on food production are overblown. Agricultural labor economist and professor at UC-Davis Philip Martin, predicts that if farmworker wages go up by 47%, household grocery bills would go up just $21.15 a year, or $1.76 a month. Moreover, California is by far the most successful agricultural state and has a higher minimum wage, collective bargaining rights for farmworkers and other labor protections.

New York farmworker advocates and allies have come close to passing legislation to grant farmworkers rest breaks, collective bargaining rights and other protections that workers in other sectors have. The state legislature should pass the farmworker bill of rights.

The NY compromise is disappointing due to its limitations, but it is a significant increase, that will help many farmworkers in the state’s substantial dairy industry, apple harvests and other produce farms. NY’s current minimum wage of $9 and California’s current minimum wage of $10 already are substantially higher than the federal minimum wage of $7.25 per hour and that of other states with major agricultural sectors.

We at Farmworker Justice hope that the worker organizing that led California and New York to increase their minimum wages will help pave the way for a federal minimum wage increase as well as improvements in other states.

National Farmworker Awareness Week–Join us on the blog

Farmworker Justice is celebrating National Farmworker Awareness Week from March 24 to March 31st.

Follow our blog as we highlight issues farmworkers face. We will be featuring guest bloggers and videos on 8 different themes.

Farmworkers feed the world- 85% of our fruits and vegetables are handpicked. There are an estimated 2-3 million men, women, and children work in the fields in the United States. Farms are in every state, including yours, yet farmworkers remain largely invisible and continue to live and work in dangerous conditions.

Farmworker Justice condemns House vote to file amicus in DAPA/DACA Supreme Court case

Farmworker Justice condemns the House vote to allow House Speaker Paul Ryan to appear as amicus curiae on behalf of the House of Representatives in the Supreme Court case U.S. v. Texas. This case, which will decide the legality the Deferred Action for Parents of Americans and Lawful Permanent Residents program (DAPA) and the expansion of the Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals program (expanded DACA), is scheduled to be heard by the Supreme Court on April 18th. Speaker Ryan’s brief will oppose the DAPA and expanded DACA programs. The resolution, which would allow Speaker Ryan to represent the entire House of Representatives and use the House Office of General Counsel to file the brief, is inappropriate when so many Members of Congress (186) oppose the position of the Speaker. This move is another in a series of extraordinary, divisive attacks on President Obama and on immigrants.

The President’s actions are a prudent and proper exercise of his authority to enforce immigration laws. Both Republican and Democratic Presidents have used their authority to grant temporary immigration relief to groups of individuals in the country without status. As part of the President’s existing authority to enforce the law, he can and must set priorities, target resources, and shape how laws are to be implemented. Within that responsibility, the President has discretionary authority to execute the laws in a manner that most effectively utilizes limited resources, including through the use of prosecutorial discretion. The deferred action programs will better enable the Department of Homeland Security to target their resources and will result in an even more secure border than we have today.

Farmworker Justice President Bruce Goldstein made the following statement:

“Farmworker Justice continues to defend President Obama’s administrative actions and prepare for implementation of DAPA and DACA in farmworker communities. Roughly 700,000 farmworkers and their spouses could be eligible to come forward to apply for temporary protection from deportation and work authorization under the deferred action opportunities. The programs are well within the President’s authority and are a limited but important step toward addressing our broken immigration system. By eliminating the constant fear of deportation, farmworkers and other aspiring Americans will be able to contribute more fully to their communities and will be empowered in their workplaces.” Farmworker Justice signed on to the amicus brief submitted by 326 immigrants’ rights, civil rights, labor and social service organizations in support of the US government’s position that DAPA and expanded DACA should be allowed to be implemented. Farmworker Justice will continue to work with groups throughout the country to support and plan implementation of the DAPA/DACA programs and to win legislation that creates a path to citizenship for undocumented farmworker families and other aspiring Americans.

Farmworker Justice Awarded Skin Cancer Prevention Grant from Bristol-Myers Squibb Foundation

Farmworker Justice has been awarded a two-year grant from the Bristol-Myers Squibb Foundation Specialty Care for Vulnerable Populations® Initiative to implement a community mobilization project that will promote community integration and reduce the impact of skin cancer among farmworkers and their families in Homestead, Florida and North San Diego County, California.

The project, Unidos Eliminado Barreras para la Prevencion de Cancer de la Piel (United Eliminating Barriers to Skin Cancer Prevention), aims to increase cross-sector capacity to mobilize around skin cancer prevention, detection, treatment, and care with approaches that are sustainable in farmworker communities.

Farmworkers – people who labor on our farms and ranches – and their family members face more substantial health challenges than other groups and suffer poorer average health. Their working and living conditions expose them to long hours of ultra-violet radiation and skin irritants, putting them at a higher risk of developing skin cancer.

“We are very pleased that the Bristol-Myers Squibb Foundation is providing this support to help address issues relating to skin cancer in farmworkers who represent a medically underserved population that is at risk for both environmental and occupational health problems” said Bruce Goldstein, Farmworker Justice President. “In addition to providing access to skin cancer detection services, resulting in earlier detection of skin cancer and appropriate skin cancer treatment, this project will develop effective approaches and strategies to inform national private and public sector decision makers to better respond to this important public health issue.”

Farmworker Justice is pleased announce our community partners for the project are California-based Vista Community Clinic and the Farmworker Association of Florida.

Digging Deeper: The real reason the H-2A program is expanding in Florida

This week NPR aired a story "Guest Workers, Legal Yet Not Quite Free, Pick Florida's Oranges” that featured an H-2A worker, otherwise known as an agricultural guestworker.

In an interview at the beginning of the program, a grower of Florida citrus said that his farm started using H-2A workers to avoid competing for workers who were asking for a higher wage. The farm didn’t want to pay an extra nickel a box that farmworkers asked for and that a competing grower was offering. This frank statement reveals the fundamental problems with the temporary foreign worker program.

The guestworkers don’t ask for wage increases. Why? Because as the story reveals, guestworkers don’t have the freedoms that we take for granted in this country.

H-2A guestworkers may only work for the one employer that obtained a visa for them. When the job ends, they must return to their homeland. If they want to return to the US, they must hope that the employer will invite them back and apply for a visa. The workers have no independent ability to apply to the US government for an H-2A visa. Technically, they hold a “non-immigrant” status. And the law refers to these human beings as being “imported” by employers. As if they are commodities.

In this restricted, temporary status, the workers will not usually challenge unfair or illegal conduct, or even ask for a raise. They feel lucky to have the job. And why not? Usually, the wage is a lot higher than they would make in their own country. So they will often work to the limits of human endurance. Growers will say how “reliable” they are, but what is really going on in many cases is that these workers are under such pressure that they are extraordinarily productive.

The story discusses the issue of who is better (or worse) off, a guestworker or an undocumented immigrant worker. That’s a time-honored debate. The guestworkers are taken advantage of and so are undocumented workers, but the undocumented workers are, in a sense, free. They can change jobs, though that is often difficult.

The story does a good job of demonstrating the lack of economic freedom in guestworker programs. There is also a fundamental lack of political freedom. No matter how many years the guestworkers are brought back to the U.S., they never earn the right to become an immigrant or a citizen. Guestworkers don’t vote. But the employers vote. And the employers give campaign contributions. And the employers lobby Congress and the Administration to lower the required wage rates and other obligations under the H-2A program.

The H-2A program is supposed to prevent employers from undermining the wages and working conditions of U.S. farmworkers’ job terms. But the law and regulations generally don’t work. The lack of economic and political bargaining power on the part of the guestworkers is just too much to overcome.

We are a nation of immigrants, not a nation of guestworkers. The workers we need in this country – and we need farmworkers – should be given the opportunity to be immigrants and citizens. Because the majority of farmworkers are undocumented immigrants, Congress should pass immigration reform that creates such opportunities and grants farmworkers the economic and political freedoms on which this country was founded.