[A delegation of farm workers lobbied Congress ahead of the
holiday weekend to pass legislation that would provide a pathway to
citizenship for thousands of workers who provide the food for our
tables.]
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FARM WORKERS PUSH FOR CONGRESSIONAL ACTION DURING LAME DUCK SESSION
 
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Rebekah Entralgo
November 23, 2022
Inequality.org
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_ A delegation of farm workers lobbied Congress ahead of the holiday
weekend to pass legislation that would provide a pathway to
citizenship for thousands of workers who provide the food for our
tables. _

, Mario Tama/Getty Images

 

Farm workers mobilized in Washington, DC the week before Thanksgiving
to push lawmakers to pass the Farm Workforce Modernization Act, a
compromise bill that would help secure America’s food supply and put
some of the nation’s most essential workers on a path to
citizenship.

The delegation included farm workers from major agricultural states
that produce much of the food we consume during holiday season, such
as Arizona, California, Oregon, Washington, Georgia, Michigan, Idaho,
Colorado, Texas, and Virginia.

“This Thanksgiving, families all over the country will enjoy the
food brought to their tables by farm workers,” said
[[link removed]] UFW
Foundation Chief Executive Officer Diana Tellefson Torres. “Farm
workers demonstrated during the pandemic that they are at the very
core of our food security. These hardworking men and women have earned
the opportunity to apply for legal status. Let’s give thanks to
those who nourish this nation by passing the Farm Workforce
Modernization Act through Congress.”

The bill would create a path to legal immigration status and
eventually citizenship for hundreds of thousands of undocumented
farmworkers. It would also streamline and expand the H-2A visa
program, which allows agricultural employers to bring in workers from
other countries for seasonal jobs.

The House of Representatives has passed the bill twice — most
recently in 2021, with just 30 Republican lawmakers supporting the
legislation. With Republicans poised to take back control of the House
in January, the bill only stands a chance of becoming law if the
Senate passes it before the end of 2022.

Lulu Guerrero, a 52-year-old farm worker from Wiggins, Colorado, is
one of many undocumented workers who stands to benefit from the bill.
Guerrero, who arrived in the United States without papers nearly 20
years ago, wakes up at 3 am most mornings to plant and harvest
tomatoes, watermelons, onions, cucumbers, and pumpkins for
Colorado’s $41 billion
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year agricultural industry.

“We were called essential during the pandemic — all we want is the
opportunity to get out of the shadows and stay in the country,”
Guerrero told the _Denver Post_
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Advocates and lawmakers view the Farm Workforce Modernization Act not
only as a means by which Congress can start to legalize thousands of
workers, but also as a way to address labor shortages in
the trillion-dollar
[[link removed]] agricultural
industry. Advocacy organizations estimate the bill would reduce labor
costs for farms by about $1 billion
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first year alone by lowering the cost of obtaining temporary migrant
worker visas and providing support for worker housing costs

There are between 2.5 and 3 million agricultural workers
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the United States. Migrant farmworkers account for an estimated 75
percent
[[link removed].] of
these, and 50 percent of migrant farmworkers are undocumented. Many
live in this country at risk of deportation, in substandard housing
conditions, and in extreme poverty.

But even if this bill passes, there will still be much to do to ensure
that all farmworkers are treated with respect and dignity. The
legislation faces pushback from some state and local farm worker
advocates who argue
[[link removed]] the
bill doesn’t go far enough in protecting migrant farm workers from
exploitative wages and workplace practices.

On gender equity, one in four
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are women, who are particularly susceptible to the risks posed by
pesticides. Pesticides have been linked to
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birth outcomes, congenital anomalies, developmental deficits, and even
childhood tumors.

An analysis
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the U.S. Department of Agriculture’s Farm Labor Survey by Justice
For Migrant Women found the wage gap between men and women farmworkers
to be about $5,000 annually. But even this understates the
disparities, since many women farmworkers do not even have access to
their own income. Employers will often officially enroll the man in a
family as an employee while the wife and children work off the books,
according to the organization.

Other priorities for the broader farm worker and immigrant rights
advocates include reforming the entire immigration system, addressing
violence against women, and instituting mandatory workplace health and
safety guidance — a demand which became even more urgent as migrant
farmworkers were left out of some federal Covid relief programs.

“Our nation is facing unprecedentedly challenging times for American
families. The unspoken heroes keeping our nation’s food supply
secure are the farm workers and their families,” said
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Valdez-Cox, Executive Director of La Union del Pueblo Entero (LUPE).
“Farm workers are at the forefront of keeping food on our tables in
every zip code in the U.S., and they deserve protections. As
Thanksgiving approaches, we can thank farm workers by passing this
legislation to honor their humanity, hard work, and critical
contributions.”

_REBEKAH ENTRALGO is the managing editor of Inequality.org. You can
follow her on Twitter at @rebekahentralgo._

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* Farm Workers
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* Immigration
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* agriculture
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* Congress
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* unions
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* citizenship
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