Human Trafficking or a Guest Worker Program? H-2A’s Systemic Issues Result in Catastrophic Violations
Summary
Date Reported: 21 Apr 2023
Location: United States of America
Other
Not Reported ( Labour supplier ) - Employer , Not Reported ( Agriculture/food/beverage/tobacco/fishing: General ) - EmployerAffected
Total individuals affected: Number unknown
Migrant & immigrant workers: ( 2 - Mexico , Agriculture/food/beverage/tobacco/fishing: General , Gender not reported )Issues
Right to Food , Recruitment Fees , Intimidation , Precarious/Unsuitable Living Conditions , Contract Substitution , Restricted mobility , Access to Information , Irregular Work , Poverty Wages , Wage Theft , Minimum WageResponse
Response sought: No
Source type: News outlet
Summary
Date Reported: 21 Apr 2023
Location: United States of America
Other
Not Reported ( Tobacco ) - EmployerAffected
Total individuals affected: 1
Migrant & immigrant workers: ( 1 - Mexico , Agriculture/food/beverage/tobacco/fishing: General , Gender not reported )Issues
Reasonable Working Hours & Leisure Time , Occupational Health & Safety , Injuries , Denial of leaveResponse
Response sought: No
Source type: News outlet
Summary
Date Reported: 21 Apr 2023
Location: United States of America
Other
Not Reported ( Agriculture/food/beverage/tobacco/fishing: General ) - EmployerAffected
Total individuals affected: 50
Migrant & immigrant workers: ( 50 - Location unknown , Agriculture/food/beverage/tobacco/fishing: General , Gender not reported , Documented migrants )Issues
Recruitment FeesResponse
Response sought: No
Action taken: The employer was ordered to pay H-2A workers more than $200,000 in back wages.
Source type: News outlet
...Diego still struggles to find the words to describe the labor camp he was expected to call home during the spring of 2018…
There weren’t enough beds for all the men. Those who had mattresses may have actually been the unlucky ones because they were yellowing, stained, and full of ticks.
There were also snakes in the house, including one in the kitchen where the only working appliance in the whole ramshackle place was a single refrigerator that looked like it’d never been cleaned.
There was no food and nowhere for Diego and his best friend Mario to rest their heads after a grueling bus ride from Mexico that took days longer than it should have and depleted the little money they had. The labor camp was the second blow they’d received since arriving in this place they called Carolina del Norte. The first came a couple of hours earlier.
H-2A workers often have confusing employment arrangements in which they are jointly employed by a labor contractor and a grower or farm. This was true for Diego and Mario, but effectively their primary boss was a young Mexican-American labor contractor…