As a Coalition committed to advancing equitable labor migration policies, we are in solidarity with farmworkers throughout the U.S., particularly those who have suffered historic discrimination, racism and displacement from their lands and communities.
Living wages are critical for farmworkers, who are some of the most underpaid in the US. This is especially important for Black agricultural workers, who have historically been displaced, underpaid, and faced abuse. Our members have documented the rife and severe wage theft that temporary workers in the H-2 programs experience, and we recognize that farmworkers in the U.S. have long endured these problems.
Through the use of temporary work visa programs, employers have often pit domestic workers and internationally recruited workers against each other. Through existing exploitative H-2 programs, U.S. born, migrant, and immigrant, workers frequently face several forms of oppression at the hands of discriminatory employers and inadequate labor policies.
If the Biden-Harris Administration is serious about gender and racial equity, it must stop expanding these programs without meaningfully reforming their components– including strengthening anti-discrimination protections for workers in and outside the program– so they can’t be used to further harm U.S. and migrant workers. We call on the Biden-Harris Administration to protect all workers from abuse, discrimination, and unfair labor practices.
migrationthatworks.org 