Migrant Farmworkers and Climate Changes
Photo by Matthias Gafni for the San Francisco Chronicle
Migrant farmworkers work long days in hazardous conditions to help keep food on our tables. In this post, I’ll explain what migrant farmworkers do, who they are and how climate change is harming them.
What do migrant farmworkers do?
Migrant farmworkers temporarily move away from their permanent residence to do seasonal farm work, like applying fertilizers, spraying pesticides and harvesting crops. These seasonal jobs usually pay much more than jobs in migrants' home countries, but much less than jobs of similar hazards and difficulty in the U.S.
Migrant farm work requires laboring in extreme heat for long hours, working as quickly as possible to earn higher wages, and being exposed to pesticides, often linked to health problems like cancer, respiratory damage and more. Despite all these serious risks, many farmers pay their workers at or just above minimum wage.
This hazardous and cheap labor is essential to the current U.S. agribusiness model. Migrant farmworkers maintain and harvest crops efficiently for low wages, which keeps farm work on schedule and makes fruit and veg cheap for working-class Americans.
Bottom line: Seasonal workers migrate to the U.S. each year to do hazardous farm labor for low wages.
Who are migrant farmworkers?
The majority of migrant workers come to the U.S. from Mexico and islands in the Caribbean. About 50% of farmworkers are undocumented, without visas or green cards. Many farmers do not press employees about their documentation because they are desperate for employees who are willing to work for low earnings. Workers who have visas, green cards or citizenship usually score higher-paying or less labor-intensive jobs.
Some farmers ensure that their workers are documented by providing them with H-2A visas, which allow temporary farm workers to enter the United States legally. H-2A visas require employers to pay migrant workers at least $11-$15 per hour and provide them with housing, transportation and either three meals per day or access to a kitchen space. Living conditions in provided housing have been described as similar to summer camp — livable, but not necessarily comfortable.
Only about 10% of migrant workers have H-2A visas. This percentage is so small because the Department of Labor requires farmers to jump through a ton of regulatory hoops and pay multiple fees to obtain H-2A visas for their workers. Given these obstacles, it's easier and cheaper for farmers to hire undocumented workers.
About 15% of farmworkers have other visas or green cards, and the remaining 25% of farmworkers are U.S. citizens. With so few migrant farmworkers laboring legally, most have very few rights, have no insurance or paid time off, and live way below the standard of living for middle-class Americans.
Bottom line: The majority of migrant farmworkers are undocumented immigrants because they provide cheap and reliable labor.
How does climate change affect migrant farmworkers?
Aside from consistent struggles like lacking health insurance, fearing deportation and experiencing abuse and exploitation (which I won't discuss in detail here), migrant farmworkers are uniquely positioned on the frontlines of climate change.
Migrant farmworkers have no choice but to work outside and, with a combination of hourly and productivity wages, are incentivized to work in any condition. This quandary has recently led farmworkers near the west coast wildfires to work through hazardous air quality in inadequate equipment.
NPR reports that in California's Central Valley, 84% of farmworkers did not receive the N-95 masks that the Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA) promised in response to the wildfires. Without proper masks, the vast majority of farmworkers had no choice but to breathe in unfiltered, smokey air. With many wildfires in the area blazing under 50% containment, this issue will not disappear soon.
Scientists predict climate threats like wildfires, flooding, unpredictable frosts, droughts, wildfires and extreme temperatures to worsen in the coming decades. As each of these threats arises, migrant workers will have to continually choose between paying their bills and protecting their health. Making matters worse, migrant farmers will be unlikely to receive the protection they need against these threats, as demonstrated by the lack of masks for workers in California.
Bottom line: Climate threats like wildfires, floods and extreme heat will increasingly harm migrant workers.
How can you help?
The situation for migrant farmworkers is bleak, but it is not hopeless. On a large scale, mitigating climate change can help future migrant farmworkers. If developed societies are able to curb our emissions and hold large corporations accountable for environmental damage, we can hope to avoid the worst-case scenarios for climate change. To help make a difference, call or write to your representatives expressing your support for mitigating climate change!
Calling or writing to your representatives can also help protect and expand migrant farmworkers' rights. You could either communicate your support for immigrants’ rights in general or argue for specific causes, like making it easier for migrant farmworkers to get visas or green cards or establishing more fair and regulated treatment of migrant farmworkers.
Above all, don't forget to get out there and vote!