Farmworkers Feed America. Why Do We Let Them Suffer?

Farmworkers have historically been marginalized to the extreme, laboring in one of the most dangerous industries in the country while facing exploitative conditions, low wages, and little to no protection. And now, the stakes are even higher. The constant threat of mass deportations, and anti-immigrant rhetoric has made our communities even more vulnerable, forcing many into deeper isolation and a growing sense of dread that is infecting our people.

There are approximately 2.2 million farmworkers in the U.S., and nearly half are undocumented. From one administration to the next, our people live under constant threat of family separation, unfortunately making them more likely to endure abuses in silence, in the hopes of staving off catastrophic loss. Unscrupulous employers, intimately familiar with the hardships immigrant workers face, take advantage of their vulnerability to avoid following labor laws, failing to provide adequate shade, water, or protection from pesticides. They know many workers won’t risk reporting them, under the threat of deportation.

What was once unspoken is now out in the open. Just days before Trump took office, Border Patrol agents carried out raids in Bakersfield, California, the beating heart of western US agriculture. Reports show that of the 78 people arrested, only seven had criminal records. This led to the opening of a lawsuit for blatant violation of these people’s human rights. More recently, the Trump administration targeted immigrant communities from all sides, even in sensitive areas like schools, courthouses, and hospitals. The American public may go on with their daily lives, but what happens to the elementary student whose mother is taken from them?  What happens when families hesitate to evacuate their burning neighborhood because there’s whispers that ICE may go to the local shelter?

But the struggles of farmworkers go beyond misguided immigration policies. From deadly heat waves to toxic pesticide exposure, farmworkers are more exposed to extreme conditions than most other populations in the United States. Heat illness kills farmworkers every year, and pesticide exposure to chemicals like Paraquat and organophosphates leads to chronic health problems, including neurological disorders, reproductive issues, and in the cases of other chemicals, even cancers. Yet the powers at play in the EPA turn a blind eye on the fields, and the public goes without ever understanding the severity of the situation.

The dangers don’t stop at work. Because farmworkers earn so little, they often live in overcrowded trailers, rundown apartments, or makeshift camps with little protection from the elements. A growing percentage of the people who keep us fed are homeless or living in inhumane conditions. When housing units are available, they are all too regularly riddled with mold, lead, and pests. And because low wages force workers to live in high-risk areas, they are more vulnerable to the worst impacts of climate change. Wildfires, hurricanes, and extreme heat don’t just threaten their health—they are the cherry on top of historic marginalization and abuse.

Farmworkers are essential to this country. Most of the food we eat was planted and harvested by immigrant hands. And yet lawmakers keep supporting anti-immigrant crackdowns, which puts the food supply meltdown always on the horizon. For instance, in 2011, Alabama passed an anti-immigrant law so extreme that crops were left to rot in the fields for months, while at the time one in five Alabamians went without food. This year after the raids in Bakersfield, fear spread so quickly that employers began reporting worker shortages within the week.

That’s why we’re fighting. This week, we are bringing over 100 farmworker women to Washington, D.C., meet with allied groups and members of Congress and strategize how to push for policies that protect our rights, our families, and our environment. Indeed, protecting farmworkers is urgent and goes beyond immigration— it means banning toxic pesticides like paraquat and all organophosphates, and reinstate the heat safety rule that Biden proposed but Trump suspended. With the political climate featuring so much uncertainty, we take this time in D.C. to shore up our connections, find strength in one another, and exchange experiences.

We are not disposable. We are mothers, fathers, and children. We are workers. We are taxpayers. We are part of the fabric of this country. We deserve to be treated with dignity. It is long past time for this nation to recognize our worth.