{"id":57650,"date":"2024-09-16T01:00:00","date_gmt":"2024-09-16T09:00:00","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/civileats.com\/?p=57650"},"modified":"2024-09-16T07:21:10","modified_gmt":"2024-09-16T15:21:10","slug":"labor-protections-for-immigrant-food-workers-are-at-stake-in-the-2024-election","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/civileats.com\/2024\/09\/16\/labor-protections-for-immigrant-food-workers-are-at-stake-in-the-2024-election\/","title":{"rendered":"Labor Protections for Immigrant Food Workers Are at Stake in the 2024 Election"},"content":{"rendered":"

A version of this article originally appeared in The Deep Dish, our members-only newsletter. Become a member today<\/a>\u00a0and get the next issue directly in your inbox.<\/em><\/p>\n<\/div>

In her five years as an attorney for the U.S. Department of Labor, Shelly Anand litigated cases against companies violating workplace safety protections, including in the food industry. Then, at the end of 2020, Anand helped launch Sur Legal<\/a>, a worker-rights nonprofit focused on the Deep South\u2014so she was well-positioned to help when a liquid nitrogen leak in January 2021 killed six workers<\/a> at Foundation Food Group in Gainesville, Georgia. <\/p><\/div>

\n

\u201cWe knew OSHA was going to show up; we knew a lot of different law enforcement agencies were going to show up; and we knew that the workers were going to be undocumented, intimidated, and terrified,\u201d she said.<\/p>\n

Sur Legal hosted a Facebook Live gathering to educate workers on their rights and began talking directly to individuals who worked at the plant, many of whom had witnessed the incident and were now traumatized. Ultimately, Anand and her colleagues were able to help about two dozen workers from the plant access what she calls a \u201clife-changing\u201d pathway: they were temporarily granted protected status so that they could help federal investigators identify conditions that might have contributed to the incident\u2014which ultimately represented violations of the law.<\/p>\n

In the past, federal agencies have occasionally granted what they call \u201cdeferred action for labor disputes\u201d at their own discretion. However, in January 2023, the U.S. Department of Homeland Security (DHS) formalized the process<\/a> for the first time to encourage undocumented workers, who might otherwise stay silent due to fear of deportation, to report violations of labor laws on the job.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe knew a lot of different law enforcement agencies were going to show up, and we knew that the workers were going to be undocumented, intimidated, and terrified.\u201d<\/p>\n<\/div>\n

\u201cIt came out of DHS, but we look at it as a labor and a worker-rights policy,\u201d said Jessie Hahn, a senior labor and employment policy attorney at the National Immigration Law Center (NILC).<\/a> \u201cIt\u2019s very much based on the perspective that the Biden administration has, about how best to enforce labor and employment laws and what is going to facilitate that.\u201d<\/p>\n

Between January 2023 and August 2024, according to DHS, more than 6,000 workers\u2014many working in the food system\u2014have been granted this temporary protection, which can last up to four years. They include the Georgia poultry workers, guest workers picking strawberries in Florida fields, and tortilla factory workers<\/a> in Chicago, among others.<\/p>\n

However, as the presidential election approaches, it\u2019s one of several immigration policies that are at risk\u2014and that would reshape the legal landscape for food and farm workers.<\/p>\n

Both Vice President Kamala Harris<\/a> and former President Donald Trump<\/a> have used strong rhetoric about stemming the influx of new immigrants at the U.S.\u2013Mexico border. But how they might treat the immigrant workforce<\/a> that powers America\u2019s fruit and vegetable harvests<\/a>, meatpacking<\/a> and food processing plants, and restaurant kitchens<\/a>\u2014a large percentage of which is undocumented\u2014is more complicated.<\/p>\n

Harris is currently serving in what some experts say<\/a> has been the most hardline Democratic administration on border policy in modern history, especially since President Joe Biden\u2019s June executive order<\/a> limiting asylum claims. As vice president, she was specifically tasked with addressing the root causes of migration in origin countries.<\/p>\n

During her years as a district attorney and then as the attorney general of California, her record was nuanced. She was tough on immigrants<\/a> when they committed crimes, but expressed support<\/a> for those who did not. Throughout, she has specifically defended the labor rights of immigrant workers, including introducing pro-farmworker legislation<\/a>, and has been endorsed by multiple labor groups<\/a>.<\/p>\n

The Trump administration\u2014and the 2024 Trump campaign\u2014have taken a harder line on immigration and immigrants living in the U.S. In 2017, Trump implemented a \u201czero tolerance\u201d border policy<\/a> for families at the border and ended the deferred action<\/a> policy, which previously gave the children of immigrants, called \u201cDreamers,\u201d a path to citizenship. (Harris, a senator at the time, supported the Dreamers.) In addition, the second bullet point in the 2024 Republican Party Platform<\/a> is to \u201ccarry out the largest deportation operation in American history,\u201d with a goal of expelling millions of immigrants<\/a>. During the recent debate, Trump repeatedly demonized immigrants using sweeping generalizations filled with misinformation about crime. ( Research shows<\/a> immigrants do not commit crimes at higher rates than U.S.-born Americans.) \u201cWe have to get \u2019em out,\u201d he said. \u201cWe have to get \u2019em out fast.\u201d<\/p>\n

People close to the issue told Civil Eats that, given the unspoken reality of how deeply farms and food businesses rely on undocumented workers, they\u2019re more worried about worker abuse increasing under Trump\u2019s leadership than about mass deportations.<\/p>\n

\u201cI think they want people to be scared,\u201d Antonio De Loera-Brust, communications director for the United Farm Workers (UFW), said of the deportation threats. \u201cThey\u2019re going to push [undocumented workers] more into the shadows, where they’re more vulnerable and exploitable.\u201d<\/p>\n

Empowering Immigrants to Report Labor Abuses<\/h4>\n<\/div>

On the same day that she announced her candidacy for president, Harris received an enthusiastic endorsement from UFW<\/a>. UFW President Teresa Romero called Biden \u201cthe greatest friend the United Farm Workers has had in the Oval Office\u201d and said she expected Harris \u201cto continue the transformative work of the Biden-Harris administration.\u201d <\/p><\/div>

\n

Deferred action is one piece of that work UFW has embraced; its organizers have been assisting farmworkers with applications, while the UFW Foundation has been working with<\/a> the state of California to inform farmworkers about the option. To date, De Loera-Brust said UFW has helped more than 100 fieldworkers apply.<\/p>\n<\/div>

\"Farmworkers<\/a>

Farmworkers pick corn in the heat. (Photo credit: Hill Street Studios \/ Getty Images)<\/p>\n<\/div><\/div>

\n

To be eligible, workers must get a letter called a \u201cstatement of interest\u201d from a labor or employment agency. For example, if fieldworkers have reported safety violations to Cal\/OSHA, California\u2019s worker safety and health agency, Cal\/OSHA must then send a letter to DHS indicating interest in launching an investigation before DHS will grant deferred action status. Groups like UFW often help facilitate that process.<\/p>\n

Once they are granted the status, workers may be asked to provide information on labor violations they\u2019ve experienced or witnessed. In Gainesville, for example, the nitrogen leak resulted in two federal investigations into what caused the incident and its fatalities.<\/p>\n

\u201cSeveral of these workers came forward to the Department of Justice, which has never been an immigrant-friendly agency, so that was 10 times scarier for them,\u201d Anand said. \u201cBut they want to do everything they can to hold folks accountable for those deaths.\u201d<\/p>\n

As a result, OSHA investigators concluded<\/a> Foundation Food Group and three affiliated companies \u201cfailed to implement any of the safety procedures necessary to prevent the nitrogen leak, or to equip workers responding to it with the knowledge and equipment that could have saved their lives.\u201d The agency cited the companies for nearly $1 million in fines and a total of 59 violations. Foundation Food Group was acquired<\/a> by another chicken processor, Gold Creek Foods, in September 2021.<\/p>\n

\u201cSeveral of these workers came forward to the Department of Justice, which has never been an immigrant-friendly agency . . . but they want to do everything they can to hold folks accountable for those deaths.\u201d<\/p>\n<\/div>\n

In a later, more detailed report<\/a> produced by the U.S. Chemical Safety and Hazard Investigation Board that workers also helped with, investigators again found the deaths had been \u201ccompletely preventable.\u201d<\/p>\n

While it was too late to save the workers who died, one of the affiliated companies that leased the faulty equipment said it developed<\/a> new safety protocols as a result of the report, and the investigators recommended OSHA issue a new national standard to address the hazards of liquid nitrogen, with specific emphasis on poultry processing and food manufacturing.<\/p>\n

It\u2019s an example of how the deferred action policy\u2019s impact extends far beyond the individuals who receive the status, Hahn said. \u201cWe are trying to address the chilling effect that occurs in a workplace when people are too afraid to speak up about labor violations,\u201d she said. \u201cWhen those workers feel protected because they’ve received deferred action, then everyone in the workplace benefits.\u201d In other words, supporters believe the policy makes workplaces safer for all Americans, immigrant or otherwise.<\/p>\n<\/div>

\"Participants<\/a>

Participants at a clinic Sur Legal co-hosted with the Georgia Asylum and Immigration Network (GAIN) and Centro de los Derechos del Migrante (CDM). (Photo courtesy of Sur Legal)<\/p>\n<\/div><\/div>

\n

At Centro de Los Derechos del Migrante<\/a> (CDM), which has headquarters in both Maryland and Mexico, staff members have been documenting the abuse of migrants who come to the U.S. through guestworker programs to work in agriculture and food processing for nearly two decades. Lucy Thames, CDM\u2019s outreach project manager, said the deferred action process has also benefited those workers over the past year.<\/p>\n

One challenge for workers in the H-2A program<\/a>, which is for farms, and the H-2B program<\/a>, which is for food processing, is that their legal status in the country is tied to their employer, making it difficult for them to report or escape abusive situations<\/a>. But when guestworkers are granted deferred action, Thames explained, they are able to seek employment with any U.S. employer. \u201cThey\u2019re able to leave a situation in which their rights aren’t being respected and identify an employer who might be a better fit for them,\u201dshe said.<\/p>\n

That\u2019s significant because in recent years, as farms have struggled to find enough workers to plant carrots and harvest tomatoes, the H2-A program especially has ballooned in size<\/a>. CDM has been particularly focused on helping shape a recent Biden administration rule to expand protections for workers in that program.<\/p>\n

Thames said the new rule contains many provisions CDM has advocated for, including allowing protection from being fired without cause, banning retaliation against workers who engage in union organizing, establishing transportation safety requirements, and ensuring support and advocacy organizations are able to visit workers in employer-provided housing.<\/p>\n

The Post-Election View<\/h4>\n<\/div>

Advocates expect Harris to support the H-2A rule changes, since they came out of the Biden administration. As a senator, she also introduced a bill<\/a> that would have extended minimum wage and overtime protections to farmworkers. <\/p><\/div>

\n

On the other side, while Trump has not mentioned this H-2A rule since it was proposed, Republican lawmakers have been pushing back<\/a> on many of its provisions. At the end of August, a federal judge sided<\/a> with 17 Republican-led states in a lawsuit brought against the Department of Labor, blocking the Biden administration from implementing the provisions.<\/p>\n

And at the end of Trump\u2019s presidency, his administration published a different H-2A rule, which drew strong opposition<\/a> from farm labor groups because it weakened worker protections. At the time, his Department of Labor said<\/a> the rule would \u201cstreamline and simplify the H-2A application process, strengthen protections for U.S. and foreign workers, and ease unnecessary burdens on employers.\u201d<\/p>\n

The political ping-pong over the H-2A rules shows how, since immigration is so politicized<\/a>, even small changes to labor policies that primarily impact immigrant workers are often the result of years of back-and-forth that span multiple presidential administrations.<\/p>\n

\u201cA lot of the developments that we’re seeing are many, many years in the making,\u201d Thames said. \u201cI think that’s often what we’ve seen in the farmworker movement.It\u2019s decades of work done by advocates and workers themselves.\u201d<\/p>\n

Throughout that time, regardless of who\u2019s in charge in D.C., U.S. food production has depended on immigrant workers. Multiple farmers who spoke to Civil Eats laughed at the idea of finding enough U.S. citizens to harvest kale and squash.<\/p>\n

One organic vegetable farmer said she pays nearly $17 an hour to her H-2A workers but has still never had a domestic worker apply. (The law requires farmers to post the jobs for U.S. workers before bringing in guestworkers.) Originally, she relied on mostly undocumented workers living in the U.S., but recently has had to bring in more temporary guestworkers on H-2A visas. She\u2019s hoping for a more long-term solution that recognizes the contributions of the immigrants who have powered her farm\u2014some for more than a decade\u2014and that would allow them to live and work without fear.<\/p>\n

But with election rhetoric focused on border security and the recent failure of even the most middle-of-the-road legislation<\/a>, unions and immigrant rights groups are zeroing in on the things that make a difference day-to-day.<\/p>\n

Deferred action is \u201ca Band-Aid on a big problem,\u201d said Sur Legal\u2019s Anand, since it doesn\u2019t do anything to resolve longstanding questions around whether the country\u2019s millions of immigrant food workers should be granted long-term legal status. But it has had a real impact on the Gainesville workers\u2019 lives. \u201cSome of these workers have left the poultry industry and found better paying, safer jobs, and they feel really empowered,\u201d Anand said. \u201cNow, they’re speaking up.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cWe don’t know what’s going to happen with this program,\u201d she added, \u201cbut by and large, most of our folks that we’ve worked with are like, \u2018If it gives me a few years of peace, of being able to be safe and to live my life without fear, I’ll do it.\u2019\u201d<\/p>\n

<\/div><\/span>","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

A version of this article originally appeared in The Deep Dish, our members-only newsletter. Become a member today\u00a0and get the next issue directly in your inbox. \u201cWe knew OSHA was going to show up; we knew a lot of different law enforcement agencies were going to show up; and we knew that the workers were […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":740,"featured_media":57640,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[43534,3259,10,4343],"tags":[],"coauthors":[4440],"class_list":["post-57650","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-elections","category-food-and-farm-labor","category-food-justice","category-food-policy"],"acf":[],"yoast_head":"\nLabor Protections for Immigrant Food Workers at Stake in 2024 Election | Civil Eats<\/title>\n<meta name=\"description\" content=\"A Biden administration policy shields immigrants who report on workplace abuses. 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