Investigate Midwest (https://investigatemidwest.org/tag/h-2a/)
At times, the H-2A visa program that brings non-citizen farmworkers to the U.S. has been used to facilitate human trafficking, experts and activisits said. But the number of people trafficked through the program appears to have increased.
The number of positions certified for the fruit and tree nut industry increased about 400%, according to USDA data.
Farms across the Midwest are struggling to hire domestic employees. In Illinois, the number of foreign agricultural workers has increased more than 250% in the past five years.
El salpullido -también conocido como urticaria-, los dolores de cabeza y los vómitos, son problemas de salud asociados a la intoxicación pornicotina que los trabajadores agrícolas pueden padecer en los cultivos de tabaco de Carolina del Norte.
Workers said they’ve experienced dehydration, headaches and vomiting from harvesting tobacco in North Carolina.
The lax inspection process led to an incident in summer 2018 where workers lived in a former jail, a motel with bed bugs and a house with a leaking toilet.
During an incident in Kennett, Missouri, in summer 2018, H-2A workers labored through high temperatures while denied breakfast and with little access to water. Their legal status was supposed to protect them.
An investigation by In These Times and The Midwest Center for Investigative Reporting reveals how today's migrant farmworkers are still living in deplorable housing reminiscent of "Harvest of Shame."
The American Farm Bureau Federation says farmers this year are once again waiting for the federal government to process applications requesting temporary foreign workers.