Investigate Midwest (https://investigatemidwest.org/tag/housing/)
With a history of double-digit unemployment and poor health indicators, Imperial County was among the hardest hit in the state in the early months of COVID-19. Its farmworkers, the backbone of the county’s $4.5 billion agriculture industry, have continued their high-risk work during the pandemic.
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.
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."
An ongoing investigation by The Midwest Center for Investigative Reporting has found the oversight of migrant housing is a fractured and ineffective system despite decades of reforms.
State inspection records highlight substandard conditions inside eight migrant farmworker housing sites.
The state and local agencies responsible for overseeing migrant farmworker housing vary from state to state. Here's a detailed look at how oversight works in Missouri.
Hundreds of migrant workers come to the United States from Mexico and other countries with special H-2A farm visas, but they make up only a fraction of the total number of migrant farmworkers.
There is an on-going national debate as to which production method is better. Hen housing is the primary focus of proposed federal legislation that would replace current, state-level guidelines for housing and production practices.