Graphic of the Week
GRAPHIC: More meatpacking companies are using temporary visa labor
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The number of companies using these visas is small compared to the entire industry, but a trend has emerged over the past several years.
#agalerts
#AgAlerts: Costco chickens; disappearing fish; #metoo in meatpacking
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Costco will control the production process from farm to store, making key decisions down to the grain chickens eat and the type of eggs hatched. Costco has even put its socially-conscious corporate reputation on the line.
Datasets and Documents
Resources for investigating visas
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In 2015, the Midwest Center for Investigative Reporting hosted a workshop on how to cover the U.S. visa system. Here are some key data and document resources from the event to help you cover and learn more about visas.
Labor
Ag industry says visa program for farm labor again facing slowdowns
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The American Farm Bureau Federation says farmers this year are once again waiting for the federal government to process applications requesting temporary foreign workers.
farmworkers
Blighted Housing: Much of Missouri migrant farmworker housing left out of inspection program
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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.
farmworkers
Blighted Housing: Visa program requires housing inspections for non-U.S. farmworkers
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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.
immigration
High-tech on the Hi-Line: How I did it
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The nexus for this story came when I was searching through Department of Labor foreign labor certifications.
I came across 41 certifications for H-1B workers to go to work in Harlem, Mont.
Harlem is a tiny town up on the Hi-Line, an area of Montana along the Canadian border that is basically the middle of nowhere. I couldn’t see why any organization would base a high-tech work center up there, and I certainly wondered where all these foreign workers would live.
visas
Increased protection needed for foreign workers, report says
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Withholding pay, stealing documents and under-reporting hours are all common examples of employe abuses when it comes to migrant labor. A recent Government Accountability Office report highlighted areas where the U.S. visa system can be improved. It mainly focused on better keeping tabs on employer information, as the multiple federal departments that monitor migrant labor and visas do not work together.
Investigate Visas
The visa system: flaws, scandals and stories
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The Midwest Center for Investigative Reporting hosted the "Covering the U.S. Visa System in Your Own Backyard" workshop April 10 - 12. Workshop events took place at Columbia College in Chicago, and speakers included veteran reporters and legal experts. Here's a summary of the first workshop event.
Investigate Visas
Investigating U-visas and domestic violence visas
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Each year, thousands of people are allowed to stay in the United States under special visas because they are victims of domestic violence, human trafficking or criminal activity. Nubia Willman, a staff attorney for the Legal Assistance Foundation of Chicago, spoke extensively about the U-visas and T-visas at this month’s Midwest Center for Investigative Reporting’s workshop, “Covering the U.S. visa system in your own backyard.”