Lack of Enforcement Regulations in Migrant Worker Programs in the United States and Canada Jeopardizes the well-being of Migrant Seasonal Workers

Over the past decade, there has been a mass influx of agricultural migrant labor in the United States and Canada. As a means of control over migration fluctuation, both of these nations have developed and implemented guest worker visa programs. The United States currently has the H-2A program, implemented in 1952, and in 1966 Canada replicated a similar program called the Seasonal Agricultural Worker Program (SAWP).

INTRODUCTION

Over the past decade, there has been a mass influx of agricultural migrant labor in the United States and Canada. As a means of control over migration fluctuation, both of these nations have developed and implemented guest worker visa programs. The United States currently has the H-2A program, implemented in 1952, and in 1966 Canada replicated a similar program called the Seasonal Agricultural Worker Program (SAWP). Both of these programs have almost identical structures and eligibility requirements, with a lack of enforcement regulations, causing both long and short-term negative effects on the lives of agricultural migrant workers. Most domestic capital profit comes from agricultural labor, about 73% for the United States and 62% for Canada (Economic Research Institute, 2021). However, these workers are often the least paid and have poor living conditions. These conditions cause physical instability and emotional isolation (Economic Research Institution, 2021). Most complaints often go unreported due to fear of retaliation from employers and a lack of understanding of what regulations should be enforced to ensure their overall well-being (American Institute of Political Science, 2021). This research analyzes the impact and challenges of current migrant labor policies and work-based programs in both the United States and Canada. The H-2A and SAWP programs lack protective wage measurements and habitable and safe living conditions that hold employers and enforcement governmental entities accountable. Through various case studies, we see the disproportion between nationwide economic benefits and the fair treatment of migrant workers. 

BACKGROUND

The H-2A is a visa program that provides temporary status to agricultural laborers for up to 10 months. Most of the workers are recruited for a specific season of certain fruits and vegetables (National Farm Worker Ministry, 2024). The United States seeks cheap seasonal labor to maximize its overall capital gain, shying away from hiring domestic workers. This idea originated from labor shortages during World War II. The United States government started the Bracero Program in 1942 (National Farm Worker Ministry, 2024). Bracero means “a Mexican laborer who works with their arms”. The need became much greater across all agricultural industries given population and economic increase. After the government saw the rapid growth it was doing it decided to expand to the H-2A program. According to the National Farm Worker Ministry it states that H-2A program has increased from “139,832 jobs in 2015 to around 370,000 in 2022” these numbers are to show how despite the negative impact it does to workers, it does not completely stop workers from fulfilling the job due to their families need. When hiring H-2A employees, they are prone to not understand the minimum wage and/or not advocate for a higher wage directing employers to hire undocumented workers. Even though some of these employers are actively looking to hire foreign workers, they must demonstrate that there are simply not enough domestic workers for the job, however, after talking to many of the workers on the field they describe it as “very simple” which makes employers hire “cheap labor”. The job has to be advertised as only temporary. Sometimes a lot of migrant farm workers' country's economy is not the best, making these workers go out and look for these job opportunities themselves without knowing the negative factors of these programs. Since the hiring process of H-2A workers takes place outside the United States, employers can find loopholes to ensure that workers do not receive the labor and human right benefits. The guest worker programs are inherently discriminatory (Agriculture House, 2024).  Employers do not have to follow the Civil Rights Act of 1964 or the Age Discrimination Employment Act of 1967, granting them loopholes to normalize the abuses workers face.  H-2A employers and recruiters look specifically for young single men without family ties in the United States so that the worker is available to work every day (National Farm Worker Ministry, 2024). Most of the times when employers see that they can do “whatever” they want with these workers they continue to recruit more foreign workers. As it keeps growing, the lack of safety regulations causes migrant workers to be mistreated, exploited, and abused. These programs are often described as  “modern slavery” or a “hospitality trap” (Farm Workers Justice, 2015). 

Similar to the United States, the Canadian program SAWP was introduced by governmental entities in 1966. Given the rapid growth, SAWP decided to expand their program to Mexico and other Caribbean countries. Unlike the H-2A, SAWP is operated by the federal Ministry of Human Resources and Skills Development Canada (Local Immigration Partnership, 2024) It works in partnership with the Ministry of Citizenship and Immigration and the various country governments. SAWP allows Canadian farm employers to hire workers unable to find domestic workers to fulfill their labor demands (Niagara, 2018).  SAWP has been in existence for more than four decades and it annually brings about  27,000 workers from Mexico and the Caribbean into Canadian farms, and within eight months they are returned to their home countries. Aside from only being allowed to choose workers from specific countries, the labor must be related to farm agriculture (Government of Canada, 2022). The recruiting process uses third-party recruitment representatives, private hiring consultants, and paid advertisements. One of the SAWP employers' hiring requirements is that these workers must come from Mexico or the Caribbean due to mutual agreements they have with these countries. 

These contracts often do not include any protective measures for workers nor do they outline regulatory measures.  

METHODOLOGY 

The Mexican Migration Project (MMP) is a unique database of ongoing multidisciplinary studies of Mexican Migration to the United States and Canada. Data is collected from surveys administered every year in each country. Since 2006, MMP has collected over fifty-four thousand H-2A and SAWP worker participant surveys. The data shows that almost all workers are from rural towns in their home country, with little to no formal education making them far more vulnerable to unfair treatment. Even though the United States offers higher wages than Canada and shorter work days, the wage and housing inequalities are unimaginably problematic. To help provide an in-depth insight and offer empirical evidence into the experiences of workers, I analyzed two different case studies—one related to poor housing conditions and the other to unfair wages. Both cases are evaluating the circumstances of the issues from a migrant point of view. The first case is“Canada: Komienski Workers Pen an Open Letter to Officials over Continued Abuse Months after Colleagues were Repatriated to Jamaica over Labor Complaints.” The second case is “Farmworkers Bear the Brunt of California's Housing Crisis.” One limitation of this analysis is that the research and findings may not be directly applicable to other regions or countries with different agricultural labor programs and policies. In addition, up-to-date reliable data was scarce. 

EVIDENCE

POOR HOUSING CONDITIONS

Under the National Library of Medicine, it states that there are five different ways to inspect fair housing such as; “(1) sanitation, food security, and water; (2) thermal safety, electricity, and utilities; (3)habitability of structure, air quality, and exposure to hazards; (4) spacing, privacy, and co-worker relations and (5) geographic proximity to necessary services and social opportunities”. H- 2A regulations state that common living areas should be cleaned daily and there should be public access to at least one or more drinking fountains for every 100 workers, however, research shows otherwise. The Journal of Environmental Justice, shows migrant workers struggle with contaminated, or insufficient water in their homes. Carmen Garcia, a single mother who is on the field all day states “I use it sometimes, but it smells bad,” (The Guardian, 2020). In the article it also states “their housing might even lack running water completely. Even when running water is available, it’s frequently undrinkable and unlikely to help agricultural workers replenish” (The Guardian, 2020). These employers are not enforcing the Department of Labor regulations for workers because it is simply cheaper to ignore it, even if it's inhumane. Every service building must be provided with equipment capable of maintaining a temperature of at least 70 degrees Fahrenheit during cold weather. (29 CFR 1910.142(f)(4)). The National Library of Medicine states that “more than half of the workers (55.1%) reported no air conditioning in their dwellings; (6.6%) reported having central air conditioning, and 121 (38.3%) reported a window-installed air conditioner. Window units were most commonly reported in sleeping areas (109; 90.1%). Air conditioning was reportedly used 20 or more of the past 30 days by 121 (85.9%) workers who had it available”. This is to show that these workers are experiencing excessive heat even after coming back from the field which can cause long-term health issues.  

Employers must offer housing at no cost to migrant workers; each room where workers sleep must contain at least 50 square feet per person. A  prison cell should be a “minimum of 80 square feet of living space”, this is 30 sq ft less than a prisoner. Ceilings must be at least 7 feet high. (29 CFR 1910.142(b)(2)), on average a room is to be 250 sq ft. At least 100 sq ft per person must be provided in a room where workers can simultaneously cook, live, and sleep. (29 CFR 1910.142(b)(9)). One migrant worker stated “We are the ones collecting food for the tables and sometimes I feel that we do not have enough space to even cook what we harvest” (La Guardia, 2020). Laundry, handwashing, and bathing facilities must be provided in the following ratio: one handwashing sink per family or one per six persons in a shared facility; one shower head for every 10 persons; one laundry facility for every 30 persons. (29 CFR 1910.142(f)(1)). In the article, Civil Eats, it states “Rosalia Martinez, a farm worker from San Bernardino states “It's uncomfortable, but here we are,” said Martinez. “We want to move, our children need more space” (Civil Eats, 2021). These growing families are not being provided with adequately sized housing.  

Transportation into town is required once a week for workers to purchase their groceries and use public services. However, according to CalMatters, “between 2015 and 2022 in California, 58% of agricultural workers who died on the job were killed in transportation incidents, compared with 47% nationwide because most of these vans are overloaded with workers and lack safety measures”.  Under H-2A housing inspections are not required, therefore ongoing maintenance is often not prioritized. These living conditions that migrants have to face are unsanitary and do not meet the basic needs of human beings. Most of these families make an average of $1,350 monthly, making it impossible to leave their living conditions (Civil Eats, 2021). One pattern that is seen the most is that most of these farm workers are describing their housing situation as “ “modern concentration camps.”

Canada has even more vague housing requirements under their Federal Ministry of Human Resources. The Canada Skills Development’s website states that “housing may be located on the farm or off-site” and “Employers must ensure that the occupancy rate for each unit doesn’t exceed the maximum allowable occupancy rate”. This type of language leads to overcrowded and poorly maintained housing conditions. There are contradicting statements across Canadian government websites. For example, in Canada National Post states “All housing for workers on those programs is inspected by government officials, local public health units, and for SAWP workers, liaison officers from their home countries”.  Inspections are completed annually before workers are allowed to arrive on the farm but can and do also take place during their employment term, employers invested thousands into healthy living conditions” (National Post, 2024).  Research on SAWP migrant agricultural worker housing documented a lack of access to adequate washrooms, laundry facilities, and other sanitary facilities (National Library of Medicine, 2024). Research commonly described the geographic location of worker’s housing as situated in rural or segregated areas with few amenities such as groceries and limited access to basic services (National Library of Medicine, 2024).

UNFAIR WAGES 

Migrant workers from both Canada & the United States often work 12-hour shifts at the peak of high temperatures accompanied by multiple layers of clothing to protect themselves from the sun and pesticide chemicals (Farm Worker Ministry, 2021). Their wages do not equate to the level of hard work of these migrant workers. Most of these workers are paid based on their productivity level, discouraging them from taking a break to meet the collective quota. To strengthen this argument, in “Canada: Komienski Workers Pen an Open Letter to Officials over Continued Abuse Months after Colleagues were Repatriated to Jamaica over Labor Complaints.” workers state that they “are treated like mules” or "They think of us as some type of a slave” and some of workers also stated “We are all workers trying to build a better life, but it feels like we are doing worse in Canada than back home."(Komienski Workers Pen an Open Letter). SAWP workers earn lower wages than their H-2A counterparts at $7.40 per hour compared to $9.87 per hour, They also work longer hours at 51 hours per week compared with 33 hours per week. They also stay away from their home countries for fewer months per year at 5.2 months per year compared with 6.7 months per year (American Institute of Political Science, 2019). 

SAWP workers accumulate fewer total hours of labor than H-2A workers at 1,099 in Canada versus 1,184 hours in the United States. This leads to less accumulated total income throughout the trip at $9,355 versus $12,288. Both sets of migrant workers are overwhelmingly paid in cash rather than by check at 94 percent in Canada versus 92 percent in the United States. Reported long workdays and earned cash wages suggest a certain level of informality in both the Canadian and  United States labor practices and regulations(The American Academy of Political and Social Science, 2019). 

Both the United States and Canada alike are actively taking advantage of these worker programs to exploit workers to their advantage. Both the H-2A and SAWP programs are not enforcing any form of worker protection or fair labor practices. Given that these workers come on a temporary visa, employers do not feel inclined to abide by minimum wage requirements and record keeping. Most of these workers do not know what the minimum wage requirement is because the average wage has been subject to change without proper notice. The migrant workers do not feel empowered to advocate for themselves, and that is due to the failure of democracy to uphold fair labor rights and living conditions for human beings. 

CONCLUSION & RECOMMENDATIONS

The data shows how the H-2A and SAWP programs both lead an easy path to the exploitation of workers through poor housing conditions and low wages. The lack of regulation enforcement of these programs instills limited protections for migrant workers and has far-reaching implications for the well-being of migrant workers. To help diminish the number of exploitation that migrant agricultural workers are facing, the department of labor from both countries can create a task to conduct monthly or quarterly safety inspections, enforcing penalization or fines to employers who do not pass safety inspections. In addition, they can create a program that is funded by the United States and Canada informing these workers on what they should expect before arriving at the farms and explaining their labor and human rights program in their primary language. Creating a multilingual resource that states workers housing and wage conditions in a quarter base. It would be helpful for nonprofit organizations such as the Farmworker Federation to develop a program that does “Know Your Rights'' training without employer resistance in both the United States and Canada. Addressing these issues requires a comprehensive approach to tackle systemic inequalities and uphold human rights in the agricultural sector in both Canada and the United States.

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