The H-2A visa program to allow workers to enter the U.S. legally for seasonal agricultural work has resulted in some employers exploiting workers. A case in point is the serious of violations found in an audit of Perez Brothers Farms in Turlock, CA.  Investigations by the Department confirmed:-

• Illegal rejection of applications from qualified domestic workers.

• Failing to pay the required H-2A rate and limiting hours of work to reduce wage payments.

• Failure to reimburse H-2A workers for transportation to and from their country of origin and other related fees.

• Unjustified deductions from wages.

• Failure to maintain records of wages and other payments.

• Transportation of workers under unsafe conditions.

• Housing workers in unsafe, unsanitary and overcrowded conditions.

The audit by the Department of Labor resulted in payment of back wages amounting to $82,000 for 92 workers and an assessment of $37,000 in civil penalties for Perez Brothers Farms.

In a parallel matter Jorgensen Management, a potato grower in Idaho was fined $25,000 and obliged to provide $159,000 in withheld wages to 69 workers. The department of Labor identified coercion and illegal practices including threatening to “send workers home to Mexico” if they did not agree to receive lower than statutory wage rates.

Many of the violations enumerated in these cases contravened the Migrant and Seasonal Agriculture Worker Protection Act. During Fiscal 2021 the Department of Labor conducted over 1,000 investigations of agricultural employers and recovered more than $8.4 million in back wages for 10,000 employees and assessed $7 million in penalties.

Exploitation of agricultural workers and discrimination against U.S. citizens and those legally eligible for employment will only be curbed following a thorough overhaul of immigration laws to allow a balance between issuing visas to foreign workers in relation to the availability of jobs.