Catherwood LibraryILR School

At a recent rally in Michigan, Trump shocked his base and delighted the powerful agricultural lobby when he said “we need to have your workers come in”, referring to the H-2A agricultural visa program. Days before the speech, the Labor Department reached a settlement with the Arizona-based G Farms in a case arising from inhumane conditions that the agribusiness had subjected its workers to. The farm was housing 69 temporary H-2A workers in crowded and unsanitary trailers. Critics of the visa program say that it enables the mass import of vulnerable and easily exploited people. In fiscal year 2017, the U.S. Department of Labor approved more than 200,000 H-2A visas, a 20.7% increase from the year before. A study published by Indiana University found that temporary guest workers are guaranteed to be underpaid because their employers control their visas, making it almost impossible for them to advance in the labor market. Farm owners, however, maintain that their survival depends on easy access to cheap labor.