The migrant farmworkers are at high risk of coronavirus outbreak and are unprotected. In the US, 47 to 70 percent of total farmworkers are undocumented. Many undocumented farmworkers are facing the problem of unsanitary and crowded labor camps and transportation. They are not offered with additional training or instructions for disinfection or social distancing by their employers. Moreover, there is no federal guidelines that tell farmers what to do if they don’t have quarantine space for sick workers or where accessible and affordable health care services are. 

     The migrant farmworkers are not treated as essential workers they are by the federal government before this global pandemic. Undocumented farmworkers are excluded from Fair Labor Act of 1938 and the National Labor Relations Act of 1835. Although state level laws have provided more protections for farmworkers, there is not enough guarantee of farmworkers rights under federal laws. Migrant farmworkers are experiencing the hardship of low hour pay, inaccessible health care services, bad living conditions and fear of deportation.       

     As the workers who put food in the markets and an indispensable role of the supply chain in the food system, farmworkers should be protected. I hope the COVID-19 outbreak can let the federal government acknowledge that farmworkers are critical to the U.S. economy and consider legislation to give the rights and protection they deserve. Under the pandemic, the farmworkers need to be provided with protection gears and hygiene products. They also need enough housing for quarantine, affordable testing of coronavirus and medical care services. If the backbone of our agricultural industry becomes affected, there will be shortages and interruptions in our food supply. If farmworkers are sick, who is going to harvest America’s food and what will happen to our food supply?

(Sources of Articles)

Liza Gross, Esther Honig. 2020. Migrant farmworkers feed America, they’re at high risk for a coronavirus outbreak. https://thefern.org/2020/03/migrant-farmworkers-feed-america-and-theyre-at-high-risk-for-a-coronavirus-outbreak/

Danny Hajek. 2020. Farmworkers, seemed essential, don’t feel protected from pandemic. 

https://www.npr.org/2020/03/31/824358228/farmworkers-deemed-essential-dont-feel-protected-from-pandemic

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Tim Padgett. Undocumented Migrants: If we’re “essential” workers during COVID-19, why detain us? https://www.wlrn.org/post/undocumented-migrants-if-were-essential-workers-during-covid-19-why-detain-us#stream/0