Eleazar was 24 years old in 2014, when he began working seasonally with a H-2A visa for seasonal farmworkers on a tobacco farm in Benson, North Carolina. Eleazar, who requested that only his first name be published for fear of retaliation, lived in a "galley" with 49 other workers, without a heating or cooling system. Now 33, Eleazar described how workers often suffered enfermedades due to continued exposure to nicotine in tobacco, as well as symptoms caused by heat in the fields.
“One day it really hit me hard. Arriving at the house, I couldn't stand it anymore and I kind of got dizzy,” she recalled. "I got sick. I lasted two days without going to work. I told the manager and he just told me, well, take some pills and stay in bed, nothing more. It was the same for everyone… they didn't pay much attention to us.”
From 2011 to 2023, at least five farm, forestry and fishing workers died from heat in North Carolina, according to data from the state Department of Occupational Safety and Health.
José Arturo González Mendoza, thirty years old, could be part of that list: he died the September 5 while harvesting sweet potatoes in Barnes Farming & Farm Pak in Nash County. His cause of death has not yet been determined, but his brother Gustavo believes that José Arturo died due to harsh working conditions exacerbated by extreme heat.
The H-2A visa program has a history of controversies. Advocates argue that H-2A workers in North Carolina are vulnerable to abuse at every stage of the visa program because employers have so much power over them, making them afraid to speak out. Still, some farms say they represent a more progressive model.
Advocates hope that federal regulations Proposals, if adopted, would help improve systemic problems in the program, although many expressed concerns about understaffing in enforcement agencies.
The H-2A visa program
González Mendoza came to North Carolina from Guanajuato, Mexico, to work as an agricultural laborer temporary 11 days before his death.
The day he died, "it was very hot," Gustavo said. "The colleagues who were there said he felt bad and that the supervisors told him to keep going because nothing was wrong," he explained. "He fell... They took him to the bus and called an ambulance, but it was too late."
In an emailed statement, a Barnes Farming spokesperson wrote: “Every Barnes Farming team member is vital to the company, the community, and the global food supply, and as a company and a family of dedicated team members, we are deeply saddened by the loss of Mr. González Mendoza.”
In the program H-2A visa, which allows foreign agricultural workers to work temporarily in the United States, day laborers depend on their employers for visas, transportation, food and lodging, and their livelihood.
Established in 1952, the H-2 visa, was later divided into H-2A for agricultural workers and H-2B for seasonal non-agricultural employment, according to the Bipartisan Policy Center. The Department of Labor certified 372,000 agricultural jobs with H-2A workers in fiscal year 2022, an increase of 17% from the previous year, according to Rural Migration News.
But the visa system has raised concerns national level due to what some advocates consider a “Explotacion"of the workers and a lax application of the regulations.
Barnes Farming and the North Carolina Farmers Association
El North Carolina Department of Labor (DOL) is still investigating the death of González Mendoza at Barnes Farming; This agency investigates all reports of work-related deaths.
This is not the first time the farm has been involved in controversies related to its workers. One of the oldest incidents was a Congressional oversight hearing in 1983 that singled out two Barnes Farming labor camp operators who repeatedly violated labor laws. Migrant farmworkers sue Barnes Farming in 1986 y 2013 due to unpaid or too low wages and poor housing conditions.
As part of the previous statement, a Barnes Farming spokesperson wrote: “The company takes the health and safety of each of its team members extremely seriously and has prioritized health and safety since the farm was started.”
Johnny Barnes, the president of Barnes Farming Corporation, is married to state senator, Lisa Barnes, of the Republican Party for the counties of Franklin, Nash y Vance.
Barnes Farming member from the North Carolina Farmers Association, or NC Growers Associations, a network of farm owners across the state. NC Growers Associations helps its members apply for H-2A workers and manages visa applications and transportation of workers from their hometowns in Mexico to North Carolina. The association then jointly employs those workers with member farms.
González Mendoza was one of those workers.
NC Growers Associations, founded by Stan Eury, former North Carolina state government employee is the biggest user of H-2A workers in the country; In 2020, it certified more than 10,000 H-2A positions. The organization also has a history of alleged violations of labor laws, detailed in a 2015 Buzzfeed investigation, including lawsuits for wage theft and multiple investigations by the federal Department of Labor. Another visa company founded by Eury, International Labor Management Corp., was closed due to visa violations.
North Carolina Farmers Association leaders did not respond to multiple email and phone requests for comment.
According to Flor Herrera-Picasso of Wilson's Blue House, a Latino nonprofit that collaborated with González Mendoza's brother Gustavo, other Barnes Farming workers faced intimidation after González Mendoza's death.
“They were sent to different camps so they couldn't organize, speak out, try to come up with new ideas, or express themselves,” he said. “Who investigates this kind of behavior when there's intimidation and attempts to silence people?”
Questioned about these claims, a Barnes Farming spokesperson denied any attempt to intimidate workers.
They wrote in an emailed statement: “The allegations of bullying by Barnes Farming following the loss of Mr. Gonzalez Mendoza, along with other allegations made in connection with this tragic incident, are baseless and without any basis in fact.”
The death of González Mendoza also generated calls for North Carolina to pass a heat protection law, due to complaints from workers about limited breaks, inadequate access to shade and insufficient water supply.
Gustavo also said he had heard that workers were not given adequate time to drink water on the farm where his brother died. When asked about it, a Barnes Farming spokesperson denied the allegations.
“The allegations that workers at Barnes do not or did not receive multiple breaks to stay well hydrated, as well as the allegations that workers were intimidated or moved to other camps as a form of intimidation, which Barnes has previously addressed, are equally unfounded and without any basis in fact,” the spokesperson said.
González Mendoza's autopsy is still pending; He is expected to take between three and six months. Due to the prolonged wait for results, Herrera-Picasso said Gustavo expressed concern that the autopsy could be manipulated and that he would not know the cause of his brother's death before his work permit expired. .
The language barrier and poor communication from authorities and employers can make it difficult for family members to find out what happened to their loved ones who died, according to the wife of Abraham González Cervantes, 53, who died in August. Juana Muñoz Guerrero, his wife, stated that he complained of feeling sick but did not receive medical attention in the field where he was working in Wilson County. She still doesn't know how he died.
"The death certificate they sent me with the body says it was a possible heart attack. The hospital told me they'll continue investigating his death. It could take six or eight months," said Muñoz Guerrero.
Illegal recruitment fees
Regardless of what caused González Mendoza's death, some farmworkers may face abuse before even entering the country. Since it began in 2014, Eleazar mentioned that it has been difficult to find employment under the H-2A visa program without having to pay illegal recruitment fees, which are sometimes charged by agents who recruit them in their home countries for the H-2A program.
Jocelyn Reyes, director of Promotion, Education and Leadership Development at the Migrant Rights Center, a nonprofit organization that assists migrant workers based in Mexico, stated that illegal recruiter fees are one of the most common forms of fraud in the H-2A process. Some recruiters also offer job opportunities that don't exist or falsely describe wages and working conditions, she explained. Reyes mentioned that this is due to the lack of a "structured" recruitment process for employers to secure H-2A workers.
Currently, employers who wish to hire H-2A workers must provide a copy of the agreements with its foreign labor recruiters that “expressly prohibit unlawful fees” if requested by the certifying officer.
Reyes noted that there is a recruitment chain in Mexico for H-2A workers that can involve different levels of risk and costs for the workers involved. Because there are hundreds of individuals or agencies involved, the Mexican government lacks the ability to effectively track each recruitment process, she explained.
Once farmworkers arrive in the United States, they may face harsh working and living conditions. A migrant farm worker, 40, who works on a farm in Harnett County, North Carolina, and wishes to remain anonymous for fear of retaliation from his employer, said the workers' contract gives them a 15-minute break every hour on exceptionally hot days.
Despite this provision and being paid hourly, he mentioned that workers experienced pressure from the farm owner if the bin was not filled with tobacco leaves within a predetermined time.
The seasonal farm worker with 20 years of experience mentioned that if the workers take longer than usual to fill the container, the boss will question what they were doing: “We can't take more time than is already allotted for us. Once we start filling a container, we can't afford to sit for about 10 minutes,” he explained.
Still, on scorching days, workers said they took collective breaks, despite facing threats from the farm owner to report them to the North Carolina Growers Association.
“I prefer my physical integrity to dying there in the field. When it is too hot, we leave, and it has happened twice,” said another agricultural worker, who preferred to remain anonymous for fear of retaliation from his employer.
Migrant workers at the Harnett County farm also expressed concern about poor living conditions in their trailers, including a bedbug infestation. The day laborers mentioned that their beds have blood stains from bedbug bites. To deal with the high temperatures in their trailers, they installed air conditioners, but each person must contribute $10 to the farm owner every eight days for its use.
Coming home
After the harvest season concludes, farmworkers affiliated with the NC Growers Associations said they must wait until all vacancies at other member farms are filled for the next season's harvest before they can leave the United States, even if They have already fulfilled their contract on a particular farm.
Three farmworkers at the Harnett County farm said that after finishing their work, they waited weeks without employment until early November, when they were allowed to return to their home country. They claimed that if they had attempted to leave before the vacancies were filled, they would not have received reimbursement for their return trip.
“It is only when the sweet potato and pine vacancies are filled that they will begin to give reimbursements because there is no longer work to offer to the other workers,” explained one of the day laborers who harvests tobacco; He preferred to remain anonymous for fear of reprisals.
Once workers are allowed to leave, H-2A employers are supposed to reimburse them for their travel home, although some they do not comply with this requirement. Even if workers are reimbursed correctly, they may have to pay additional fees along the way.
Three farmworkers, who wished to remain anonymous for fear of retaliation from their employers, said that when they cross the U.S.-Mexico border on buses contracted by the North Carolina Farmers Association, they often have to pay additional fees, known as "la mordida" or bribes, to cross.
One of the day laborers mentioned that these rates have increased. A decade ago, he paid about $20-30 at the Texas-Mexico border. By 2020, he said rates had increased to between $80-100 per worker.
He said he usually completes the first leg of his trip, from the United States to Monterrey, Mexico, at 6 a.m. He then arrives in Michoacán, his destination, around midnight. If the workers do not pay the bribes, the trip is extended considerably, he explained.
“If they took all the suitcases down they would take you another 4 hours. At the border you would be stuck for, say, 6 to 10 hours. So we saved all that time by paying,” she said. The money is collected by the driver, who, he assumes, then delivers it to the person in charge of supervising his entry into Mexico.
Rates can also vary depending on certain days or times workers cross, according to one worker.
María Mejía, member of The future is ours, a farmworker-led organization that advocates for better working conditions, has been fighting against these fees. In 2019, it requested anonymous reports from workers about these incidents.
“We received more than 100 complaints from workers, including photos and recordings of the driver who was receiving money and the driver asking a worker to raise the collection,” Mejia said. “Unfortunately, when we wanted to do it further, it stayed there.”
A Mexican government troop escorted some of the buses after a farm worker filed a complaint directly with the Mexican consulate. They laid off eight bus drivers that year, Mejia said, but it didn't result in lasting changes.
Officials, lawyers and defenders
It can be difficult to enforce anti-abuse laws within the H-2A visa program. Caitlin Ryland, senior attorney with Legal Aid of NC's Farmworker Unit, said the structure of the H-2A program creates an unbalanced power dynamic between employers and workers.
“You may be discouraged from reporting something that happens at work because of that power dynamic,” she said.
“In fact, if things are really bad, you're even more discouraged from speaking up because your employer could be excluded from the program in the future, and then you lose that source of income and your ability to return each year,” Ryland said.
However, the DOL often relies on worker complaints to enforce protections, he said.
“My understanding is that their resources seriously limit their ability to follow up on certain issues or conduct proactive investigations while workers are here,” Ryland said.
In an emailed statement, Jennifer Haigwood, director of OSH at NCDOL, wrote: “The Bureau of Agricultural Safety and Health (responsible for migrant housing inspections) has eight inspector positions. Our overall Safety and Health Enforcement offices (covering all general industries and construction) have approximately 100 enforcement positions.”
Federal and state labor departments share responsibility for enforcing standards for H-2A workers. According to Haigwood, the state primarily handles inspections and complaints related to migrant housing, as well as any workplace safety and health issues that fall under the jurisdiction of the Division of Occupational Safety and Health. Issues related to the payment of wages and other protections under the H-2A rules are overseen by the United States DOL.
Alexis Guild, Vice President of Strategy and Programs at Farmworker Justice, noted that a similar problem exists at the federal level, with a limited number of DOL inspectors, meaning the agency must rely on worker complaints.
The federal government's Wage and Hour Division, which is charged with investigating issues such as wage theft, is severely understaffed and currently investigates less than 1 percent of agricultural employers per year, according to a 2023 report from the Economic Policy Institute.
According to a U.S. DOL spokesperson, the Wage and Hour Division has 733 investigators. This division enforces federal labor laws in 11 million workplaces for 165 million employees.
In an emailed statement, the spokesperson wrote: “Although we are a small agency, we work tirelessly to protect the rights of the nation’s workforce and engage diverse partners and stakeholders to amplify the impact of our compliance and outreach efforts.”
When asked about farmworker protections at a press conference with Latino media, Governor Roy Cooper told this outlet: “There are a lot of different rules and regulations that interact: the Department of Labor here in North Carolina, there are federal rules, and there are also rules that I know the legislature passes. I want to continue working with communities across North Carolina to try to improve those conditions, both by putting pressure on companies and by getting fair measures passed that ensure people are protected.”
Federal Government, Enforcement and Regulations
When workers complain, some feel they are not heard.
According to Haigwood, when the NCDOL receives a complaint, compliance staff first assess whether the complaint warrants an investigation and, if so, they send a letter to the employer to give them the opportunity to respond. Staff evaluate that response and may conduct an on-site inspection if they believe the issue has not been resolved. Inspectors always attempt to interview employees, Haigwood wrote in an emailed statement.
After González Mendoza's death, the NCDOL initiated an inspection at Barnes Farming, which is still ongoing.
But farmworkers say inspectors don't interact with them.
“They only talk to the managers. With us, we really have things to talk about, well no,” said an experienced seasonal agricultural worker with 14 years of experience, who preferred to remain anonymous for fear of retaliation from his employer.
An employer who is found to have violated a labor law could be fined or temporarily or permanently removed from the H-2A program, depending on the severity of the violation. However, some growers have found ways to get around the penalty, known as an exclusion.
Investigate Midwest, an independent, nonprofit media outlet based in Illinois, discovered six cases in which employers with the same address, owner, or phone number as actively sanctioned businesses were approved for H-2A workers.
To initiate a complaint, union members Farm Labor Organizing Committee (FLOC) contact a union representative. If the union is unable to resolve the matter, workers can contact NC Growers, if their employer is part of the association. If a resolution is still not achieved, workers can file a complaint with the DOL.
FLOC members work under the terms of a contract the union negotiated with NC Growers. However, the union has come under scrutiny due to its alleged lack of response to farmworker complaints. Questions have also been raised about his leadership, according to a research made by The Assembly.
Solutions to the H-2A visa program
Despite the problems of the H-2A program, many see it as a win-win for foreign workers and American employers. Timothee Sallin is co-CEO of IMG Enterprises, which operates Cherrylake, an ornamental horticulture company in Florida. Cherrylake began using the H-2A program a decade ago because there weren't many local workers willing to do the demanding physical work needed to grow its crops, Sallin said.
Sallin said he views the H-2A program as highly regulated. He must show that he exhausted all options for hiring American workers before employing foreign workers, and that they are performing the work described in his work order.
"If we were banned from the program, it could very well mean the end of our business because we wouldn't be able to continue producing," he said.
Most of his workers want to come back and work for him every year, he said, which tells him he's providing a good work environment.
He mentioned that workers earn much better wages than they could in their home countries, in addition to having access to health insurance and 401K retirement plans. In Cherrylake, most workers live in a 16,000-square-foot facility on the farm Sallin designed, which has eight three-bedroom units.
“I know from talking to them that many have been able to save a lot of money and use it to build homes in their home countries. Some have gone back to school. Some have started businesses,” Sallin said.
Without the H-2A program, Sallin said there would be no regulation on the importation of foreign labor.
Hope for a change
Those who advocate for day laborers hope that the proposed federal regulations for the H-2A program, if approved, strengthen the protections and application of workers' rights.
“The new rule is specific, indicating that there will be consequences for employers who are not vigilant about these allegations or who may be permissive, meaning they could be punished with several years without obtaining certifications to bring in workers for another season,” Reyes stated.
Guild said the proposed regulations are intended to make it easier for H-2A workers to get health care and join unions, protect workers from retaliation and strengthen debarment rules to prevent excluded companies from continuing to hire workers under the program. H-2A visas.
“These proposed regulations are very positive and will strengthen worker protections, and hopefully also bolster effective enforcement by the DOL to prevent abuse within the program,” Guild said.
However, Guild said he expects the rules, once finalized, to be subject to litigation.
The comment period on the proposed regulations ended Nov. 14. The USDOL must review all comments before the regulations are evaluated by the Office of Information and Regulatory Affairs. The final rule is then published in the Federal Register with responses to the comments.
Special report produced by Enlace Latino NC and Carolina Public Press.
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We have a manager who gives preference to 2 workers and they are the ones who work the most and the rest of them hardly give us work and when they give us work he brings us running to finish quickly