SKAGIT COUNTY, WA – Advocates for immigrants’ rights in Washington state are voicing concerns about the possible expansion of the H-2A visa program, which they say exploits migrant workers.
Washington is one of five states most dependent on H-2A workers in the country — whose numbers have ballooned in the last decade to about 33,000.
Edgar Franks, political director for the independent farmworker union Familias Unidas por la Justicia, based in Skagit County, said farm labor shortages caused by mass deportations could increase reliance on the program, and H-2A workers often face wage theft and poor housing.
“Being crammed into a small room, or if you’re in a place where it’s really hot, there’s no ventilation or air conditioning,” said Franks. “The bathrooms are lacking in sanitation. Sometimes they give mattresses with bed bugs in them.”
From 2018 to 2023, the Department of Labor found nearly 70,000 violations against employers of H-2A workers – the most common was wage theft.
Rep. Dan Newhouse, R-Wash., wants to expand the program through the Farm Workforce Modernization Act, which he says would ease burdens on farmers.
Franks said one of the problems with the program is that workers’ visas are connected to a specific employer, giving that employer too much control.
If a worker is laid off or fired, their visa becomes invalid and they must leave the country immediately.
“It’s really hard for workers to really speak up,” said Franks, “and talk about their wages, or make formal complaints, because of fear of retaliation.”
U.S. companies should raise their wages in Mexico, added Franks, which would reduce the need for people to go North.
He also called for workers who have already been working in the state, sometimes for decades, to be legalized.
“If you have workers that are protected and paid well and treated well,” said Franks, “that’s in the interest of the whole nation. We should recognize that and really step up for farmworkers.”