Since Trump’s election, many farm workers are now nervous about being separated from their families. The UFW is preparing by making sure farm workers know their rights. We know growers will use the fear of deportation to intimidate workers – but with your help, farm workers will be organized and ready to fight back.
Unfortunately, growers are making their plans too. Some are even using the threat of mass deportation as an excuse to ask Congress and the Trump administration to expand and lower wages for the exploitative H-2A guest worker program. The H-2A program is a recipe for abuse and exploitation: workers’ visas are tied to their employer, meaning workers who are being abused can’t even find another job.
Even worse, growers have been pushing to cut H-2A workers’ wages – which also undercuts the wages of all other farm workers, U.S. citizens and undocumented immigrants alike. Last time he was President, Trump tried to cut H-2A worker wages – but the UFW sued and stopped him. Farm workers should not be living in poverty.
This is the nightmare plan bosses’ have for the next 4 years: Instead of protecting their own workers from Trump’s threats by fighting for a pathway to citizenship, they want to simply replace farm workers with an even more vulnerable and cheaper workforce that’s barred by law from ever becoming U.S. citizens or even leaving their employers if they are abused or mistreated.
Sign the pledge to tell Congress to protect farm workers. The union opposes mass deportations and expansions of exploitative guest worker programs alike for the same reason: We believe the farm workers who have been here for decades and who put food on America’s table every day deserve to live without fear in the nation they feed.
