https://padlet.com/mdhekial/w8hd1749g45dfr54 en-us 2023-09-25 22:17:23 UTC 2023-09-28 19:10:08 UTC hello@padlet.com mdhekial https://padlet.com/mdhekial/w8hd1749g45dfr54/wish/2720055095 Question: How does the one-employer rule under H-2A and H-2B visas perpetuate structural violence against migrant farm workers and how can the rule be amended to prevent such violence?

Thesis: The one-employer rule under H-2A and H-2B, temporary visas for migrant workers, allows structural violence against migrant farm workers to flourish by creating opportunity for employers to exploit their workers in an unequal employer-employee power dynamic. The one-employer rule should be modified to help workers regain their basic labor rights by giving them a safeguard against possibly abusive employers and allow them a longer time period to search for a new job without the risk of deportation. ]]> 2023-09-25 22:17:49 UTC https://padlet.com/mdhekial/w8hd1749g45dfr54/wish/2720055095 mdhekial https://padlet.com/mdhekial/w8hd1749g45dfr54/wish/2720055245

Introduce temporary work visas: H-2A, H-2B for migrant based labor

• What are they?
  • "'Legal' pathways for U.S. employers that wish to hire migrant workers or for migrants who want to work in the United States lawfully is via “nonimmigrant” visas that authorize temporary employment" (Costa).
  • Table sourced from Costa picture above.
• How do they work?
  • "In the United States, employers almost exclusively control and drive the process, by deciding to recruit and hire employees through temporary work visa programs. Workers who participate in those programs are known as temporary migrant workers, or “guestworkers”—defined as persons employed away from their home countries in temporary labor migration programs" (Costa).
• What are their general pitfalls?
  • Exploitation, unsafe working conditions, debt bondage, underpaid, unprotected (Costa)
• Narrow down from the broad introduction to focus specifically on the problem of the one-employer rule policy
  • Delve into a general introduction on the effects of the one-employer rule including exploitation, fear of deportation, its perpetuation of structural violence, etc (Holmes term)
• Argue that these points and relevant analysis point to a need of abolishing the one-employer rule

]]> 2023-09-25 22:18:07 UTC https://padlet.com/mdhekial/w8hd1749g45dfr54/wish/2720055245 mdhekial https://padlet.com/mdhekial/w8hd1749g45dfr54/wish/2720058248

"Under the proposed regulations, employers who violate H-2B program requirements, including employers who fail to demonstrate an ability and intent to follow the program requirements, may be ineligible for the limited number of available visas. To improve program integrity and better protect vulnerable workers, the proposed rule would clarify prohibitions on employer-imposed fees... Further, DHS is proposing greater flexibility for H-2 workers by extending grace periods for seeking new employment, preparing for departure from the United States, or seeking a change of immigration status, which will provide increased clarity and worker flexibility, mobility, and protections" (Department of Homeland Security, 2023)

• What this means in terms of improved labor conditions: Workers now have more flexibility when it comes to job searching meaning that they don't face immediate risk of deportation after being let go from a job. 
• Employer-imposed fees: The fees aren't specified by the Department of Homeland Security so it cannot be known whether these fees are scrupulous in the grand scheme of the farm and if they will really have any effect on the farm itself. I will delve into this aspect as part of my counter-argument as well. 

An example of worker exploitation: "The California Labor Commissioner has levied $1.9 million in penalties and fines against a local farm labor contractor and two growers for wage theft affecting 356 workers who harvested persimmons and blueberries" (Business Journal Staff, 2023).

• Employers have so much power over the wages of their employees that in the most extreme case they are able to grossly underpay workers and participate in theft
• A $1.9 million fee is no means a small fine and is a hefty fine that points in the right direction of holding paying workers properly. This is hopefully a sign in the right direction that by remediating temporary visas, workers gain increased rights and employers are held accountable. 

]]> 2023-09-25 22:23:31 UTC https://padlet.com/mdhekial/w8hd1749g45dfr54/wish/2720058248 mdhekial https://padlet.com/mdhekial/w8hd1749g45dfr54/wish/2720058295 2023-09-25 22:23:37 UTC https://padlet.com/mdhekial/w8hd1749g45dfr54/wish/2720058295 mdhekial https://padlet.com/mdhekial/w8hd1749g45dfr54/wish/2720058526 General recap of how changing the one-employer rule helps workers regain their rights and prevents employers from exploiting their employees and a call for action towards the audience (one final assertion for why the rule must change)]]> 2023-09-25 22:24:04 UTC https://padlet.com/mdhekial/w8hd1749g45dfr54/wish/2720058526 mdhekial https://padlet.com/mdhekial/w8hd1749g45dfr54/wish/2720058749

Unfair working conditions, including overtime: 

• "Martinez said that while working, he and his fellow farmworkers didn't get lunch or other breaks...'There were chemicals, rats. You had to eat and run among the cows. They said it was an eight-hour shift, but sometimes it was 12. And we were not paid overtime." (Andrea Hsu, Ximena Bustillo, 2023)

Afraid to speak up for fear of losing their jobs

• "'It was really hard at first to convince the workers [to speak up],' Martinez said. 'First thing they said is 'they'll chase me out; I have bills to pay and a family.' Martinez, who has legal status, says workers who are undocumented are even more afraid to voice concerns. It is estimated that over half of all farmworkers in the U.S. are undocumented and those on visas are tied to their employers for housing, transportation and documentation" (Andrea Hsu, Ximena Bustillo, 2023)

Among other fears overall workers are not being paid properly and are afraid to speak up in fear of deportation (once again all circling back to the one employer rule)

]]> 2023-09-25 22:24:30 UTC https://padlet.com/mdhekial/w8hd1749g45dfr54/wish/2720058749 mdhekial https://padlet.com/mdhekial/w8hd1749g45dfr54/wish/2720064192 Intro --> Problem --> Solution --> Evaluation --> Counter/ Response --> Conclusion]]> 2023-09-25 22:35:04 UTC https://padlet.com/mdhekial/w8hd1749g45dfr54/wish/2720064192 mdhekial https://padlet.com/mdhekial/w8hd1749g45dfr54/wish/2720067807

"Like unauthorized immigrants, temporary migrant workers have good reason to fear retaliation and deportation if they speak up about wage theft, workplace abuses, or other working conditions like substandard health and safety procedures on the job—not because they don’t have a valid immigration status, but because their visas are almost always tied to one employer that owns and controls their visa status. That visa status is what determines the worker’s right to remain in the country; if they lose their job, they lose their visa and become deportable. This arrangement results in a form of indentured servitude" (Costa, 2021).

• As employers have so much control over temporary migrants, many are afraid to speak up about workplace abuses. Almost half of the work force is undocumented meaning that if found out, they are at risk of deportation. Thus, employer's hold absolute power over the visa status of their workers, letting them exploit them without repercussions. 

]]> 2023-09-25 22:41:42 UTC https://padlet.com/mdhekial/w8hd1749g45dfr54/wish/2720067807 mdhekial https://padlet.com/mdhekial/w8hd1749g45dfr54/wish/2720067951

"Employers and recruiters can also weed out workers who might dare to speak out against unlawful employment practices, assert their legal rights, or organize for better working conditions by joining or forming a union. They can do this by refusing to hire workers whom they think will be likely to complain, and retaliating against workers who do speak up or complain—for instance, by firing them and effectively forcing them to leave the country, or by threatening to blacklist them from being hired for future job opportunities" (Costa, 2021).

• Employers have an incredible amount of power when it comes to hiring workers. Thus, they are able to circumvent anti-discrimination laws and choose workers who they believe will benefit them the most. Thus, they are able to hire workers they think are afraid to speak up in fear of deportation, once again pointing to the power employers have under the one-employer rule.

"Private lawsuits against employers who break the law are also an unrealistic avenue for enforcing rights, for two reasons: First, most temporary migrant workers are not eligible for federally funded legal services under U.S. law, and second, those who have been fired are unlikely to have a valid immigration status permitting them to stay in the United States long enough to pursue their claims in court" (Costa, 2021).

• Again, we see that even though there are rules in place, employers still have power over worker rights and many temporary migrants are unable to feasibly voice their complaints and are likely to be fired if they do so. 

]]> 2023-09-25 22:41:52 UTC https://padlet.com/mdhekial/w8hd1749g45dfr54/wish/2720067951 mdhekial https://padlet.com/mdhekial/w8hd1749g45dfr54/wish/2720077714 Proposed rule change to H-2 - Department of Homeland Security

Temporary work visa programs and the need for reform - Daniel Costa, 2021

LOCAL FARM LABOR CONTRACTOR, GROWERS CITED $1.9M FOR WAGE THEFT, The Business Journal Staff, 2023

They put food on our tables but live in the shadows. This man is fighting to be seen - Ximena Bustillo, Andrea Hsu 2023

The people who pick your berries in Washington will now be represented by a union - Natasha Varner, 2016



]]> 2023-09-25 22:59:40 UTC https://padlet.com/mdhekial/w8hd1749g45dfr54/wish/2720077714 mdhekial https://padlet.com/mdhekial/w8hd1749g45dfr54/wish/2720092914

• Why is this not enough to improve the labor rights of migrant workers?
  • "SINDJA says workers take home as little as $6 for a 15-hour workday and that child labor is still rampant. They say workers are subject to wage theft and are not provided health insurance despite regular exposure to harmful chemicals. Female workers report sexual harassment by field managers... “There was a small increase in pay, but it was accompanied by an increased workload,” she says" (Varner, 2016)
  • "Even when independent unions in the border area manage to get government recognition, they are often undermined by rival unions backed by the state or owners who are deeply vested in an economic model based on cheap labor" (Varner, 2016)
    • Even after unionizing, there are still issues that have yet to be solved under the temporary working visa. This highlights the need for change at a national level which means overall policy change to ensure that labor rights are being met without only unions fighting for their rights. Obviously, the rise in unionization has not fixed all labor issues. While they have undoubtedly led to some momentous changes for labor rights, they are bogged down by external factors and unable to advocate for all of their needs.

]]> 2023-09-25 23:24:02 UTC https://padlet.com/mdhekial/w8hd1749g45dfr54/wish/2720092914 mdhekial https://padlet.com/mdhekial/w8hd1749g45dfr54/wish/2720409041

What are the key concepts?

• Structural violence: Structural violence is the way in which current socioeconomic hierarchies are set up to inflict physical and mental damage against certain marginalized groups. 
• Symbolic violence: Symbolic violence is when inequities are accepted as normal, thus letting these injustices fester and thrive.

Connection to my topic?

• Structural and symbolic violence as defined by Holmes are at the crux of the temporary visa issue, more specifically its one employer rule. Immigrants working in the farms are prone to discrimination from managers, inequitable labor practices, including long working hours, little pay, and health problems from an increased risk of Type II diabetes to damage to physical joints. Already migrant workers are in suboptimal working conditions and with the one employer rule their difficulties are further exacerbated. Workers are afraid to speak up at risk of losing their jobs and facing deportation. Thus these structures set up within the farms not only lead to physically damaging effects on workers but also psychological turmoil as workers feel that they can’t speak up in the face of oppression. Additionally, these conditions have solidified symbolic violence. For example, when Holmes talks to some Triqui workers, he realizes that they internalize “body differences” as ways to “deflect blame from the farm for the responsibility for pesticide exposure and its health effects” (Holmes 172). Thus, employers are allowed to continue exploiting their workers, letting the conditions be seen as ‘normal’ when they shouldn’t be. 

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