WEBVTT 1 00:00:01.360 --> 00:00:11.080 Futuro Investigatesaturo Emestida. Hey, today's episode is the second in 2 00:00:11.119 --> 00:00:14.200 our two part special head Down, so we recommend that 3 00:00:14.240 --> 00:00:16.840 if you haven't listened to part one, you press pause 4 00:00:16.920 --> 00:00:18.959 right now, go back to your feed and listen to 5 00:00:19.000 --> 00:00:27.680 episode one. In November twenty twenty one, the Department of 6 00:00:27.840 --> 00:00:30.720 Justice revealed the results of a three year investigation in 7 00:00:30.760 --> 00:00:34.400 Southeast Georgia. It was called Operation blooming Onion. 8 00:00:35.120 --> 00:00:37.680 Two dozen people have been indicted up for the FEDS 9 00:00:37.720 --> 00:00:40.680 busted what they call a modern day slavery ring. 10 00:00:41.080 --> 00:00:44.239 The defendants are accused of forcing Mexican and Central American 11 00:00:44.320 --> 00:00:48.520 migrant workers to dig for crops barehanded at gunpoint. 12 00:00:48.920 --> 00:00:53.280 The workers were held in cramped, unsanitary quarters and fenced 13 00:00:53.360 --> 00:00:57.240 work cams with little or no food, limited plumbing, and 14 00:00:57.320 --> 00:00:58.480 without safe water. 15 00:01:02.440 --> 00:01:06.360 The government alleged two migrants died and others were raped. 16 00:01:07.360 --> 00:01:12.160 They were legally working here. Prosecutors said that the migrants 17 00:01:12.160 --> 00:01:15.800 had been recruited and enslaved by US employers who took 18 00:01:15.800 --> 00:01:19.839 advantage of them through a government program for temporary workers. 19 00:01:20.520 --> 00:01:23.480 The program that gives them visas, called H to eight, 20 00:01:23.760 --> 00:01:26.800 is supposed to have oversights in place to keep these 21 00:01:26.840 --> 00:01:31.120 things from happening, but according to prosecutors, the labor contractors 22 00:01:31.160 --> 00:01:35.280 turned criminals fraudulently obtained tens of thousands of these H 23 00:01:35.360 --> 00:01:40.240 to A visas for workers in a period of five years. Allegedly, 24 00:01:40.480 --> 00:01:44.160 in addition to all of the horrendous physical and emotional abuse, 25 00:01:44.520 --> 00:01:47.640 the workers got little to no pay and in many 26 00:01:47.640 --> 00:01:51.720 cases they were sold. Yes you heard that right, they 27 00:01:51.720 --> 00:01:54.160 were sold to work in other farms. 28 00:01:54.960 --> 00:01:58.559 The construct of slavery may have been taking a new form, 29 00:01:58.600 --> 00:02:02.920 but stories such as these out of South Georgia or 30 00:02:02.960 --> 00:02:09.480 a stat reminded that slavery is still alive today. 31 00:02:10.320 --> 00:02:13.920 This case is extreme and rare, but we found that 32 00:02:13.960 --> 00:02:17.519 the H two A program is actually plagued with systematic problems, 33 00:02:18.000 --> 00:02:20.639 and even people who work in the government admit it, 34 00:02:21.080 --> 00:02:23.200 like migrios from the Department of Labor. 35 00:02:24.000 --> 00:02:27.000 If you have half a brain, you can see that 36 00:02:27.120 --> 00:02:32.600 the H two A program literally is the purchase of 37 00:02:32.760 --> 00:02:39.000 humans to perform difficult work under terrible conditions, sometimes including 38 00:02:39.480 --> 00:02:44.960 subhuman living conditions. 39 00:02:48.400 --> 00:02:52.400 From Futuro Investigates and Latino USA in collaboration with PRISM, 40 00:02:52.600 --> 00:02:55.720 I'm Fernande chavarri In for our host Marie no Jossa. 41 00:02:56.600 --> 00:02:59.480 Today we bring you part two of head Down, where 42 00:02:59.480 --> 00:03:02.600 we'll take a closer look at how from its very beginning, 43 00:03:02.960 --> 00:03:05.880 the H to A Visa program was largely set up 44 00:03:05.880 --> 00:03:15.760 to fail foreign workers. For years, Tinavaskiz, editor at Large 45 00:03:15.760 --> 00:03:18.200 at PRISM, and I have been looking into the federal 46 00:03:18.360 --> 00:03:19.239 H to A program. 47 00:03:19.720 --> 00:03:23.320 We've been following its explosive growth and reporting on the 48 00:03:23.360 --> 00:03:25.480 abuse that often happens inside of it. 49 00:03:26.120 --> 00:03:28.440 Last week, we brought you the story of two former 50 00:03:28.480 --> 00:03:31.400 migrant workers and friends who came here as part of 51 00:03:31.440 --> 00:03:34.320 the program and ended up being trafficked. It was so 52 00:03:34.480 --> 00:03:37.120 bad they had to escape their labor camp in North Carolina. 53 00:03:37.800 --> 00:03:40.480 We also went to Mexico to the hub for h 54 00:03:40.560 --> 00:03:43.840 to A visas and investigated the role that the recruiter plays, 55 00:03:44.240 --> 00:03:47.440 a very sketchy middleman between the migrants and the farms. 56 00:03:48.040 --> 00:03:50.480 For this episode, we'll bring you the results of our 57 00:03:50.520 --> 00:03:54.680 investigation into millions of dollars owed to farm workers and 58 00:03:54.760 --> 00:03:57.560 why these funds end up in the US government's hands. 59 00:03:58.120 --> 00:04:00.320 We'll tell you the story of two brothers who spoke 60 00:04:00.400 --> 00:04:04.240 up against unsafe working conditions and suffered grave consequences, and. 61 00:04:04.280 --> 00:04:07.160 You'll hear from government officials close to the program, who 62 00:04:07.200 --> 00:04:10.160 are surprisingly candid about what the US is doing wrong 63 00:04:10.400 --> 00:04:11.360 and could do better. 64 00:04:12.200 --> 00:04:14.880 All of this as the Biden administration is preparing to 65 00:04:14.960 --> 00:04:18.960 expand the h to a program without fully reforming it. First, 66 00:04:19.600 --> 00:04:22.320 before we go any further, let's have a quick refresher 67 00:04:22.480 --> 00:04:27.200 on how the program works. It has become a lifeline 68 00:04:27.279 --> 00:04:30.479 for US farmers. It is thanks to migrant workers coming 69 00:04:30.600 --> 00:04:33.560 every year that we get enough labor supply to have 70 00:04:33.680 --> 00:04:38.239 fruits and vegetables on our tables. Why migrant workers, Well, 71 00:04:38.520 --> 00:04:43.200 it's grueling work, spending hours under the scorching sun, vending 72 00:04:43.200 --> 00:04:46.880 your back over and over and over again, at times, 73 00:04:46.880 --> 00:04:50.159 working for less than minimum wage, exposing your body to 74 00:04:50.240 --> 00:04:54.040 pesticides and extreme weather, all in an industry known for 75 00:04:54.160 --> 00:04:58.320 dangerous working conditions and lack of regulations. So, as you 76 00:04:58.320 --> 00:05:00.920 can imagine, for a very long time, I know US 77 00:05:00.920 --> 00:05:03.240 citizens have been avoiding this type of work. 78 00:05:03.640 --> 00:05:06.080 It's been a challenge for many farmers in Eerie County 79 00:05:06.160 --> 00:05:09.159 to hire workers to collect strawberries and all other kinds 80 00:05:09.160 --> 00:05:12.479 of fruits and vegetables. But some farmers, like John Mason, 81 00:05:12.640 --> 00:05:15.440 owner of Mason Farms, won't have too much of a 82 00:05:15.600 --> 00:05:20.479 struggle because he's using plamb hiring Temporary agricultural foreign workers, 83 00:05:20.640 --> 00:05:22.359 also known as H two A. 84 00:05:22.720 --> 00:05:24.599 I get yelled at when people know that we have 85 00:05:24.720 --> 00:05:27.520 Mexicans working for us, that they say, you know you're 86 00:05:27.520 --> 00:05:31.120 stealing American jobs. Now we're filling jobs that Americans refused 87 00:05:31.160 --> 00:05:32.120 to work at anymore. 88 00:05:33.040 --> 00:05:35.640 So, the US government tried to make farmers' lives easier 89 00:05:35.680 --> 00:05:38.960 by facilitating a process in which foreign workers could come here, 90 00:05:39.279 --> 00:05:41.880 and that's how the HJOY program was created in nineteen 91 00:05:41.920 --> 00:05:46.320 eighty six. Fast forward to today, the US is issuing 92 00:05:46.400 --> 00:05:50.040 more H TOA visas than ever before. In Mexico, where 93 00:05:50.120 --> 00:05:52.520 ninety percent of H to A workers come from, A 94 00:05:52.520 --> 00:05:56.680 staggering quarter of a million visas were issued just last year. 95 00:05:57.400 --> 00:05:59.680 So those jobs that US citizens don't want to do, 96 00:06:00.360 --> 00:06:02.520 Mexicans are doing more and more. 97 00:06:03.240 --> 00:06:07.599 In theory, employers must comply with specific laws and regulations, 98 00:06:07.720 --> 00:06:11.520 like providing workers housing and meals, paying for their visas, 99 00:06:11.560 --> 00:06:16.360 and basic wages. But in practice these laws are regularly violated. 100 00:06:18.800 --> 00:06:21.960 And here's something else. Lately, members of Congress have talked 101 00:06:21.960 --> 00:06:24.400 about expanding the age to A program to deal with 102 00:06:24.480 --> 00:06:25.680 issues like inflation. 103 00:06:26.279 --> 00:06:28.640 Farmers and ranchers have been telling them that they don't 104 00:06:28.680 --> 00:06:32.120 have enough farm workers in the United States that is 105 00:06:32.160 --> 00:06:35.800 heavily contributing to the increase in food prices. The bipartisan 106 00:06:35.800 --> 00:06:38.760 group of law makers proposes expanding the H two A 107 00:06:38.960 --> 00:06:40.279 visas which allow employers. 108 00:06:40.360 --> 00:06:42.719 They want to make the program bigger to stop inflation, 109 00:06:43.080 --> 00:06:45.120 and the White House wants to expand it to curb 110 00:06:45.200 --> 00:06:49.159 migration and reduce human trafficking. Here's Vice President Kamala Harris 111 00:06:49.160 --> 00:06:51.680 and Guatemala during an official visit in twenty twenty one. 112 00:06:52.320 --> 00:06:54.920 When we see some of the most vulnerable in our 113 00:06:54.960 --> 00:07:01.280 communities being take advantage of being sold for being abused, 114 00:07:01.560 --> 00:07:03.880 it should be a priority for all of us who 115 00:07:03.960 --> 00:07:06.440 care about the human condition and humanity. 116 00:07:07.360 --> 00:07:09.800 Except we know that there is human trafficking in the 117 00:07:09.920 --> 00:07:12.920 H two A program. Remember Operation Blooming Onion at the 118 00:07:12.920 --> 00:07:13.920 top of the episode. 119 00:07:14.320 --> 00:07:18.920 The documents also alleges their migrants were repeatedly raped. As 120 00:07:18.960 --> 00:07:22.240 if that's not enough, the conspirators often sold and traded 121 00:07:22.280 --> 00:07:25.320 the one hundred plus workers amongst themselves. 122 00:07:26.560 --> 00:07:29.800 And all of this is connected to something deeper our 123 00:07:29.880 --> 00:07:30.840 country's history. 124 00:07:31.400 --> 00:07:34.760 Muslemle Vangard a fifteen hundred Mexicans drops of estates by 125 00:07:34.800 --> 00:07:36.400 the farm security at middles. 126 00:07:36.200 --> 00:07:38.080 Lad Most are laborer. 127 00:07:38.680 --> 00:07:40.360 All of them are bachelor. 128 00:07:41.280 --> 00:07:44.560 Foreign workers have been building and feeding this country for centuries, 129 00:07:45.040 --> 00:07:48.240 but there's a specific moment in history that directly connects 130 00:07:48.240 --> 00:07:50.520 with the H two A program as we know it today. 131 00:07:51.200 --> 00:07:54.040 The Brasero program created in nineteen forty two. 132 00:07:54.560 --> 00:07:59.120 The term most commonly used is brasseros in Spanish. This 133 00:07:59.240 --> 00:08:01.760 means a man who works with his arms and hands. 134 00:08:02.480 --> 00:08:05.720 The US and Mexican governments signed an agreement to bring 135 00:08:05.760 --> 00:08:09.480 young laborers to US fields during and after World War Two. 136 00:08:10.680 --> 00:08:14.160 All such farm jobs, which are top, dirty, or unpleasant, 137 00:08:14.520 --> 00:08:18.440 are generally referred to as two labor. It isn't easy 138 00:08:18.480 --> 00:08:21.160 to find men willing to take on such undesirable kinds 139 00:08:21.200 --> 00:08:21.600 of work. 140 00:08:22.400 --> 00:08:25.520 Understandably, they came to replace the millions of men who 141 00:08:25.520 --> 00:08:30.000 were deployed to the war. Yes Mexican workers doing what 142 00:08:30.120 --> 00:08:31.400 Americans couldn't do. 143 00:08:32.120 --> 00:08:35.640 Between nineteen forty two and nineteen sixty four, four point 144 00:08:35.720 --> 00:08:41.280 six million contracts were signed through this barseido program. In 145 00:08:41.320 --> 00:08:44.560 the decades after the program ended, braselos shared their stories 146 00:08:44.600 --> 00:08:47.439 of wage theft and abuse. The man. 147 00:08:49.559 --> 00:08:54.800 Para pasadad on the Nazivana Jumigar and jumigrados e total. 148 00:08:56.120 --> 00:08:59.960 That's Pigdr Alimann speaking for the Brasselo Project, which document 149 00:09:00.280 --> 00:09:04.400 oral testimonies from former gracios. He described the humiliation he 150 00:09:04.440 --> 00:09:06.640 felt at the hands of US officials at the border. 151 00:09:07.280 --> 00:09:10.520 They forced workers to strip at processing centers before crossing 152 00:09:10.800 --> 00:09:14.120 and spread them with pesticides that are now considered carcinogens. 153 00:09:19.880 --> 00:09:22.319 Fast forward to nineteen eighty six, when the h to 154 00:09:22.440 --> 00:09:25.360 A program was created. Much of the basis for it 155 00:09:25.400 --> 00:09:28.839 came from the Brasido program. Here's former President Ronald Reagan 156 00:09:28.920 --> 00:09:30.280 speaking to farmers that year. 157 00:09:30.480 --> 00:09:34.360 We'll be giving farming back to the farmers. So while 158 00:09:34.520 --> 00:09:38.760 times may be tough, the future for American farmers, your future, 159 00:09:39.360 --> 00:09:40.280 I think, looks bright. 160 00:09:40.800 --> 00:09:44.360 But to really understand the legacy of racism and exploitation 161 00:09:44.440 --> 00:09:47.520 in the US agricultural industry, we need to go even 162 00:09:47.559 --> 00:09:50.959 further back to the Fair Labor Standards Act, which became 163 00:09:51.040 --> 00:09:54.880 law nearly a century ago when Franklin D. Roosevelt was president. 164 00:09:55.240 --> 00:09:57.960 God will attempt the gift to the industrial workers of 165 00:09:57.960 --> 00:10:05.280 the country. They weight returns to prevent cut competitions, to 166 00:10:05.360 --> 00:10:09.880 prevent unduly lang hours and labor at the same time, 167 00:10:10.040 --> 00:10:11.800 to encourage each industry. 168 00:10:12.120 --> 00:10:15.719 This law fundamentally changed working conditions in the US. It 169 00:10:15.800 --> 00:10:19.160 gave us a minimum wage, a forty hour workweek, overtime pay, 170 00:10:19.360 --> 00:10:22.720 you know, the good stuff. But these benefits didn't apply 171 00:10:22.800 --> 00:10:25.160 to farm workers, who at the time in the South 172 00:10:25.200 --> 00:10:29.040 were overwhelmingly black. In fact, you can draw a straight 173 00:10:29.120 --> 00:10:32.520 line from slavery to the Fair Labor Standards Act to 174 00:10:32.559 --> 00:10:37.360 the conditions we continued to see in agriculture today. Nearly 175 00:10:37.400 --> 00:10:41.200 a century later, farm workers across the US, mostly Latino immigrants, 176 00:10:41.200 --> 00:10:45.319 now are still denied even the most basic federal protections, 177 00:10:45.360 --> 00:10:48.079 such as water breaks or access to shade. 178 00:10:47.679 --> 00:10:48.600 In extreme heat. 179 00:10:51.920 --> 00:10:56.360 For many families, the effects of these racist exclusions are real. 180 00:10:56.920 --> 00:10:57.720 They're tangible. 181 00:10:58.320 --> 00:11:00.640 On the day we were setting up to record this episode, 182 00:11:00.679 --> 00:11:02.280 Tina brought up her uncle. 183 00:11:02.720 --> 00:11:08.040 My uncle Salvador. He died pretty young of cancer, and 184 00:11:08.080 --> 00:11:11.120 I didn't put it together until later that it might 185 00:11:11.160 --> 00:11:12.720 have been related to the work that he did. But 186 00:11:13.040 --> 00:11:14.400 all that is just to say, so I have this 187 00:11:14.480 --> 00:11:18.480 cousin and I started to report on this story around 188 00:11:18.480 --> 00:11:21.400 the time that she and I were reconnecting again a lot, 189 00:11:21.600 --> 00:11:27.080 and we were able to verify that her dad was 190 00:11:27.080 --> 00:11:29.040 in the Brasero program. Oh wow, So I always had 191 00:11:29.080 --> 00:11:30.680 a lot of questions, like how did that happen? 192 00:11:33.440 --> 00:11:34.760 Do you have memories of your uncle? 193 00:11:34.840 --> 00:11:35.240 Said mother. 194 00:11:35.960 --> 00:11:39.400 I just remember him coming over I don't know on 195 00:11:39.440 --> 00:11:42.959 the weekends, I think, and having these like huge crates 196 00:11:43.000 --> 00:11:45.680 of grapes. And they were giant grapes, the kind that 197 00:11:45.720 --> 00:11:47.400 had like a lot of seeds in them. But he 198 00:11:47.440 --> 00:11:50.240 would bring us these huge crates and I had no 199 00:11:50.320 --> 00:11:52.880 idea why, Like, I don't think I put it together 200 00:11:52.920 --> 00:11:54.640 as a kid, like, oh he picked these, you know. 201 00:11:56.800 --> 00:12:00.079 The first person I ever met that worked in the 202 00:12:00.120 --> 00:12:03.560 bracado program was when I was a rookie reporter for 203 00:12:03.640 --> 00:12:07.480 a local newspaper in southern Arizona in like two thousand 204 00:12:07.520 --> 00:12:12.000 and nine. It was when the Mexican government, finally, after 205 00:12:12.240 --> 00:12:17.600 years of litigation, agreed to give money back to the 206 00:12:17.720 --> 00:12:21.880 workers that Mexico had kept ten percent of their wages 207 00:12:21.920 --> 00:12:24.400 for decades. That was the sort of incentive for the 208 00:12:24.400 --> 00:12:26.400 workers to come back, right, go to the US, do 209 00:12:26.480 --> 00:12:29.240 this work. And then Mexico said, we'll keep ten percent 210 00:12:29.240 --> 00:12:30.720 of your wages for when you come back and then 211 00:12:30.720 --> 00:12:33.560 we'll give them to you. Well, that didn't happen. The 212 00:12:33.640 --> 00:12:37.920 workers didn't see those pesos. You know, for decades and decades. 213 00:12:41.160 --> 00:12:43.560 There was an older Mexican man that had been a brassido, 214 00:12:43.600 --> 00:12:46.960 and I remember going into his home and he was 215 00:12:47.000 --> 00:12:49.720 sitting there talking to me, and I could just see 216 00:12:50.280 --> 00:12:52.559 how his hands were the hands of a working man, 217 00:12:52.600 --> 00:12:54.920 of a man that worked the fields, that gave his youth, 218 00:12:55.280 --> 00:12:59.080 that gave his life two harvesting our vegetables and our 219 00:12:59.120 --> 00:13:01.640 fruits here in the United States. And I and I 220 00:13:01.679 --> 00:13:04.520 think about him when when we're talking about the HTE 221 00:13:04.600 --> 00:13:05.200 program today. 222 00:13:05.280 --> 00:13:06.320 I always think about. 223 00:13:06.120 --> 00:13:12.079 Him, the stolen wages, the mistreatment. It's easy to see 224 00:13:12.320 --> 00:13:28.280 that not much has changed the emphasis. When I first 225 00:13:28.280 --> 00:13:30.440 met the two brothers from Juanajuato in the spring of 226 00:13:30.440 --> 00:13:33.120 twenty eighteen, they asked me to keep my audio recording 227 00:13:33.160 --> 00:13:36.160 equipment packed up. They wanted me to be discreet because 228 00:13:36.200 --> 00:13:38.240 they didn't want their neighbors in their small town to 229 00:13:38.320 --> 00:13:41.120 know that they were talking to reporters. They also asked 230 00:13:41.120 --> 00:13:44.600 that we protect their identities out of fear for their livelihoods. 231 00:13:44.400 --> 00:13:49.560 Sukymus you mean, and the. 232 00:13:51.480 --> 00:13:54.280 Oldest is in his late thirties. He's soft spoken and 233 00:13:54.400 --> 00:13:57.640 super polite. The youngest is in his early thirties and 234 00:13:57.760 --> 00:13:58.599 much chattier. 235 00:13:58.720 --> 00:14:03.680 He has a wife and two kids. 236 00:14:03.920 --> 00:14:06.160 They started working in the fields in their hometown in 237 00:14:06.200 --> 00:14:08.240 their late teens when they had to stop going to 238 00:14:08.280 --> 00:14:10.880 school to bring money home. They did that for over 239 00:14:10.920 --> 00:14:14.120 a decade, so they were skilled farm workers by the 240 00:14:14.120 --> 00:14:16.440 time they first traveled to the United States through the 241 00:14:16.600 --> 00:14:18.959 H to A program to do similar work but at 242 00:14:18.960 --> 00:14:19.800 a much higher pace. 243 00:14:27.040 --> 00:14:28.760 In twenty seventeen. They ended up in the. 244 00:14:28.680 --> 00:14:33.160 Pacific Northwest working for the biggest blueberry producer in the country. 245 00:14:33.200 --> 00:14:35.400 But their time in the H two A program didn't 246 00:14:35.520 --> 00:14:38.440 end well. They didn't fall in line with the unspoken 247 00:14:38.520 --> 00:14:41.560 rule that farm workers keep their heads down, do the work, 248 00:14:41.720 --> 00:14:42.480 and don't complain. 249 00:14:43.360 --> 00:14:44.040 They spoke up. 250 00:14:48.920 --> 00:14:52.440 The brothers arrived in Washington State's picturesque town of Sumas, 251 00:14:52.480 --> 00:14:54.760 near the Canadian border, just at the start of the 252 00:14:54.760 --> 00:14:59.200 blueberry picking season. Was it what you expected? What you 253 00:14:59.240 --> 00:14:59.840 were promised? 254 00:14:59.840 --> 00:15:01.479 I asked, no. 255 00:15:01.480 --> 00:15:15.480 No mosques in Les de la Comida is the starvin Ayai. 256 00:15:19.280 --> 00:15:21.480 The details of what the brothers say happened to them 257 00:15:21.480 --> 00:15:24.280 that summer in Washington were alleged in a class action 258 00:15:24.400 --> 00:15:27.200 lawsuit against Sarbannon, the farm where they worked in a 259 00:15:27.240 --> 00:15:29.200 related company, Monger Brothers. 260 00:15:29.440 --> 00:15:32.640 The expectation was they were to be in the fields 261 00:15:32.840 --> 00:15:38.120 every single day working unless they were on their deathbeds. 262 00:15:38.680 --> 00:15:42.080 That's Joe Morrison, an attorney with Columbia Legal Services based 263 00:15:42.080 --> 00:15:43.520 in Washington State, and. 264 00:15:43.440 --> 00:15:47.400 That sent a chilling message to the workers that basically 265 00:15:47.480 --> 00:15:49.920 there were no sick days. 266 00:15:52.440 --> 00:15:55.400 Joe represented the Brothers in about five hundred other workers 267 00:15:55.440 --> 00:15:59.320 in the lawsuit that alleged Sarbonin violated federal anti trafficking 268 00:15:59.400 --> 00:16:02.840 laws and used constant threats and intimidation against h. 269 00:16:02.800 --> 00:16:03.720 T A farm workers. 270 00:16:04.400 --> 00:16:07.280 The workers were mostly from rural areas in Mexico, and 271 00:16:07.320 --> 00:16:09.680 according to the lawsuit, when they needed to take a 272 00:16:09.720 --> 00:16:12.480 break from the sun or eat a snack, their managers 273 00:16:12.560 --> 00:16:15.480 threatened to fire them if they didn't immediately get back 274 00:16:15.480 --> 00:16:16.080 to work. 275 00:16:16.200 --> 00:16:20.480 Even though it was record temperatures in twenty seventeen, and 276 00:16:20.520 --> 00:16:26.720 they were also smoke from a nearby forest fires. 277 00:16:26.440 --> 00:16:28.360 And those temperatures would prove deadly. 278 00:16:29.280 --> 00:16:32.960 Theamo sayula epis. 279 00:16:34.840 --> 00:16:37.600 Coming up on Latino USA. A worker collapses in the 280 00:16:37.640 --> 00:16:41.760 fields and his compagneros do the unlikely thing. That's after 281 00:16:41.800 --> 00:17:25.040 the break, stay with us. Hey, we're back. I'm Fernande 282 00:17:25.119 --> 00:17:28.480 chabarri in for Marieno Jos. Before the break, we heard 283 00:17:28.480 --> 00:17:31.200 about a group of temporary foreign workers at a blueberry 284 00:17:31.200 --> 00:17:34.560 plant in Sumas, Washington, who were forced to work NonStop. 285 00:17:35.359 --> 00:17:36.200 The workers had. 286 00:17:36.040 --> 00:17:38.280 Come from Mexico with h two A visas, and in 287 00:17:38.320 --> 00:17:40.800 a lawsuit, they alleged that they were expected to get 288 00:17:40.840 --> 00:17:45.080 through twelve hour workdays without shade or adequate water. Some 289 00:17:45.119 --> 00:17:47.879 of them were starting to feel sick, showing signs of 290 00:17:47.920 --> 00:17:52.080 heat stress, but they were too scared to say anything. Then, 291 00:17:52.440 --> 00:17:55.760 on August second, twenty seventeen, one of the workers, who 292 00:17:55.800 --> 00:17:58.760 was picking berries with the one Ajuato brothers, collapsed on 293 00:17:58.800 --> 00:17:59.240 the field. 294 00:18:00.680 --> 00:18:01.440 He was taken by. 295 00:18:01.400 --> 00:18:05.199 Ambulance to a nearby hospital, where he later died. He 296 00:18:05.280 --> 00:18:18.520 was twenty eight years old. About sixty workers, including the brothers, 297 00:18:18.680 --> 00:18:22.400 went on strike. One of the workers called the Department 298 00:18:22.440 --> 00:18:25.040 of Labor to complain about what happened, and later that 299 00:18:25.160 --> 00:18:28.600 day DOL investigators showed up to interview some of the workers. 300 00:18:29.200 --> 00:18:32.199 The brothers remember seeing the investigators there and feeling a 301 00:18:32.240 --> 00:18:35.920 sense of relief knowing that the government was now getting involved. 302 00:18:36.880 --> 00:18:38.200 The next day, the strike. 303 00:18:38.000 --> 00:18:41.800 Ended, but when the workers showed up to work, the 304 00:18:41.880 --> 00:18:45.000 company lined up all of the workers, all six hundred 305 00:18:45.040 --> 00:18:48.679 of them, and called out the workers who were on 306 00:18:48.800 --> 00:18:51.880 strike in front of everybody else and fired. 307 00:18:51.600 --> 00:18:55.040 Them on the spot. They told him, you have an 308 00:18:55.080 --> 00:18:56.119 hour to leave the camp. 309 00:18:57.119 --> 00:18:59.760 And this is a place in Sumas, Washington that is 310 00:19:00.080 --> 00:19:03.960 right on the Canadian borders, so there's a border patrol. 311 00:19:04.760 --> 00:19:08.400 Uh immigration folks are right close by. There's an international 312 00:19:08.720 --> 00:19:12.720 crossing point into Canada. And the company tells them, you 313 00:19:12.800 --> 00:19:15.680 need to get out of our cabins, out of the 314 00:19:15.760 --> 00:19:18.480 labor camp within one hour with all your stuff, or 315 00:19:18.560 --> 00:19:21.280 we're going to bring in immigration or the police. 316 00:19:29.720 --> 00:19:34.159 This is the. 317 00:19:42.280 --> 00:19:44.600 Soft spoken brother told me that the worst part of 318 00:19:44.640 --> 00:19:47.560 this whole experience was having to sleep on the streets 319 00:19:47.600 --> 00:19:50.800 after they were fired. For his younger brother, it was 320 00:19:50.840 --> 00:19:54.480 infuriating knowing that they did a great job, they worked hard, 321 00:19:55.080 --> 00:20:12.600 and they were kicked to the curb. And remember, as 322 00:20:12.760 --> 00:20:15.560 is the case with other working US visas, if migrant 323 00:20:15.640 --> 00:20:18.640 farm workers lose their jobs, they also lose their immigration 324 00:20:18.720 --> 00:20:22.320 status because their visas are tied to their employers. In 325 00:20:22.400 --> 00:20:25.720 many instances, the employer is required to immediately report the 326 00:20:25.760 --> 00:20:29.280 worker to immigration authorities, and while the worker can try 327 00:20:29.359 --> 00:20:31.919 to transfer to another employer. They don't really have a 328 00:20:31.920 --> 00:20:34.359 lot of time to do so, making their legal stay 329 00:20:34.359 --> 00:20:37.879 in the US virtually impossible. That's how they end up 330 00:20:37.960 --> 00:20:39.480 jobless and undocumented. 331 00:20:40.000 --> 00:20:52.560 Christol contra to thes p. 332 00:20:57.160 --> 00:20:57.200 CO. 333 00:21:00.280 --> 00:21:02.719 You're tied to that contract, the younger brother tells me. 334 00:21:03.320 --> 00:21:06.760 It's like you're a prisoner. His older brother ads so. 335 00:21:06.880 --> 00:21:09.760 Even though the employer was accused of breaking pretty much 336 00:21:09.880 --> 00:21:15.880 every promise made by not paying the workers enough, providing 337 00:21:15.920 --> 00:21:21.960 squalid living conditions, not giving the workers enough to eat, 338 00:21:22.000 --> 00:21:28.919 and at times serving them rotten food. Yea, it was 339 00:21:28.960 --> 00:21:33.359 the employees who had everything to lose. The brothers and 340 00:21:33.400 --> 00:21:36.480 the other workers who were fired for protesting had no 341 00:21:36.520 --> 00:21:40.000 connections in Washington. They had no money. For days, they 342 00:21:40.040 --> 00:21:43.119 walked around soon As Washington with their rolling suitcases, trying 343 00:21:43.160 --> 00:21:45.320 to get some money so that they could make their 344 00:21:45.320 --> 00:21:50.879 way back to Mexico. They ended up sleeping in the 345 00:21:50.920 --> 00:21:54.520 streets until a Latino family that lived nearby told them 346 00:21:54.520 --> 00:21:55.760 that they could set up camp. 347 00:21:55.560 --> 00:21:56.280 In their property. 348 00:21:56.800 --> 00:21:59.320 Almost German are here. 349 00:22:00.640 --> 00:22:03.959 Dozens of men, including the brothers, slept in tents for 350 00:22:04.000 --> 00:22:05.359 two weeks as. 351 00:22:05.280 --> 00:22:18.200 The themostant campo. That's theres for money Inaye. 352 00:22:17.160 --> 00:22:21.080 Members of Familia Sunidas for Lahustisia, a nonprofit in Washington 353 00:22:21.080 --> 00:22:24.520 that helps migrants, showed up to the camp. They live 354 00:22:24.600 --> 00:22:27.600 streamed on their Facebook page showing the conditions the workers 355 00:22:27.600 --> 00:22:30.000 were in and asked for donations. 356 00:22:29.560 --> 00:22:34.840 Topism, Paramardas, and as the Castle. 357 00:22:38.359 --> 00:22:41.199 Members of the nonprofit called on the government to step in, 358 00:22:41.600 --> 00:22:47.040 singling out the Department of Labor Yeah. A few weeks later, 359 00:22:47.240 --> 00:22:49.920 most of the workers made their way back to Mexico. 360 00:22:55.160 --> 00:22:57.399 The brothers had been home in Guanajuato for about a 361 00:22:57.480 --> 00:23:00.320 year when I visited them in twenty eighteen. They were 362 00:23:00.359 --> 00:23:03.240 waiting to hear about the class action lawsuit and struggle 363 00:23:03.320 --> 00:23:06.720 to make money. Right when I get there, they want 364 00:23:06.760 --> 00:23:09.480 to take me to the tomatilla field where they sometimes work. 365 00:23:10.320 --> 00:23:12.600 It's one of their only options for making a living here. 366 00:23:12.920 --> 00:23:15.480 There are no factories, no big box stores, and the 367 00:23:15.520 --> 00:23:18.320 closest city, which is still a small town in comparison 368 00:23:18.320 --> 00:23:20.960 to other cities in Mexico, is about an hour away. 369 00:23:21.640 --> 00:23:24.080 So for the first half of the year, most locals 370 00:23:24.119 --> 00:23:26.240 like them try to work as much as possible and 371 00:23:26.320 --> 00:23:28.639 save money for the winter months when not much is 372 00:23:28.680 --> 00:23:34.280 growing here. This is hired by the day kind of gig. 373 00:23:34.680 --> 00:23:37.439 Every morning, at sunrise, a truck picks up workers at 374 00:23:37.480 --> 00:23:41.679 the entrance of their town. Dozens of men and women 375 00:23:41.920 --> 00:23:44.399 hop on, and they are packed so tight that they 376 00:23:44.400 --> 00:23:47.960 can't even sit down. Sometimes rain or shine, they stand 377 00:23:48.000 --> 00:23:49.960 in the back of that truck for about forty five 378 00:23:50.040 --> 00:23:58.360 minutes to get to that tomatilla field. It's not even 379 00:23:58.440 --> 00:24:01.879 noon and it's already unco comfortably hot and humid. The 380 00:24:01.920 --> 00:24:04.640 farm is big, about the size of six football fields. 381 00:24:04.920 --> 00:24:08.320 It's muddy and messy, with vines and weeds wrapped around 382 00:24:08.320 --> 00:24:11.160 the tomatilla plants, making it hard to see if there's 383 00:24:11.200 --> 00:24:15.919 even any walking paths for harvesting. This is tough labor. 384 00:24:16.640 --> 00:24:19.080 There are about forty men and women of varied ages 385 00:24:19.280 --> 00:24:23.399 quietly working. Some have these little portable radios attached to 386 00:24:23.440 --> 00:24:25.760 their belts so that they can listen to music while 387 00:24:25.760 --> 00:24:34.400 they work. The brothers tell me they make about ten 388 00:24:34.440 --> 00:24:36.959 dollars a day here. They could make that in an 389 00:24:37.040 --> 00:24:44.000 hour working for the h to A program in the US. 390 00:24:45.880 --> 00:24:49.160 Having years and years of experience working in agriculture makes 391 00:24:49.160 --> 00:24:52.040 the brothers prime candidates for recurring h to A work. 392 00:24:53.160 --> 00:24:55.000 So why hadn't they been able to go back to 393 00:24:55.040 --> 00:24:58.240 work for US farms. The brothers tell me that there's 394 00:24:58.280 --> 00:25:00.640 only one person in their whole town that's in charge 395 00:25:00.640 --> 00:25:03.439 of recruiting h to A workers. It's a woman that 396 00:25:03.480 --> 00:25:05.800 they keep going back to asking if they can get 397 00:25:05.800 --> 00:25:08.680 put on these lists, and this woman keeps telling them no, 398 00:25:22.000 --> 00:25:25.000 why not. Earlier this year, I called the older brother 399 00:25:25.080 --> 00:25:26.959 to see if their circumstances had changed. 400 00:25:29.480 --> 00:25:35.560 Akia He tells me. 401 00:25:35.560 --> 00:25:38.199