WEBVTT 1 00:00:01.320 --> 00:00:11.840 Futuro Investigatsuro Investila. When Diego and Mario planned their escape, 2 00:00:12.200 --> 00:00:13.720 they knew they'd have to do it in the middle 3 00:00:13.720 --> 00:00:14.320 of the night. 4 00:00:15.440 --> 00:00:16.040 The city. 5 00:00:17.480 --> 00:00:22.680 Stamenos Bhilao or Los car de la Casa. 6 00:00:22.600 --> 00:00:25.000 When the bosses were less vigilant and when all the 7 00:00:25.040 --> 00:00:30.360 other workers were in their rooms sleeping. It was a 8 00:00:30.400 --> 00:00:33.839 warm night in May twenty eighteen, in a town near Raleigh, 9 00:00:33.920 --> 00:00:37.680 the capital of North Carolina. It was eerily quiet. As 10 00:00:37.680 --> 00:00:40.760 they each packed a single bag, they couldn't carry much 11 00:00:40.760 --> 00:00:43.320 on their long walk in the dark, so they only 12 00:00:43.360 --> 00:00:45.199 took some of the clothes they had brought with them 13 00:00:45.200 --> 00:00:45.800 from Mexico. 14 00:00:46.920 --> 00:00:51.120 Na Massa Ramovlo in Dispensalle, but Noya mar La Tenion 15 00:00:51.159 --> 00:00:51.640 de Tolos. 16 00:00:53.320 --> 00:00:56.160 Diego and Mario had only walked the dirt road out 17 00:00:56.200 --> 00:00:58.760 of the camp once before, and it was during the day. 18 00:00:59.280 --> 00:01:01.400 It could be risk getting out to the main road 19 00:01:01.440 --> 00:01:04.759 at night. Two guys alone who were not from there, 20 00:01:05.200 --> 00:01:06.600 they could seem suspicious. 21 00:01:07.080 --> 00:01:08.039 They were terrified. 22 00:01:08.920 --> 00:01:15.560 Salimo Como poquel Espuru Campo. 23 00:01:16.720 --> 00:01:19.160 Caminas assisting lamp. 24 00:01:20.360 --> 00:01:22.520 They walked in the dark, using their cell phones to 25 00:01:22.600 --> 00:01:26.160 light up the way. Scraggly brambles with thorns lined their path, 26 00:01:26.920 --> 00:01:30.440 taking every step with trepidation, knowing that the snakes they'd 27 00:01:30.440 --> 00:01:32.040 seen before could be nearby. 28 00:01:34.280 --> 00:01:35.200 Jack Uando. 29 00:01:39.240 --> 00:01:42.600 Esperan moment position Timosella. 30 00:01:43.120 --> 00:01:45.520 Once they were close to the main road, they spotted 31 00:01:45.560 --> 00:01:48.600 the getaway car. The people who had promised to help 32 00:01:48.640 --> 00:01:52.800 them escape were actually there. Diego and Mario were overcome 33 00:01:52.840 --> 00:01:55.279 with relief. They were finally safe. 34 00:01:55.440 --> 00:01:58.720 For in Salimos Cilos. 35 00:02:02.520 --> 00:02:05.960 They had walked away from the nightmare they experienced working 36 00:02:06.000 --> 00:02:15.600 in a US farm as part of a government program 37 00:02:15.639 --> 00:02:19.880 from Futuro Investigates and Latino USA in collaboration with PRISM, 38 00:02:20.000 --> 00:02:24.280 am Fernando echavarri in for our host Marie Jjosa. For 39 00:02:24.360 --> 00:02:27.680 the next two episodes, I, along with Tina Vasquez, editor 40 00:02:27.720 --> 00:02:30.720 at Large at PRISM, will tell you about the increasing 41 00:02:30.880 --> 00:02:35.400 and systematic abuse of temporary migrant laborers who are critical 42 00:02:35.520 --> 00:02:36.639 to the US economy. 43 00:02:42.000 --> 00:02:44.960 We're talking about the hundreds of thousands of farm workers 44 00:02:45.240 --> 00:02:47.760 who come to work our fields every year with work 45 00:02:47.840 --> 00:02:51.160 visas under the US government's H two a program, a 46 00:02:51.240 --> 00:02:55.639 program where Diego and Mariosa expectations don't match reality. 47 00:02:56.120 --> 00:02:57.359 That is a NASA. 48 00:02:59.240 --> 00:03:02.399 It's the back own of our agricultural industry, and yet 49 00:03:02.440 --> 00:03:06.639 these workers we desperately rely on are constantly mistreated. 50 00:03:07.000 --> 00:03:09.960 In a recent and very extreme case of abuse, an 51 00:03:09.960 --> 00:03:12.760 official from the Department of Justice called what happened to 52 00:03:12.800 --> 00:03:18.480 workers quote modern day slavery. The structure is certainly akin 53 00:03:18.639 --> 00:03:20.400 to indenture servitude. 54 00:03:21.160 --> 00:03:25.160 There's a pretty glaring disparity between the program on paper 55 00:03:25.200 --> 00:03:26.760 and what happens in practice. 56 00:03:27.000 --> 00:03:29.640 Are we going to just keep on this path because 57 00:03:29.880 --> 00:03:31.800 farmers are saying they need the labor. 58 00:03:32.280 --> 00:03:36.480 You're literally buying people to come do terrible work. 59 00:03:36.720 --> 00:03:37.600 Terrible work. 60 00:03:39.880 --> 00:03:42.440 In the simplest of terms, Here's how the HTA program 61 00:03:42.480 --> 00:03:47.680 works us farmers. And this can be a mom and 62 00:03:47.760 --> 00:03:52.040 pop citrus orchard or a massive corporation harvesting tons of cherries. 63 00:03:52.560 --> 00:03:54.880 They go to the Department of Labor and they say, hey, 64 00:03:55.120 --> 00:03:57.160 I can't get you as workers to do this very 65 00:03:57.200 --> 00:04:01.080 physically demanding jobs, so I need permission to I don't know, 66 00:04:01.120 --> 00:04:05.200 one hundred foreign workers. Then the Department of Labor says, okay, 67 00:04:05.360 --> 00:04:07.560 if you promise to pay them what the DL and 68 00:04:07.640 --> 00:04:10.320 what your state require, and you give them a place 69 00:04:10.360 --> 00:04:12.240 to live, you can have those visas. 70 00:04:13.200 --> 00:04:16.479 The employer hires a recruiting company or a labor contractor, 71 00:04:16.839 --> 00:04:18.680 or they just reach out to folks they've worked with 72 00:04:18.720 --> 00:04:21.240 in the past to hire the workers they need. The 73 00:04:21.320 --> 00:04:25.120 employer files some paperwork with US Citizenship and Immigration Services, 74 00:04:25.600 --> 00:04:27.120 and then things move pretty fast. 75 00:04:27.720 --> 00:04:29.720 The number of H to A workers has more than 76 00:04:29.800 --> 00:04:32.920 tripled in the last decade. Just last year, more than 77 00:04:32.960 --> 00:04:35.920 three hundred thousand workers came to the US in this way. 78 00:04:36.400 --> 00:04:40.000 About ninety percent of them are from Mexico, and the workers, 79 00:04:40.120 --> 00:04:43.720 mostly men, get their visas in Mexico right before they 80 00:04:43.720 --> 00:04:47.159 get on a packed bus that takes them north. The 81 00:04:47.240 --> 00:04:50.080 trip can take days, and their employer in the US 82 00:04:50.200 --> 00:04:53.839 should reimburse them for that travel. The job usually lasts 83 00:04:53.839 --> 00:04:55.880 six to nine months, no longer than a year. 84 00:04:56.480 --> 00:04:58.640 There's something about the employers that I want you to 85 00:04:58.720 --> 00:05:02.680 keep in mind. As a work visa, the HTWOA visas 86 00:05:02.760 --> 00:05:06.240 tie workers to their employer. So if their employer isn't 87 00:05:06.240 --> 00:05:09.400 paying them or is offering them inadequate housing or no food, 88 00:05:09.920 --> 00:05:12.480 the worker can't go find a better job because quitting 89 00:05:12.560 --> 00:05:15.839 means not only losing their visa, but their ability to 90 00:05:15.920 --> 00:05:18.640 legally remain in the United States. In the case of 91 00:05:18.680 --> 00:05:23.640 the HTOA program, losing The visa also strips workers from housing, meals, 92 00:05:23.920 --> 00:05:26.680 basic stuff. A worker can pretty much end up in 93 00:05:26.720 --> 00:05:27.280 the streets. 94 00:05:27.880 --> 00:05:30.520 For years now, this program has intrigued TENA and I 95 00:05:30.640 --> 00:05:36.280 because of its complexity. On one hand, it is beneficial 96 00:05:36.320 --> 00:05:39.920 for entire families in Mexico. Workers can make double or 97 00:05:39.960 --> 00:05:42.320 triple what they would make on a Mexican farm, and 98 00:05:42.360 --> 00:05:45.040 they don't have to risk crossing into the US own lawfully. 99 00:05:45.920 --> 00:05:49.080 But on the other hand, the program is exploitative and 100 00:05:49.240 --> 00:05:53.680 full of dangerous power dynamics. Employers have pretty much all 101 00:05:53.720 --> 00:05:54.320 the control. 102 00:05:55.880 --> 00:05:59.440 Once the visa expires, the laborers are required to return home. 103 00:06:00.000 --> 00:06:03.400 At least one hundred immigrant workers were freed from conditions 104 00:06:03.400 --> 00:06:04.800 in which two people died. 105 00:06:06.200 --> 00:06:11.839 In theory, workers have some protections against retaliation, but in practice, 106 00:06:12.000 --> 00:06:16.279 if they complain, they can easily get fired. There's this 107 00:06:16.440 --> 00:06:20.400 unspoken expectation of the workers, put your head down, do 108 00:06:20.480 --> 00:06:22.000 the work, don't complain. 109 00:06:28.520 --> 00:06:31.400 Over the years, we've spoken with workers on both sides 110 00:06:31.400 --> 00:06:32.240 of the border. 111 00:06:32.920 --> 00:06:34.960 And Lakaye there spoils that can ascore. 112 00:06:35.040 --> 00:06:37.679 You know, travel to Mexico to see where it all begins. 113 00:06:39.960 --> 00:06:43.080 Investigated in Washington State and North Carolina. 114 00:06:43.360 --> 00:06:46.360 We're headed to I guess it's near North Carolina and. 115 00:06:46.360 --> 00:06:49.239 Spoke to government officials about exploitation of the program. 116 00:06:49.520 --> 00:06:53.240 They are stuck, absolutely stuck. 117 00:06:53.720 --> 00:06:56.800 We uncovered crucial documents. I just wanted to let you know, 118 00:06:57.240 --> 00:06:59.080 but I got some records. 119 00:06:58.680 --> 00:07:02.839 Back, records that show, oh, how the US government holds millions, yes, 120 00:07:03.040 --> 00:07:05.680 millions of dollars in wages owed to h to A 121 00:07:05.760 --> 00:07:09.720 workers and yet has no clear plans or timeline for 122 00:07:09.800 --> 00:07:12.720 how to pay them back. And despite all of the 123 00:07:12.800 --> 00:07:15.640 issues with the H two A visas, the Biden administration 124 00:07:15.800 --> 00:07:19.920 is in talks to expand the program. We'll get into 125 00:07:19.920 --> 00:07:22.160 it in our two parts special head Down. 126 00:07:31.400 --> 00:07:31.600 Oh. 127 00:07:34.240 --> 00:07:37.120 We met Diego and Mario last summer. These are not 128 00:07:37.240 --> 00:07:40.400 their real names. They've asked us to protect their identities 129 00:07:40.560 --> 00:07:43.120 because even though they're no longer h to A workers, 130 00:07:43.400 --> 00:07:46.840 they still fear retaliation from people associated with the program. 131 00:07:47.360 --> 00:07:49.360 So if we sound a little vague on certain parts 132 00:07:49.360 --> 00:07:53.760 of the story, that's why Madio is thirty six and 133 00:07:53.840 --> 00:07:56.880 Diego is twenty nine. They have been close friends for 134 00:07:56.960 --> 00:07:59.760 over a decade. They met working at a bakery in 135 00:07:59.760 --> 00:08:00.720 Sea othern Mexico. 136 00:08:01.120 --> 00:08:06.840 Join us Intestava and Prepa. 137 00:08:07.640 --> 00:08:09.760 Diego says he was still in high school when he 138 00:08:09.840 --> 00:08:12.520 learned how to bake bread from Mario. They're more than 139 00:08:12.560 --> 00:08:21.640 friends at this point, they're like brothers really. Diego is 140 00:08:21.680 --> 00:08:25.320 an extrovert who loves electronic music and dressing like famous 141 00:08:25.320 --> 00:08:29.160 soccer players with flashy tennis shoes and skinny jeans. He 142 00:08:29.240 --> 00:08:32.320 also has a remarkable memory, a detail that would be 143 00:08:32.400 --> 00:08:35.960 key to their escape. Mario is more serious and shy 144 00:08:36.000 --> 00:08:38.600 one of the two, but when he opens up, he 145 00:08:38.640 --> 00:08:42.880 gets easily emotional. They come from indigenous communities and they're 146 00:08:42.880 --> 00:08:47.840 both the eldest of three siblings. 147 00:08:48.440 --> 00:08:52.560 Only news. 148 00:08:53.200 --> 00:08:56.000 Mario comes from a remote area where Spanish is not 149 00:08:56.080 --> 00:08:59.480 the predominant language in his hometown. The nearest school was 150 00:08:59.520 --> 00:09:02.280 a two hour walk away from his home, so instead 151 00:09:02.280 --> 00:09:04.880 of getting an education, he had to start working as 152 00:09:04.880 --> 00:09:06.520 a child. 153 00:09:07.000 --> 00:09:13.120 Estuyadio dos est Mario wanted his kids to have a 154 00:09:13.120 --> 00:09:15.720 different life, so he moved with his wife and their 155 00:09:15.760 --> 00:09:17.199 two children to a bigger city. 156 00:09:17.720 --> 00:09:21.600 That's where he met Diego at the bakery. Mario wasn't 157 00:09:21.640 --> 00:09:24.319 earning much, just enough to build a small house out 158 00:09:24.320 --> 00:09:32.680 of sheet metals. One night in early twenty eighteen, Mario 159 00:09:32.679 --> 00:09:36.319 and his wife had a very serious conversation. They were 160 00:09:36.360 --> 00:09:39.720 frustrated because heavy rains flooded their home and their kids 161 00:09:39.800 --> 00:09:40.679 kept getting sick in. 162 00:09:40.640 --> 00:09:51.640 The cold Lady me and sposas, so. 163 00:09:51.600 --> 00:09:54.200 He asked his wife, could we ever live in a 164 00:09:54.240 --> 00:09:57.440 better house? The only option they can think of at 165 00:09:57.440 --> 00:09:59.800 the time was to seek work in the United States. 166 00:10:00.640 --> 00:10:03.120 Mario knew a guy in a nearby town who recruited 167 00:10:03.120 --> 00:10:05.760 men to legally work in the fields. He thought it 168 00:10:05.800 --> 00:10:08.679 sounded like a good idea, so he tried to get 169 00:10:08.760 --> 00:10:09.640 Diego interested. 170 00:10:11.280 --> 00:10:12.200 Oh yeah, mera tengos. 171 00:10:12.240 --> 00:10:19.880 The plan is kiro ji yai formase the ira combisa 172 00:10:20.400 --> 00:10:21.240 contra talos. 173 00:10:21.600 --> 00:10:24.800 Diego had never really thought about leaving Mexico. He had 174 00:10:24.840 --> 00:10:27.679 a wife and a five year old daughter, but he 175 00:10:27.760 --> 00:10:29.440 only made sixty dollars a week. 176 00:10:30.000 --> 00:10:31.960 Although he really liked his job at the bakery. 177 00:10:32.920 --> 00:10:35.800 Like Mario, Diego also dreamed of building his own house 178 00:10:35.800 --> 00:10:38.880 one day and maybe even owning a bakery, so he 179 00:10:38.920 --> 00:10:44.480 got on board with the idea the. 180 00:10:47.600 --> 00:10:50.520 Campo. 181 00:10:51.160 --> 00:10:53.800 The recruiter told them that men from rural areas did 182 00:10:53.840 --> 00:10:56.440 well because they knew how to work the land. Both 183 00:10:56.480 --> 00:10:59.520 Diego and Mario grew up harvesting coffee and corn, so 184 00:10:59.559 --> 00:11:03.280 they checked that box, and like most HTAY workers, Diego 185 00:11:03.320 --> 00:11:07.520 and Mario were also in the prime of their lives, young, fit, healthy. 186 00:11:08.200 --> 00:11:10.640 They now just needed to get a Mexican passport, which 187 00:11:10.880 --> 00:11:12.079 they had never done before. 188 00:11:12.480 --> 00:11:21.160 Josovia Kenrato kJ Tempo de Travajo the ins almost para Mexico. 189 00:11:21.840 --> 00:11:24.120 What appealed to them about this plan was that they 190 00:11:24.120 --> 00:11:26.640 could come back home to Mexico. It was a six 191 00:11:26.679 --> 00:11:29.560 month job, so they figured why not. But there was 192 00:11:29.600 --> 00:11:37.160 one problem. Mario needed twenty five hundred dollars or thirty 193 00:11:37.200 --> 00:11:41.000 thousand pesos, because the recruiter claimed these funds would quote 194 00:11:41.360 --> 00:11:44.240 save their seats and put their name on a list. 195 00:11:45.040 --> 00:11:47.240 And if twenty five hundred dollars sounds like a lot 196 00:11:47.280 --> 00:11:51.040 of money to you, it's an inconceivable amount for someone 197 00:11:51.080 --> 00:11:56.040 in rural Mexico. By the way, this fee is completely 198 00:11:56.520 --> 00:11:59.520 illegal and not how the program is supposed to work 199 00:11:59.520 --> 00:12:02.280 at all. But this I need money to save your 200 00:12:02.280 --> 00:12:08.800 seat thing, it happens all the time. Diego and Mario 201 00:12:08.880 --> 00:12:11.960 didn't know that what the recruiter was demanding was illegal. 202 00:12:12.760 --> 00:12:19.240 Diebemana buscano aken' in pel. 203 00:12:20.480 --> 00:12:20.600 So. 204 00:12:20.640 --> 00:12:24.800 Mario spent a week trying to borrow twenty five hundred dollars. Finally, 205 00:12:24.840 --> 00:12:27.800 some relatives loaned him the cash with interest. 206 00:12:27.840 --> 00:12:29.720 Of course, same with Diego. 207 00:12:30.080 --> 00:12:33.360 They both figured, once we get paid US dollars, we'll 208 00:12:33.440 --> 00:12:38.640 quickly pay back the loans. They were set to leave 209 00:12:38.679 --> 00:12:42.199 for a place they'd never even heard of before, North Carolina. 210 00:12:44.679 --> 00:12:47.160 Is que. 211 00:12:49.280 --> 00:12:49.319 Es. 212 00:12:51.160 --> 00:12:54.600 This is Valaria, Diego's wife. That's not her real name. 213 00:12:54.960 --> 00:12:58.560 We're also protecting her identity. She's petite and wears her 214 00:12:58.559 --> 00:13:00.320 black hair pulled back in a pony tail. 215 00:13:00.920 --> 00:13:02.320 She's almost always smiling. 216 00:13:03.000 --> 00:13:05.680 She says that just days before Diego was about to 217 00:13:05.760 --> 00:13:10.559 leave for the US, the month she started feeling sick. 218 00:13:10.920 --> 00:13:12.040 So she goes to the doctor. 219 00:13:14.400 --> 00:13:17.120 Nick Amasa, you go. 220 00:13:18.840 --> 00:13:20.600 And the doctor tells her that she's pregnant. 221 00:13:20.880 --> 00:13:28.240 Always guess they were conflicted. 222 00:13:29.160 --> 00:13:32.480 Diego is headed to North Carolina to finally make good money, 223 00:13:32.840 --> 00:13:35.320 the kind of money he needed more than ever now 224 00:13:35.360 --> 00:13:38.439 that his family was expanding. But he didn't want to 225 00:13:38.480 --> 00:13:40.440 leave Valeria pregnant and alone with their. 226 00:13:40.400 --> 00:13:46.200 Daughter in Lelo per Puis contract. 227 00:13:47.600 --> 00:13:51.160 Valeria told Diego they couldn't pass in on opportunity like this. 228 00:13:52.120 --> 00:13:54.160 They were just going to have to push through the 229 00:13:54.320 --> 00:13:55.959 next six months apart. 230 00:13:57.960 --> 00:14:04.520 Around that time. In twenty eighteen, when Diego and Mattio 231 00:14:04.559 --> 00:14:06.959 first entered the h to A program, there was a 232 00:14:07.240 --> 00:14:11.319 historic growth taking place. Data shows that from twenty sixteen 233 00:14:11.360 --> 00:14:14.640 to twenty nineteen, during the Trump presidency, the number of 234 00:14:14.880 --> 00:14:18.760 h TOA visas spiked by forty five percent. This may 235 00:14:18.800 --> 00:14:22.040 be in part because of Trump's immigration crackdown and workplace 236 00:14:22.160 --> 00:14:25.600 rates that targeted undocumented workers. Employers turned to the h 237 00:14:25.680 --> 00:14:27.840 to A program out of fear that their farms could 238 00:14:27.880 --> 00:14:31.600 be raided. At a rally in twenty eighteen, Trump spoke 239 00:14:31.640 --> 00:14:35.680 about protecting American jobs, and then he said that farmers 240 00:14:35.800 --> 00:14:37.160 were going to get workers. 241 00:14:37.440 --> 00:14:38.480 They're going to be guest workers. 242 00:14:38.480 --> 00:14:39.880 They're going to come in, they're going to work on 243 00:14:39.960 --> 00:14:42.000 your farms. We're gonna have a lot of things happening. 244 00:14:42.200 --> 00:14:44.040 But then they have to go out. Then they have 245 00:14:44.160 --> 00:14:44.600 to go out. 246 00:14:45.080 --> 00:14:47.560 The crowd only cheered when they heard that the workers 247 00:14:47.720 --> 00:14:50.600 would have to leave. It's kind of like, hey, we 248 00:14:50.760 --> 00:14:54.840 want workers. We don't want families or parents or students. 249 00:14:54.960 --> 00:14:58.040 We don't want them in our communities. We just want workers. 250 00:15:02.960 --> 00:15:06.000 This disposable way of talking about migrant workers was not 251 00:15:06.240 --> 00:15:08.760 just a Trump thing. It's kind of baked into how 252 00:15:08.800 --> 00:15:12.880 the h TOA program has and continues to operate. According 253 00:15:12.920 --> 00:15:16.720 to h TOA workers advocates and decades of data addressing 254 00:15:16.800 --> 00:15:21.160 stolen wages, horrible living quarters, and dangerous working conditions, it's 255 00:15:21.280 --> 00:15:24.240 just not a priority for the program. The real focus 256 00:15:24.480 --> 00:15:27.800 is getting employers the workers they need, no matter the cost. 257 00:15:28.840 --> 00:15:32.800 To illustrate just how much we rely on these temporary workers. 258 00:15:32.840 --> 00:15:36.200 Thousands of people are self quarantining at home after they 259 00:15:36.280 --> 00:15:38.320 may have come in contact with the coronaviruce. 260 00:15:38.360 --> 00:15:41.600 Across the country, health officials are rapidly trying to ramp 261 00:15:41.680 --> 00:15:43.680 up their testing and contain the spread. 262 00:15:44.520 --> 00:15:47.240 When the pandemic hit in early twenty twenty, when the 263 00:15:47.400 --> 00:15:51.560 United States closed its borders, there was one major exception. 264 00:15:52.440 --> 00:15:56.080 The US not only continued issuing h TOWA visas, it 265 00:15:56.240 --> 00:15:58.840 made the process of getting them easier. 266 00:16:00.040 --> 00:16:02.080 They're going to come in and they're going to be 267 00:16:02.120 --> 00:16:04.440 given a certain pass, and we're going to check them 268 00:16:04.560 --> 00:16:07.800 very very closely, especially over the next month. I've given 269 00:16:07.840 --> 00:16:10.160 the commitment to the farmers they're going to continue to come. 270 00:16:11.320 --> 00:16:15.400 We couldn't eat without them. We still can't. It's been 271 00:16:15.560 --> 00:16:18.160 like that for decades, Ever since the US needed to 272 00:16:18.240 --> 00:16:20.640 address labor shortages during World War Two. 273 00:16:21.520 --> 00:16:23.640 It isn't easy to find men willing to take on 274 00:16:23.840 --> 00:16:28.240 such undesirable kinds of work. Understandably, then the American farm 275 00:16:28.360 --> 00:16:32.640 labor supply falls short and is supplemented by Mexican citizens. 276 00:16:33.360 --> 00:16:36.440 This has become the way of farming in the United States. 277 00:16:36.880 --> 00:16:40.120 We've spoken with farmers, growers, and leaders in the agriculture 278 00:16:40.160 --> 00:16:43.640 industry who say this is the only legal means they 279 00:16:43.760 --> 00:16:46.960 have to secure the labor they need to harvest their fields. 280 00:16:47.480 --> 00:16:50.440 I speak with growers around the country. They have had 281 00:16:50.480 --> 00:16:52.680 to leave apples on the trees to rot because they 282 00:16:52.720 --> 00:16:54.440 couldn't get enough workers to harvest them. 283 00:16:54.880 --> 00:16:58.160 That's Jim Blair, president of the US Apple Association. 284 00:16:58.360 --> 00:17:03.120 Using the h toa program. Even it's cumbersome and expensive 285 00:17:03.400 --> 00:17:06.760 and difficult to navigate, they're willing to do it just 286 00:17:06.920 --> 00:17:11.240 because of the certainty of knowing that their labor supply 287 00:17:11.680 --> 00:17:13.760 is legal and it's not going to put the grower 288 00:17:14.000 --> 00:17:15.880 in any kind of legal jeopardy. 289 00:17:19.840 --> 00:17:22.120 Well, we know that there are many instances in which 290 00:17:22.200 --> 00:17:26.639 workers and agricultural employers both benefit from these temporary visas. 291 00:17:27.080 --> 00:17:31.840 Diego and Mario faced terrible conditions that are not that uncommon. 292 00:17:33.080 --> 00:17:35.000 They were supposed to fall in line with those that 293 00:17:35.119 --> 00:17:37.920 came before them. Keep your head down, do the work, 294 00:17:38.280 --> 00:17:52.320 don't complain, but they didn't. After the break, we traveled 295 00:17:52.359 --> 00:17:55.200 to the epicenter of this temporary visa program in Mexico 296 00:17:55.480 --> 00:17:58.040 and learn about one of the most nefarious players in 297 00:17:58.119 --> 00:18:02.040 the program. That's coming up next on Latino USA. Stay 298 00:18:02.080 --> 00:18:51.240 with us. Hey, we're back. I'm Fernando Chavarri in for 299 00:18:51.400 --> 00:18:54.960 Marino Josa. It was twenty eighteen when Diego and Mario 300 00:18:55.119 --> 00:18:57.120 left their small town in Mexico to go to North 301 00:18:57.160 --> 00:19:00.959 Carolina with their new guest worker visas. That year, there 302 00:19:01.000 --> 00:19:04.320 were a record number of h TWA visas issued. This 303 00:19:04.520 --> 00:19:08.240 is the only category of temporary work visas without a limit, 304 00:19:09.160 --> 00:19:11.359 and there were hints of just how this program was 305 00:19:11.440 --> 00:19:14.560 exploding when I was in Monterrey, also in the spring 306 00:19:14.600 --> 00:19:17.080 of twenty eighteen, about a month before Theegu and Madio 307 00:19:17.119 --> 00:19:23.080 were instructed by their recruiter to travel there. Monterrey is 308 00:19:23.119 --> 00:19:25.280 about three hours south of the US border in the 309 00:19:25.359 --> 00:19:28.320 state of New Boleons, which has the third largest economy 310 00:19:28.359 --> 00:19:31.919 in Mexico. It is the hub for h to A visas. 311 00:19:32.160 --> 00:19:35.480 The epicenter of the program. That's where workers usually go 312 00:19:35.720 --> 00:19:38.840 to their appointments at the US consulate and then head north. 313 00:19:39.440 --> 00:19:40.280 Those are workers. 314 00:19:40.600 --> 00:19:43.879 We're just driving through this not very busy street, and 315 00:19:44.000 --> 00:19:48.879 there are dozens and dozens and dozens of men, some 316 00:19:49.080 --> 00:19:53.240 with suitcases, yes, just kind of hanging out outside of 317 00:19:53.280 --> 00:19:56.359 a hotel and then on the street. Even though I 318 00:19:56.480 --> 00:20:00.800 knew that every year thousands and thousands of temporary agricultural 319 00:20:00.880 --> 00:20:03.800 workers traveled to the US, it was still shocking to 320 00:20:03.880 --> 00:20:07.760 see it like this. That April in twenty eighteen, according 321 00:20:07.760 --> 00:20:10.720 to the State Department, more than thirty two thousand, h 322 00:20:10.800 --> 00:20:13.479 TWA visas were issued in Mexico, and most of them 323 00:20:13.520 --> 00:20:16.919 were granted right here in Monterrey. That's about an average 324 00:20:16.920 --> 00:20:19.760 of seven hundred and fifty workers getting a visa each 325 00:20:19.920 --> 00:20:23.239 day during that month, and since then the program has 326 00:20:23.359 --> 00:20:27.000 only gotten bigger. In April of last year, more than 327 00:20:27.080 --> 00:20:29.840 forty two thousand of these visas were issued in Mexico. 328 00:20:30.280 --> 00:20:32.720 That's about a thirty two percent increase from when I 329 00:20:32.920 --> 00:20:38.680 was there four years prior. I walked to the plaza 330 00:20:38.800 --> 00:20:41.120 where many of the workers gather after doing their morning 331 00:20:41.200 --> 00:20:45.680 interviews with consulate officials. This is where they get their 332 00:20:45.800 --> 00:20:47.040 prized visas. 333 00:20:46.680 --> 00:20:47.480 From their recruiters. 334 00:20:48.000 --> 00:20:50.879 The recruiters show up with these big plastic bins like 335 00:20:50.920 --> 00:20:53.359 where you would store Christmas decorations, and they are just 336 00:20:53.600 --> 00:20:56.520 packed with passports. They start pulling them out and calling 337 00:20:56.640 --> 00:21:00.119 Kose Juan Luis, and the men just come up, have 338 00:21:00.200 --> 00:21:03.119 their passports with the rolling suitcase in hand, and they 339 00:21:03.160 --> 00:21:05.600 walk straight to one of the greyhound like buses that 340 00:21:05.680 --> 00:21:08.359 are about to take them to the US. It happens 341 00:21:08.680 --> 00:21:12.000 that quickly. Some of the first timers that I talked to, 342 00:21:12.359 --> 00:21:14.560 I didn't even know where in the US they were going. 343 00:21:15.160 --> 00:21:18.119 When I asked them where they were headache. They had 344 00:21:18.160 --> 00:21:20.560 to pull out their passport and flip it over just 345 00:21:20.640 --> 00:21:23.440 so they could read this text on this little white 346 00:21:23.520 --> 00:21:27.439 sticker that said Oklahoma or Florida. Some of them were 347 00:21:27.560 --> 00:21:30.840 clearly nebies because they were wearing skin tight jeans to 348 00:21:31.040 --> 00:21:35.400 be on a bus ride for days. And while twenty 349 00:21:35.440 --> 00:21:38.600 eighteen seems like a lifetime ago, some things remain the 350 00:21:38.640 --> 00:21:42.119 same today. Monterrey is still the world's hub for H 351 00:21:42.200 --> 00:21:44.959 two A workers, and the large majority of those workers 352 00:21:45.040 --> 00:21:48.920 are still men from Mexico. But the pandemic did change 353 00:21:48.960 --> 00:21:49.520 a few things. 354 00:21:49.960 --> 00:21:51.120 There's a really. 355 00:21:51.160 --> 00:21:56.000 Stark contrast between the scene in Monterey prean post. 356 00:21:56.080 --> 00:22:02.879 COVID works with the biinational nonprofits Centro the Los re 357 00:22:03.000 --> 00:22:06.320 Jos Miante or CDM, which in English would be centered 358 00:22:06.359 --> 00:22:09.159 for migrants rights. She says that it's become a lot 359 00:22:09.280 --> 00:22:10.680 harder to reach workers now. 360 00:22:11.200 --> 00:22:15.440 Workers are no longer getting their fingerprints taken or their 361 00:22:15.520 --> 00:22:17.879 photos taken up the government office. 362 00:22:18.440 --> 00:22:21.560 For years, CDM had done know your Rights presentations to 363 00:22:21.640 --> 00:22:24.360 workers near the plaza while they waited outside the US 364 00:22:24.440 --> 00:22:27.960 government office where they got their photographs and fingerprints taken. 365 00:22:28.800 --> 00:22:31.040 But now the workers don't have to go there because 366 00:22:31.080 --> 00:22:33.000 the US has waived that requirement. 367 00:22:33.480 --> 00:22:34.240 That means that we. 368 00:22:34.359 --> 00:22:36.920 Needed to go to hotels to reach out to them. 369 00:22:37.280 --> 00:22:40.480 And the US government didn't just stop requesting fingerprints and photos. 370 00:22:41.080 --> 00:22:44.720 They also waived the in person interviews at consulates abroad. 371 00:22:45.320 --> 00:22:47.680 Evi says that while this made sense at the start 372 00:22:47.720 --> 00:22:50.720 of the pandemic three years ago, it makes no sense 373 00:22:50.920 --> 00:22:54.240 to not have face to face interviews with consulate officials today. 374 00:22:54.560 --> 00:22:57.600 Costular officers would awesome if they had paid fees or 375 00:22:57.800 --> 00:23:02.600 face of the recruitment abuse. This means that there are 376 00:23:02.800 --> 00:23:05.600 hundreds of thousands of workers who are traveling to the US, 377 00:23:05.880 --> 00:23:08.920 many of them for the first time, don't know what 378 00:23:09.040 --> 00:23:09.719 their rights are. 379 00:23:10.520 --> 00:23:13.560 According to CDM, fewer than ten percent of the workers 380 00:23:13.600 --> 00:23:16.720 are doing in person visa interviews right now, something that's 381 00:23:16.840 --> 00:23:21.280 incredibly unusual for the US immigration system. And this void 382 00:23:21.359 --> 00:23:24.639 of information from government officials leaves room for recruiters to 383 00:23:24.800 --> 00:23:26.280 take advantage of workers. 384 00:23:26.800 --> 00:23:31.960 The US government's EASTOP requirements to make it easier for 385 00:23:32.040 --> 00:23:36.200 employers and recruiters to hire workers, but they didn't increase 386 00:23:36.320 --> 00:23:39.399 protections or workers. They did it at the expense of 387 00:23:39.480 --> 00:23:41.639 workers were putting their lives on the line. 388 00:23:44.600 --> 00:23:46.760 We asked a State Department official at the consulate in 389 00:23:46.840 --> 00:23:49.639 Monterey for the percentage of workers who are getting in 390 00:23:49.760 --> 00:23:52.880 person interviews, but he wouldn't tell us. He would only 391 00:23:52.960 --> 00:23:55.880 say that the workers are quote coming in every day 392 00:23:55.920 --> 00:24:01.200 for interviews based on quote certain criteria. Mexico and Central America, 393 00:24:01.440 --> 00:24:04.520 like in the US, the pandemic brought massive unemployment, so 394 00:24:04.680 --> 00:24:08.119 an already desperate population of workers became even more so, 395 00:24:09.280 --> 00:24:13.000 and that resulted in recruiters charging even higher fees. 396 00:24:13.960 --> 00:24:15.560 So let's talk about those recruiters. 397 00:24:18.800 --> 00:24:22.119 Recruiters are a critical part of the system because they 398 00:24:22.200 --> 00:24:26.200 hold so much power, they basically get to say who 399 00:24:26.400 --> 00:24:28.440 gets to apply for a visa and who does it. 400 00:24:29.720 --> 00:24:32.159 I remember in twenty eighteen, my sources warned me to 401 00:24:32.200 --> 00:24:35.439