As I packed up the last of our research equipment, I turned to see the soft-spoken farmworker who we interviewed earlier that day about her experience laboring in extreme heat. Her small frame was now marked with painful, red blisters across her hand and around her tired eyes. She reminded me of my mom with her small stature and callused hands from years of labor. But the most gut-wrenching part wasn’t the seeping burn she now showed me; it was realizing what she had endured.
Her supervisor insisted it was just an allergic reaction to the “plant water” they sprayed. But this was no allergy; it was clearly a chemical burn from pesticide exposure, and they were gaslighting her — exploiting her vulnerability as a guest worker to keep her from seeking treatment. I thought to myself, who could be this cruel? Even working mules receive better treatment than my people.
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Her supervisor was able to deny her care because farm employers are not beholden to the same labor laws that other sectors must follow. The reality of farm work in America is often extreme vulnerability: Farmworkers are excluded from keystone labor laws, including the right to unionize, national minimum wage, overtime pay, disability insurance and access to workers’ compensation, to name just a few.
Known as “agricultural exceptionalism,” this loophole allows Georgia’s farm employers — and those across the South — to exploit workers without fear of accountability. For Latino or Hispanic farmworkers, especially those with undocumented or guest worker status, exploitation is often compounded by racism, threats of deportation, human trafficking, and a lack of legal recourse for employers who commit abuses.
In the context of this seemingly invisible labor crisis, both major presidential candidates have claimed to be the “union” choice this election season. Both Vice President Kamala Harris and former President Donald Trump are angling for the labor vote, but who will do the real work to protect farmworkers, our most vulnerable laborers, from unsafe and unjust conditions in this country?
We are Leslie Trejo, a nursing student, and Emilly Perez, a premed student at Emory University. As first-generation daughters of immigrants, we understand the struggles facing our community, which often include living in a state of unrelenting fear and being denied access to basic health care resources. Our passion lies in uplifting marginalized communities, especially those like our own.
Our research with H-2A guest visa farmworkers in South Georgia, focused on heat stress, has underscored the urgent need for policies that protect farmworkers. We know that the true test of a “union” candidate lies in uplifting marginalized voices, particularly those of Latino farmworkers. Our combination of lived and scientific experience is what drives our commitment to fighting for labor and health care reforms. We honor the rights and dignity of our community, believing everyone deserves access to quality care as a fundamental human right.
We urge you to stand with us in advocating for fair wages, safe working conditions and access to health care for all farmworkers. We must end the practice of agricultural exceptionalism in labor policymaking. Despite the more than 2.6 million farmworkers in the United States — whose labor upholds the U.S. food system, trade and economic stability — the agricultural workforce remains ignored in political priorities.
As we head into the 2024 presidential election, the agricultural industry remains on the back shelves of political priorities. As of now, neither candidate has made farmworkers’ rights a priority for their campaign, but their track record of policies from past appointments can provide us with some insight into how they might approach matters of importance to farmworkers.
On one end, we have Harris, who has openly expressed her support for improving farmworkers’ conditions. Trump, on the other end, solely has expressed support for farm employers.
To be more specific, Harris supported the Occupational Safety and Health Administration’s Heat Injury and Illness Prevention program, the first-ever national safety rule to protect workers from extreme heat. Trump’s administration reached a record low of OSHA work safety inspections, while agricultural fatalities reached a record high of 183 deaths during his presidency. He also cut funding for the Environmental Protection Agency, which impacts farmworker safety and environmental standards.
We have seen time after time, Trump’s policies prioritizing economic gains for farm employers over protections for farmworkers. Amid a pandemic, he attempted to freeze H-2A worker’s wages to allocate those funds toward employers. Trump’s expansion of the H-2A visa program, which allows agricultural employers to hire seasonal foreign workers, has helped labor supply for farm owners, with the program growing by 64.7% between 2017 and 2021.
The significance of these policies is more than just statistics. Their effects can be seen in the faces of workers like the woman I met with burned hands, who labor through pain and sacrifice, often unseen and unheard. Her story is one of countless others whose health and dignity are waiting for change.
Farmworkers deserve better — not as commodities, but as people with families, dreams and basic human needs. So, we plead with you to cast an informed vote. Eligible Georgia residents can check their voter status and find their poll location at https://mvp.sos.ga.gov. For those who are not eligible to vote, you can join advocacy groups to push for action, including the Latino Community Fund of Georgia, Georgia Legal Services Program and the Georgia Farmworker Health Program.
Leslie Trejo is a first-generation Mexican-American and a senior at Emory University’s Nell Woodruff School of Nursing. She has actively served the local Hispanic community through diverse initiatives. She plans to pursue a doctorate in nursing and is committed to reducing health disparities within the Hispanic community. Emilly Perez is a first-generation Guatemalan-American and a sophomore pre-med student at Emory University. She dedicates her time to advocating for the Hispanic community, working to improve health outcomes and advance health care access. As an aspiring physician, she is passionate about addressing disparities that impact underserved communities like her own.
