Slavery in the U.S. didn't disappear with the 13th Amendment. Southern states passed Black Codes & vagrancy laws to re-enslave freed Black Americans.
The Bracero Program (Mexican laborers brought to the U.S. btwn 1942–1964), laid the groundwork for today’s guestworker systems, H-2A and H-2B visas.
The Bracero Program (Mexican laborers brought to the U.S. btwn 1942–1964), laid the groundwork for today’s guestworker systems, H-2A and H-2B visas.
July 2, 2025 at 3:11 AM
Slavery in the U.S. didn't disappear with the 13th Amendment. Southern states passed Black Codes & vagrancy laws to re-enslave freed Black Americans.
The Bracero Program (Mexican laborers brought to the U.S. btwn 1942–1964), laid the groundwork for today’s guestworker systems, H-2A and H-2B visas.
The Bracero Program (Mexican laborers brought to the U.S. btwn 1942–1964), laid the groundwork for today’s guestworker systems, H-2A and H-2B visas.
Republicans are floating awful legislation to make Trump’s crushing farm worker wage cuts law. Why would a farmer hire an American worker when they can get a cheaper guestworker who can't switch jobs, ask for a raise, or ask for fair working conditions? Help us fight back!
June 7, 2026 at 1:39 AM
Republicans are floating awful legislation to make Trump’s crushing farm worker wage cuts law. Why would a farmer hire an American worker when they can get a cheaper guestworker who can't switch jobs, ask for a raise, or ask for fair working conditions? Help us fight back!
Hundreds of farmworkers from CA, GA, WA & TX rallied at the Fresno federal court on Wed. to support a lawsuit challenging the Trump admin rule that undercuts the jobs and wages of US farmworkers and expanding the exploitative H2A ag guestworker program.
www.dailykos.com/stories/2026...
www.dailykos.com/stories/2026...
March 19, 2026 at 7:37 PM
Hundreds of farmworkers from CA, GA, WA & TX rallied at the Fresno federal court on Wed. to support a lawsuit challenging the Trump admin rule that undercuts the jobs and wages of US farmworkers and expanding the exploitative H2A ag guestworker program.
www.dailykos.com/stories/2026...
www.dailykos.com/stories/2026...
Undocumented workers helped restart our economy after covid. Undocumented workers kept our harvests coming after Congress destroyed the guestworker program. We are a better and stronger and smarter nation when we accept migrants into our community.
August 4, 2026 at 11:48 AM
Undocumented workers helped restart our economy after covid. Undocumented workers kept our harvests coming after Congress destroyed the guestworker program. We are a better and stronger and smarter nation when we accept migrants into our community.
This week we learned of yet another appalling incident of forced labor and human trafficking in the H2A guest worker program.
The H2A program is out of control. It's time for Congress to create an H2A visa cap. How many more abuses will it take before Congress acts? 1/
The H2A program is out of control. It's time for Congress to create an H2A visa cap. How many more abuses will it take before Congress acts? 1/
February 24, 2026 at 9:28 PM
This week we learned of yet another appalling incident of forced labor and human trafficking in the H2A guest worker program.
The H2A program is out of control. It's time for Congress to create an H2A visa cap. How many more abuses will it take before Congress acts? 1/
The H2A program is out of control. It's time for Congress to create an H2A visa cap. How many more abuses will it take before Congress acts? 1/
Read the full news release. www.dailykos.com/stories/2026... 2/
UFW Demands H2A Visa Cap After Latest Forced Labor and Trafficking Incident in Guestworker Program
Keene, CA — This week, the U.S. Department of Justice announced an indictment against a farm labor contractor for trafficking Mexican farm workers to Florida, North Carolina, and Virginia and subjecti...
www.dailykos.com
February 24, 2026 at 9:28 PM
Read the full news release. www.dailykos.com/stories/2026... 2/
The farmworkers abused in Georgia came here legally, on H-2A guestworker visas, and were exploited by labor contractors despite federal rules meant to protect them. ProPublica spent two years documenting it. 🧵 www.propublica.org/article/h-2a...
July 28, 2026 at 2:01 AM
The farmworkers abused in Georgia came here legally, on H-2A guestworker visas, and were exploited by labor contractors despite federal rules meant to protect them. ProPublica spent two years documenting it. 🧵 www.propublica.org/article/h-2a...
Farmers who received USDA labor grants say they can’t get funding or answers. And, USAID cuts threaten guest worker recruitment more broadly.
H-2A Guestworker Program Impacted by Stalled USDA Payments, Cuts to USAID
Dismantling USAID and freezing USDA support for H-2A guestworker programs mean farmers face a season of uncertainty.
buff.ly
March 29, 2025 at 2:00 PM
Farmers who received USDA labor grants say they can’t get funding or answers. And, USAID cuts threaten guest worker recruitment more broadly.
Farmers granted assistance through a USDA guestworker program are waiting for payments and answers, while cuts at USAID could impact guestworker recruitment more broadly.
@lisaelaineh.bsky.social reports ⬇️
@lisaelaineh.bsky.social reports ⬇️
Federal Cuts and Funding Pauses Add to Farmers’ Labor Woes
Dismantling USAID and freezing USDA support for H-2A worker programs mean farmers face a season of uncertainty.
buff.ly
March 21, 2025 at 10:45 PM
Farmers granted assistance through a USDA guestworker program are waiting for payments and answers, while cuts at USAID could impact guestworker recruitment more broadly.
@lisaelaineh.bsky.social reports ⬇️
@lisaelaineh.bsky.social reports ⬇️
As I grow older, so does my family's cultural heritage.
Last night, the person who emigrated to this country as a guestworker, got children and grandchildren and great grandchildren, died.
I fail at trying to explain what this means.
Last night, the person who emigrated to this country as a guestworker, got children and grandchildren and great grandchildren, died.
I fail at trying to explain what this means.
April 19, 2026 at 9:33 AM
As I grow older, so does my family's cultural heritage.
Last night, the person who emigrated to this country as a guestworker, got children and grandchildren and great grandchildren, died.
I fail at trying to explain what this means.
Last night, the person who emigrated to this country as a guestworker, got children and grandchildren and great grandchildren, died.
I fail at trying to explain what this means.
Congress allowed the Bracero Program to expire on Dec. 31, 1964, which led to increases in illegal immigration that we see up to the present day. The United Farm Workers, which arose in the 1960s and 70s, continued fighting many of the same inequalities that the braceros faced. /end
September 28, 2025 at 12:58 AM
Congress allowed the Bracero Program to expire on Dec. 31, 1964, which led to increases in illegal immigration that we see up to the present day. The United Farm Workers, which arose in the 1960s and 70s, continued fighting many of the same inequalities that the braceros faced. /end
Civil Eats Scoop: Farmers who received USDA labor grants say they can’t get funding or answers. And, USAID cuts threaten guest worker recruitment more broadly.
H-2A Guestworker Program Impacted by Stalled USDA Payments, Cuts to USAID
Dismantling USAID and freezing USDA support for H-2A guestworker programs mean farmers face a season of uncertainty.
buff.ly
March 24, 2025 at 8:55 PM
Civil Eats Scoop: Farmers who received USDA labor grants say they can’t get funding or answers. And, USAID cuts threaten guest worker recruitment more broadly.
Some labor advocates and organizations like the United Farm Workers say that the rapid growth of the H-2A program is leading to a long-term displacement of American jobs and have their own reforms in mind. (Questen Inghram / yakimaherald.com)
Calls for changes to foreign guestworker program grow across the country
Members of Congress are calling on the Trump administration to make reforms to the foreign guestworker program that brought nearly 400,000 seasonal workers to farms across the country last year.
www.yakimaherald.com
August 19, 2026 at 1:00 AM
Some labor advocates and organizations like the United Farm Workers say that the rapid growth of the H-2A program is leading to a long-term displacement of American jobs and have their own reforms in mind. (Questen Inghram / yakimaherald.com)
While some found the paperwork in the guestworker program unwieldy, with African-Americans and then Caribbean guestworkers leaving their fields for better work, Mexican guestworkers became the next exploitable labor force.
September 16, 2026 at 4:47 PM
While some found the paperwork in the guestworker program unwieldy, with African-Americans and then Caribbean guestworkers leaving their fields for better work, Mexican guestworkers became the next exploitable labor force.
Feb. 19, 2013:
Report - Close to Slavery: Guestworker Programs in the United States
www.splcenter.org/20130218/clo...
Report - Close to Slavery: Guestworker Programs in the United States
www.splcenter.org/20130218/clo...
Close to Slavery: Guestworker Programs in the United States
This report, updated in February 2013, details the systematic exploitation of foreign workers who come to this country for temporary jobs under the nation's H-2 guestworker program. Based on dozens of legal cases and interviews with thousands of guestworkers, it documents how guestworkers are routinely cheated out of wages, forced to mortgage their futures to obtain low-wage, temporary jobs, and held virtually captive by employers.
www.splcenter.org
April 22, 2026 at 9:17 PM
Feb. 19, 2013:
Report - Close to Slavery: Guestworker Programs in the United States
www.splcenter.org/20130218/clo...
Report - Close to Slavery: Guestworker Programs in the United States
www.splcenter.org/20130218/clo...
Is the Pacific Australia Labour Mobility scheme facilitating modern slavery?
@mhharrington.bsky.social speaks to experts, community leaders & ni-Vanuatu former PALM workers in the first episode of this four-part mini-series on the guestworker scheme. #auspol
🎧 theaus.in/4sr1vbV
@mhharrington.bsky.social speaks to experts, community leaders & ni-Vanuatu former PALM workers in the first episode of this four-part mini-series on the guestworker scheme. #auspol
🎧 theaus.in/4sr1vbV
January 6, 2026 at 5:02 AM
Is the Pacific Australia Labour Mobility scheme facilitating modern slavery?
@mhharrington.bsky.social speaks to experts, community leaders & ni-Vanuatu former PALM workers in the first episode of this four-part mini-series on the guestworker scheme. #auspol
🎧 theaus.in/4sr1vbV
@mhharrington.bsky.social speaks to experts, community leaders & ni-Vanuatu former PALM workers in the first episode of this four-part mini-series on the guestworker scheme. #auspol
🎧 theaus.in/4sr1vbV
🥗 H-2A Guestworker Program Impacted by Stalled USDA Payments, Cuts to USAID
civileats.com/2025/03/21/f...
civileats.com/2025/03/21/f...
H-2A Guestworker Program Impacted by Stalled USDA Payments, Cuts to USAID
Dismantling USAID and freezing USDA support for H-2A guestworker programs mean farmers face a season of uncertainty.
civileats.com
April 11, 2025 at 12:52 PM
🥗 H-2A Guestworker Program Impacted by Stalled USDA Payments, Cuts to USAID
civileats.com/2025/03/21/f...
civileats.com/2025/03/21/f...
The United States continues to rely extremely heavily on an immigrant workforce for farm labor and the entire system is ripe for exploitation.
Why US Farms Increasingly Rely on Guestworker Programs
American farmers would prefer not to use H-2A, and farmworker advocates say the program enables abuse. So how did it become agriculture’s go-to option?
civileats.com
July 23, 2026 at 10:28 PM
The United States continues to rely extremely heavily on an immigrant workforce for farm labor and the entire system is ripe for exploitation.
Mainstream media is failing to inform society enough to empower us to make progress toward a human rights based system bc the people that own/run it benefit from the status quo.
Feb. 19, 2013:
Report - Close to Slavery: Guestworker Programs in the United States
www.splcenter.org/20130218/clo...
Feb. 19, 2013:
Report - Close to Slavery: Guestworker Programs in the United States
www.splcenter.org/20130218/clo...
Close to Slavery: Guestworker Programs in the United States
This report, updated in February 2013, details the systematic exploitation of foreign workers who come to this country for temporary jobs under the nation's H-2 guestworker program. Based on dozens of...
www.splcenter.org
January 20, 2026 at 10:55 AM
Mainstream media is failing to inform society enough to empower us to make progress toward a human rights based system bc the people that own/run it benefit from the status quo.
Feb. 19, 2013:
Report - Close to Slavery: Guestworker Programs in the United States
www.splcenter.org/20130218/clo...
Feb. 19, 2013:
Report - Close to Slavery: Guestworker Programs in the United States
www.splcenter.org/20130218/clo...
"If we deport people, food will be more expensive" is a bad argument against deportation.
It's going to be used as a reason to expand the guestworker program, which is appallingly exploitative as people's legal status is tied to their employer.
Great article on orgs to support in this time
It's going to be used as a reason to expand the guestworker program, which is appallingly exploitative as people's legal status is tied to their employer.
Great article on orgs to support in this time
November 19, 2024 at 5:58 PM
"If we deport people, food will be more expensive" is a bad argument against deportation.
It's going to be used as a reason to expand the guestworker program, which is appallingly exploitative as people's legal status is tied to their employer.
Great article on orgs to support in this time
It's going to be used as a reason to expand the guestworker program, which is appallingly exploitative as people's legal status is tied to their employer.
Great article on orgs to support in this time
I too yearn for farmers becoming salaried technocrats with subordinate salaried farm labor rather than petty gentry and guestworker serfs.
July 21, 2026 at 11:14 PM
I too yearn for farmers becoming salaried technocrats with subordinate salaried farm labor rather than petty gentry and guestworker serfs.
